Jill S. Schwartz & Associates, P.A.

Focus and practice areas

Employment law runs through everything Jill S. Schwartz & Associates, P.A. takes on. The Winter Park firm opened in 1993 and works with clients across Florida. It litigates in state and federal courts.

The firm represents both employees and employers. That two-sided posture is worth pausing on, because plenty of employment shops pick a side and stay there. Handling both means the attorneys see how discrimination claims are defended as well as how they're built.

Discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims make up a large part of the docket. The firm covers claims based on age, race, religion, gender, pregnancy, disability and national origin. Those are the categories protected under federal and Florida law, and the firm names all of them.

Wage claims and whistleblower work

Unpaid wages and overtime are separate territory from discrimination, and the firm handles those cases too. Whistleblower matters sit alongside them, including Qui Tam actions and False Claims Act cases. Qui Tam work is procedurally demanding, and a firm listing it is signalling that it takes on federal-court litigation with a long timeline.

Consumer credit is the one area that sits outside the labor and employment core. The firm litigates Fair Credit Reporting Act cases. Credit report errors surface in hiring decisions often enough that the pairing makes sense.

Contracts, agreements and the advisory side

Non-compete agreements, employment contracts and severance agreements all fall within the firm's work. These are the matters that reach a lawyer before a dispute has fully formed. Someone reviewing a severance offer or testing whether a non-compete will hold up is buying advice, not litigation.

Wrongful discharge claims appear on the firm's own FAQ list. Family and Medical Leave Act issues are also part of the practice.

On the management side, the firm advises employers on day-to-day employment questions. That includes handbooks and policy manuals, supervisor training and contract drafting. In my opinion this is the clearest evidence that the firm's employer-side work is substantive rather than occasional: preventive advisory work requires a different rhythm from litigation, and firms that only defend cases rarely build it out.

How the team is built

Nine attorneys appear on the firm's site. Jill S. Schwartz is the Managing Partner. Her practice covers employment and labor law, mediation, civil rights and discrimination matters.

Schwartz attended the University of Maryland School of Law. She was Editor of the Maryland Law Forum Journal there and received the Joseph Bernstein Award. She is a Certified Circuit Mediator.

David H. Spalter is a Partner. He graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 and is board certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Board certification in Florida requires substantial practice in the field, peer review and a written examination, so it carries real weight as a credential.

The wider bench

Christopher A. Pace is a Partner. He earned a B.A. from the University of North Florida in 1999 and a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 2003. His labor and employment practice extends into business law and contracts, and he handles cases in federal and state courts.

Jeffrey S. Hammer is a Partner with a somewhat different profile. He holds a Juris Doctor from The Florida State University College of Law and a Bachelor of Science from Florida State University. His practice concentrates on insurance matters, with additional work in appeals and employment and labor law.

Lauren R. Robertson earned her Juris Doctor from Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law and focuses on employment and labor matters. She was previously an associate at Petro & Bibbo LLC. John M. Hunt is an associate whose practice also centres on employment and labor law.

Three attorneys hold Of Counsel positions: Kimberly D. Webb, Vasilis "Bill" Katsafanas and Al Truesdell. Katsafanas received his Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law in 1975 and has practiced through the Law Offices of Vasilis C. Katsafanas in Longwood. He speaks Greek, which matters for clients more comfortable discussing a workplace dispute in that language.

What the credentials show

The firm holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and appears in that publisher's Preeminent Lawyers directory. AV is Martindale's highest peer-review tier, based on ratings submitted by other lawyers and judges. It measures professional standing as colleagues assess it.

Two credentials therefore come from outside the firm: the Martindale rating and Spalter's Florida Bar board certification. Both are verifiable through third parties. As a reviewer, that's the category of claim I weigh most heavily, because the firm did not issue either one to itself.

Mediation, arbitration and union work

Some employment disputes resolve without a courtroom. The firm offers mediation and arbitration services, and Schwartz's mediator certification supports that line of work directly.

Union representation is also part of what the firm does. It represents union members, which is separate work from the individual discrimination and wage claims that dominate the practice areas list. Labor law in the collective sense and employment law in the individual sense are related but distinct, and the firm covers both halves.

Who this firm suits

An employee in Central Florida facing termination, a wage shortfall or a discrimination claim will find a bench of attorneys who work in that field daily. A Florida employer needing handbook review, supervisor training or defence in a filed claim will find the same. The firm's Winter Park base puts it near Orlando, though it takes cases statewide.

Three decades of continuous practice in one field is the plainest fact in the record here. A firm founded in 1993 that still describes itself the same way has kept the same focus through several eras of employment law, including the expansion of FMLA claims and the shifting Florida rules on non-compete enforcement. In my opinion the longevity and the board certification together are the two things a prospective client should weigh first. The firm has been doing labor and employment law in Winter Park since 1993.