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Resume of Mitchell A. Chester, Esq.
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Founding Member: Law Office of Mitchell A. Chester, P.A. 2001-present Admitted to practice law in the State of Florida, Mr. Chester practices in personal injury, insurance law, commercial, housing and contract litigation in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties in Southeastern Florida. His interests include affordable and workforce housing, transportation issues, global warming/climate change, sustainable communities, space policy, domestic and international affairs, citizen advocacy, alternative dispute resolution, disaster relief and planning, website design, technology as well as medical/legal issues. He is active in local community affairs in the Town of Davie, located in central Broward County, Florida. Mr. Chester enjoys jury and non-jury trials and solving complex legal issues. Membership American Board of Trial Advocates, Fort Lauderdale Chapter (Peer review organization) Progressive Insurance House Counsel Managing Attorney, 1987 - 2001 Started and managed the first House Counsel office for Progressive Casualty Insurance Company in the State of Florida in 1987. Based upon the success of that office, 4 other offices were created in Florida. The Fort Lauderdale office was the third of the Progressive House Counsel offices in 1987, and by 2000, there were approximately 18 offices across the United States. By early 2000, the Fort Lauderdale (Dania) office included 21 people, including attorneys, paralegals, legal secretaries and support personnel. Duties included: Handling full caseloads, including: Third party personal and bodily injury litigation First party contract and personal injury litigation Declaratory actions in insurance coverage cases. Bad Faith cases PIP matters Medical Claims matters Bills of discovery Examinations under oath Cases were handled in Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and early in the House Counsel operation, Palm Beach county. Sample types of cases handled during Mr. Chester's career: Brain damage, psychological injury, pedestrian knockdowns, scarring, implant litigation, disfigurement, herniated discs, thoracic outlet syndrome, brachial plexus injuries, carpal tunnel cases, shoulder injuries, knee injuries, loss of significant bodily functions (hearing, taste, vision), soft tissue claims, orthopedic and neurologic claims, urological injuries, ENT claims, wrongful death actions, products liability actions, subrogation claims and various other types of personal injury disputes. Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, first party bad faith and statutory claims under Section 624.155 and 626.9541 of the Florida Statutes and third party defense cases. Commercial and contract litigation. Public record requests and litigation. Tried lawsuits in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, in Circuit Civil and County Court matters, both jury and non-jury. Participated in modified high/low binding jury trials, multiple party claims, complex mediations, jury and bench trials. Mr. Chester has worked with primary, excess and umbrella insurance carriers with regard to personal injury, wrongful death and insurance litigation. Law Office Management During Progressive Years Managed staff of attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries for nearly 13 years at Progressive House Counsel offices. Developed objectives and career goals for all law office staff. Responsible for budget and fiscal tracking. Involved in hiring, recruiting and performance management. Assisted in planning, design and oversight of office space layouts. Managed all aspects of the law office, including file reviews and case management. Responsible for attorney development. Special Projects at Progressive Presented legal seminars on various topics, including, but not limited to: deposition strategies, civil procedure, PIP, alternative dispute resolution and litigation strategies. Created and administered computer based legal reporting system on Lotus Notes 4.5 for use on Progressive intranet system and administered legal database on Lotus Notes. Created and published practice forms for lawsuit use by attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries. Town of Davie Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) 8.21.08- Mr. Chester was named Chair of the Town's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, which was established when Davie became eligible for Florida State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) funds. Recent legislation was enacted requiring each municipal government in Florida to establish an AHAC, which will now serve on a continuing basis. The purpose of the AHAC is to review and evaluate the current Affordable Housing Incentive Plan, and make recommendations on eleven specific housing areas, including, but not limited to:
Quality Housing Corporation 2008- Vice President of Quality Housing Corporation spearheaded an effort to create truly affordable workforce housing across the United States. In Fall, 2008, Mr. Chester co-sponsored a class at the University of Miami School of Architecture to encourage student designs of truly affordable housing. Presentations/Speaking Engagements Mr. Chester has given seminars to Claims Representatives over the last 25 plus years on various litigation issues, including discovery, bad faith, Florida PIP law declaratory judgments, the psychology of litigation and other legal items of interest. In September, 2008, he worked with Attorney Alan Green in presenting a discussion about expert witness depositions to the American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics (AOAO) at its convention in Boca Raton. On September 16, 2008, Mr. Chester participated in the Florida Housing Coalition's 21st Statewide Annual Conference on "Housing, the New Environment" in Orlando, Florida. He addressed legal issues impacting mobile home park preservation.
Mr. Chester has also produced videos concerning mobile home displacement in Broward County, Florida.
Prior Law Firm Affiliations 1983 to 1987-Law Office of Mitchell Chester, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Worked in automobile insurance law and commercial litigation. 1979-1983- Carey, Dwyer, Cole, Selwood and Bernard, P.A., Attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As an associate the work included insurance defense and coverage matters, commercial litigation, real estate, probate. Worked in Section 1983 litigation with other attorneys. Conducted real estate closings, worked in subrogation, participated in jury and non-jury trials and focused on insurance coverage disputes. 1978-1979- Carey, Dwyer, Cole, Selwood and Bernard, P.A., Law Clerk. Admitted to practice law in Florida in December, 1979. Pro Bono Activities In 2008, appointed to the Town of Davie Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. In 2007, participated in a working group established in the Town of Davie to help craft the Town's first Affordable Housing Ordinances. 1984-Served as pro bono counsel in Dinnen v. Pond Apple Place II Condominium Association, Inc., et al., in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Provided approximately 400 hours of representation in this high profile case, which involved issues now covered by the Fair Housing Act. The case was covered by the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes." Involved in other pro bono activities throughout the years. Homeowner Association Memberships Served as President of the Ridgeview Lakes Estates North Homeowner's Association, 1996-1997. Prior service on the Highland Lakes Homeowner's Association in Miami-Dade County. Active involvement in zoning issues that affected the community. Web site content manager for www.No-Ikea.com in 2004 and participant in the successful efforts to stop the development of an IKEA super store in Davie, Florida. Member of Architectural Review Board for the Ridgeview Lakes Estates North HOA, 2004. 2008-Designer and Editor of www.PasadenaEstates.org, the homeowner's association website. Film Production Produced and directed "Prototechnic Prisms," shown at film presentations as well as the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1971. Produced a film for the Shaker Heights Board of Education entitled, "The Sights and Sounds of Shaker High" in 1970. College and Law School Years Attended Ohio State University from 1972 to 1976. Graduated with honors. Earned a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism in 1976. Took courses in National Security Studies at the Mershon Center. Reporter for The Lantern a large circulation newspaper run by students of the OSU School of Journalism. Covered the Battelle Memorial Institute reporting on research activities. Four year resident in the Stadium Scholarship Dormitory, located in Ohio Stadium, where Mr. Chester worked in public relations and for the West Side Story, the dorm newspaper. Also served as Ombudsman for the dormitory residents. Attended Nova University Center for the Study of Law (Now the Sheppard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University) from 1976 to 1979. Editor, Nova Perspective a student newspaper focusing on contemporary legal topics. Articles on law related topics featured major newsmakers from the national, state and local arena. In 1980, as a member of the Dade County Young Democrats, Mr. Chester worked with the White House advance team on three Presidential visits by Jimmy Carter to Miami and Hollywood, Florida. Radio Activities News Reporter and announcer, Development Director and General Manager for student run carrier current radio station WOSR (1972-1976). Also served as a member of the Board of Directors of that station. Worked to make the station into an FM broadcast facility for student produced programs. Talk show host for Rock and Talk on WOSR, 1973-74. Guests included Senator John Glenn and other news makers including guests from the music industry. Liaison to Ohio State University faculty for WOSR operations. For more on Rock and Talk, click here. (When done, press your "Back" button on the browser). College Internships 1973- Summer Intern for WTVJ Television News, Miami, Florida. 1975- Media Internship with U.S. Senator John Glenn, in Washington, D.C. Duties included work on radio "beeper" program for Senator Glenn's Press Secretary, supplying radio content to Ohio Radio Stations. Awards and Scholarships Membership in honorary society "Sphinx" William Faulkner Scholarship in Journalism Kappa Tau Alpha national journalism honor society Student Leadership Award Association of Broadcast Journalists Ohio State's Representative to the 27th Annual Student Conference on United States Affairs at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point Member of the Ohio State University School of Journalism Self-Study Committee for Accreditation by the American Council on Education in Journalism Miami Beach Bar Association Scholarship Recipient Web Site Creation, Design, Editing and Management Editor and designer of www.MitchellChester.com and www.DavieHurricaneRelief.org and www.No-Ikea.com . Created JudicialCalendar.com, an on-line Court scheduling resource which was beta tested in Broward County, Florida in 2000-2001 and which was re-introduced to the web in 2006. To visit, click here: www.JudicialCalendar.com. Co-editor of www.DavieCommonSense.org, a web effort in support of creation of the proposed Davie Commons project in Western Broward County. Currently under development is www.SharedEmergency.com, a discussion of mobile home displacement issues in Florida. Mr. Chester also was Editor of www.595Alert.org which was a coordinated effort to stop plans for the double decking of Interstate 595 in Broward County. In part, and as a result of efforts coordinated with Community leaders and elected officials, the $200,000,000 elevated roadway was cancelled by the Florida Department of Transportation. Relief Efforts Mr. Chester has participated in several hurricane relief efforts, the most recent following hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. In 2004, he also organized a relief effort for victims of Hurricane Charley in Southwest Florida. In 1992, he worked in a Red Cross shelter and with others to provide food for emergency first responders in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. When migrant workers were threatened with a Christmas freeze in Homestead, Florida, he also participated in relief response in the form of clothing and food. Articles Published Mr. Chester writes articles which appear on Newsvine. For more information, click here and type "Mitch Chester" in the search box.
To see all articles on SharedEmergency, please click banner above.
Archived & Current Chester web sites What was 595Alert.org all about? Click here What was Judicial Calendar.com all about? Click here for sample of 2000 site. What is JudicialCalendar.com all about? Launch 2006 site here. What was No-Ikea.com all about? Launch former web site here. See fly-in view of former proposed IKEA site (Requires broadband, DSL or T-1 line). Click here. What was DavieHurricaneRelief.org all about? Launch retired site here. What is DavieCommonSense.org all about? Launch active site here. What is SharedEmergency.com all about? Launch active site here. Return to Front Page | Return to Resume Index Please send your e-mail to MChester@MitchellChester.com "The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience." Copyright © 2005-2008. Mitchell A. Chester. All rights reserved. |
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