James (Jim) Leano is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney who works diligently to represent those who have been injured as a result of another’s negligence, including automobile accidents, personal injury, premise liability, and general negligence and personal injury protection (PIP). Hardworking and highly motivated, Mr. Leano is committed to protecting your rights if you allow him and his firm to represent you on your case.
Prior to becoming a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney, Mr. Leano began his legal career as an Assistant State Attorney at the Jacksonville State Attorney’s Office. During his time with the State Attorney’s Office, Mr. Leano gained extensive trial experience prosecuting and trying cases in the counties of Duval and Clay, with offenses ranging from DUI and domestic battery to robbery and attempted murder. After nearly two years working as a prosecutor, Mr. Leano became a Staff Attorney in the Law Offices of Maria E. Trenzado, a Miami Staff Counsel Office for Geico General Insurance Company. For nearly five years, Mr. Leano vigorously handled all automobile insurance defense files in addition to the entire book of Personal Injury Protection defense files. Subsequently, Mr. Leano helped establish and manage the Miami staff counsel office for the personal lines automobile division for AIG. The division soon joined with Farmers Insurance Company, and eventually became the Law Offices of Brown & Leano, which was the branch legal office for Farmers Insurance Group. For approximately five years, Mr. Leano was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the office, including mentoring attorneys in the fields of insurance defense, general liability, and personal injury protection. Additionally, Mr. Leano was responsible for the management of his own high volume caseload, which involved high exposure defense files, from their inception through their respective trials.
In 2011, after nearly ten years working and managing in-house for these national insurance companies, Mr. Leano chose to take his talents to the “other side”, where he is now diligently representing those that have been injured as a result of another individual’s or entity’s negligence, including personal injury, automobile accidents, slip and fall, and general negligence issues. Mr. Leano also represents individuals in addition to medical providers in personal injury protection matters throughout the state of Florida. In addition to being designated a Board Certified Specialist, Mr. Leano is also “AV” rated, which is the highest rating, by Martindale-Hubbell. With this unique background, experience and credentials, Mr. Leano has gained extensive knowledge about law, business, and dealing with people in high-pressure situations. He also knows how the insurance company thinks, how the insurance adjusters try to save every dollar and withhold it from those that are entitled to it. He can put this experience to work for YOU.
Mr. Leano was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. He moved to South Florida in 2000. Mr. Leano graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Business from the University of North Florida where he was involved in the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, the Filipino Student Association and Psi Chi. Mr. Leano continued his education at Stetson University College of Law, world-renown for its trial advocacy programs and awards. He graduated with his Juris Doctorate from Stetson University College of Law in 1998. Mr. Leano currently resides in Coral Gables with his wife Jennifer Leal, whom he met in law school, and their three children Isabella, Madeline and Elijah. When not protecting the rights of individuals injured by the negligence of others, he enjoys spending time with his family, music, tennis, skiing and travel.
Support Staff
Madeline Leano is a student at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart. A native of Miami, Florida, her expertise includes coding in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, and Python, in addition to various social media platforms. She is also bilingual in Spanish and English, and she assists the office in digital marketing.