ALVAREZ GARCIA is an "AV rated" law firm in Tampa serving clients with either an appreciation for quality or an inability to obtain it elsewhere. The firm recognizes the abundance of lawyers in the Bay Area and distinguishes itself by serving each of its clients individually. Whether the client is a corporation at risk, a bereaved family or a displaced consumer, Rick Alvarez, Anthony Garcia and the staff of Alvarez Garcia pride themselves on providing services specific to the client's needs and expectations. Surpassing these expectations, through advocacy, technical skill and creativity, is the intended result.

Alvarez Garcia is not a "claims administrator" that amasses a large number of cases only to compromise the clients' rights in the end. Alvarez Garcia is a law firm in the most traditional sense. It handles every case from the earliest stage of investigation to the final stages of trial and, if necessary, appeal. This experience in all parts of litigation, including trial and appellate work, is unique and not offered by most attorneys who otherwise hold themselves out as litigators.

The firm practices within the state and federal courts of the Tampa Bay Area and in the specific areas of business litigation, contracts, significant personal injury, automotive negligence, criminal defense, products liability, and issues of libel and slander.

Alvarez Garcia welcomes the opportunity to serve you and your interest and may be reached by telephone at (813)259-9555, by clicking the "Contact the Firm Now" box, above, or by writing directly to triallawyers@alvarezgarcia.com.

Ratings take into consideration the standard of professional ability in the area where the lawyer practices, the lawyer's expertise, and other professional qualifications. An "AV" rating indicates a lawyer or lawyers whose legal abilities and ethical standards are "very high to preeminent." The possible ratings of "AV," "BV" and "CV" are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc. and used in accordance with the procedures of Martindale-Hubbell. Actual ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary.

C. R.

Angell Contracting and Construction, Inc.

Atlas Professional Services, Inc.

A Star Is Born Sportswear

Blue Sky Travel Agency, www.workwithbluesky.com

Body Science, Inc.

Bread and Butter Deli, www.breadandbuttergormetdeli.com

Cheval Golf and Country Club

Commercial Threadworks

DGC Environmental, Inc., www.dgcenvironmental.com

Exxon Mobil Oil Corporation, www.exxonmobil.com

Family Dollar Stores, www.familydollar.com

Florida Medical Clinic, www.floridamedicalclinic.com

Fred Fleming's Famous Bar-B-Que Restaurants, www.fredflemingsbbq.com

Global Gateway Communications

Global Visions, Inc.

Grille One Sixteen Restaurant of Tampa

Hammon Construction Company

Healthtest Scan Center

Iavarone's Steakhouse,www.iavaronessteakhouse.com

Imperial Stone & Ceramic, Inc.

International Eye Center, www.internationaleyecenter.com

International Research Center, Inc.

Lopez Trucking

Los Mariachis Mexican Restaurant

Los Mexicanos Restaurant

Manhattan City Townhomes

Modern Window Fashions

Precision Foam, Inc.

Orbitz Worldwide, Inc., www.orbitz.com

Quality Executive Homes

Sammy Frog's Restaurants

Seven 17 South Restaurant

Spain Toma Restaurant, www.tomaspain.com

Spots and Content, LLC

Stemulite.TV

Superior Communication Solutions, Inc.

Tampa Bay Construction & Engineering, Inc.

Terrier Tri, www.terriertri.com

Top to Bottom Home Inspections

Trip Network, Inc.

TWT Construction, Inc.

Venturesin.com, Inc.

Veterinary Medical Clinic, www.vmctampa.com

The firm welcomes the opportunity to serve your company, whether a national corporation or a business operating exclusively in the Tampa Bay Area!

Alvarez Garcia is pleased to announce a reunion of all West Tampa Boys' Club alumni on Saturday, March 20th, between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

A cocktail party will be held at the club's new headquarters at 1301 North Boulevard in Tampa and should provide a wonderful opportunity for former members to reunite while seeing how the traditions of support and fellowship continue at today's club. All alumni are also invited to help induct former Chief Judge F. Dennis Alvarez to the West Tampa Boys' Club Hall of Fame.

For additional information, please contact Community Relations Director, Ricky Gallon, at (813) 769-7541 or by email at rgallon@bgctampa.org.

His return was easy considering Rick saw his first concert at the historic venue. "It was 1976 or '77, but my father turned me on pretty early to B.B. King. The old guy agreed to take me if I bought my own ticket!"

More information about the show and tickets is available at hillsbar.com.

Jose A.

OCTOBER 2009 - A judgment for $400,000 was secured in an unusual case involving a frozen bank account at Citibank. The savings account was opened in Florida by a foreign businessman who named a longtime friend as its beneficiary. The businessman was said to be estranged from his children because of litigation over his personal assets. Within one year, the businessman was found dead and a series of curious demands for the savings account ensued. The funds remained "frozen" and in the sole possession of Citibank for the next seven years. The friend's requests for payment were routinely denied because of supposed changes to the account and beneficiary before the businessman's death. Alvarez Garcia commenced suit and, after two additional years of litigation, successfully established the right of the friend and original beneficiary to the funds.

Alvarez Garcia is proud to sponsor the "11th Annual Cigar Heritage Festival" to benefit the Ybor City Museum. The festival will be held in Centennial Park on Saturday, November 21, 2009, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information on the festival, including the effort to construct the world's longest cigar, please visit cigarheritagefestival.com.

RICK ALVAREZ is a native of Tampa and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School and the Fisher School of Accounting at the University of Florida. He began his practice in Miami under the primary guidance of two past presidents of The Florida Bar, Gerald Richman and Herman Russomanno. His service at the firm of Floyd Pearson Richman Greer continued until Mr. Alvarez was invited to join the firm of Sheftall, Alvarez & Torres as a founding member. At the age of only twenty-seven years, Mr. Alvarez became a partner in this well-known and successful Miami firm. His work as a trial lawyer in cases involving wrongful death and products liability, including multi-district litigation arising from the off-label use of orthopedic bone screws, provided the opportunity to serve as many as seventy-five aggrieved families at once and to establish new law while doing so. In 2000, Mr. Alvarez returned home to continue his litigation practice. He did so first alongside noted trial attorney, C. Steven Yerrid, and then at his own firm, Alvarez Garcia.

Over his years of litigating, Mr. Alvarez has developed particular interest in cases which some might find too demanding, such as the representation of other attorneys or cases involving complex commercial transactions, occurrences in the workplace, or deaths on public property. As a result, Mr. Alvarez has experienced the good fortune of obtaining verdicts or settlements in excess of one-million dollars for a significant number of clients during his career, including the recovery of $3,000,000 following an on-the-job fatality for which the employer and related companies asserted the defense of absolute immunity. His representation of other attorneys has earned Mr. Alvarez the nickname of "the lawyers' lawyer."

However, not all of his work has been directed towards large verdicts and settlements alone. In 2000, Mr. Alvarez was appointed as Special Counsel to the Office of the Chief Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit and thereafter spent over three-hundred hours representing the court and its judges against claims brought by The Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV. The pro bono representation featured work before both the Second District Court of Appeal and the Florida Supreme Court. Mr. Alvarez not only serves before the state courts, but is admitted to practice before the Eleventh Circuit Court of the United States and the Middle and Southern District Courts of the federal judiciary in Florida. He is an active member of the Hillsborough County Bar Association and his service has included numerous lectures on the topics of complex litigation, products-liability and catastrophic injury. His discussion of pharmaceutical liability and analysis of the rights of children to recover damages for their parents' injuries earned separate publication in The Florida Bar Journal. Mr. Alvarez has also contributed to the Florida Bar by serving on its Judicial Administration, Selection and Tenure Committee. In 2005, he earned the prestigious rating of "AV" or "very high to preeminent" from both judges and peers in the legal community.

Finally, Mr. Alvarez spends the balance of his time gathering with family, enjoying the company of his friends, and playing his guitar for whomever will listen. He also serves on the board of directors for the Boys Clubs of Tampa Bay and the board of trustees for the West Tampa Boys Club, where he was an active member from 1976 to 1982.

Alvarez Garcia will be featured in the forthcoming board game, "South Tampaopoly," in which the traditional properties at Boardwalk and Park Place give way to Bayshore, Hyde Park and a variety of other landmarks within South Tampa. The firm was approached several months ago during the game's preproduction and simply could not miss the opportunity to join the fun. A portion of all game sales will be donated to "LifePath Hospice's Circle of Love Center." More information on the game and its distribution to local stores is found at www.southtampaopoly.com

May 2009 - Anthony Garcia has been selected to chair the Small Firm/Solo Practitioners' Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association for a third term. Among his various duties, Anthony will serve as the editor of all articles published by this special section in the HCBA Bar Journal as well as conduct section meetings on a regular basis. The Small Firm/Solo Practitioners' Section introduces attorneys from different areas of practice for networking and marketing purposes.

FEBRUARY 2009 - With just days remaining before the first of two trials, a confidential settlement was earned for a Florida boy following his abandonment in the high temperatures of a daycare-center van. The youngster experienced heat stroke as a result of the incident, but because of his age, resilience and sheer good fortune, he escaped more severe injury and perhaps even death. Alvarez Garcia based its case on a thorough investigation of the incident together with the history of operations at the daycare center. Its investigation led to the discovery of similar, troubling incidents at the facility and supported a subsequent claim of punitive damages under Florida law. In that all of the evidence was voluminous and the legal issues grew to be complex, the matter was bifurcated into two separate jury trials for the beginning of 2009. The confidential settlement arose with just days remaining before the first trial.

R. Solgot