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Nicole R. Ramirez has been a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Appellate Practice since 2017. She joined our Appellate Practice Group as Of Counsel in 2024. She focuses her practice on first and third-party property coverage, liability defense, and extra-contractual matters in state and federal appellate courts. She also provides litigation support with dispositive motions and appellate support at trial.

In 2024, Nicole was appointed to the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Certification Committee for the 2024-2027 term.

Nicole received her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Tulane University School of Law in 1995. Before this, she received a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University as a Whither’s Scholar. During her time as a law student, she participated in the Immigration Law Clinic and was awarded Trial Advocacy Honors while also clerking for a law firm and raising a family. Following admission and practice in the State of Louisiana, she relocated to Florida concentrating her practice in business litigation, real property, corporate law, dispute resolution, and insurance. Before Butler, Nicole also devoted significant time as a Certified Circuit Civil Mediator and also has wide experience in a variety of areas in addition to insurance, including family, probate, employment law, landlord/tenant, and regulatory compliance.

  • Florida Bar Appellate Practice Certification, 2017-Present
  • Certified Circuit Civil Mediator, 2009-2014
  • Florida Supreme Court Appointed Arbitrator, 2008-2010

Recognitions

  • Florida Defense Lawyers Association Amicus Award, 2022

Education

  • Indiana University
    Bachelor of Science, 1991
  • Tulane University, School of Law
    Juris Doctor, 1995

Memberships

  • Florida Bar, Appellate Practice Certification Committee 2024-2027
  • Chairman, Board of Adjustment, City of Belleair Bluffs, Florida 2009-Present
  • Charter and Ordinance Review Committee, 2009-2010
  • Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section, Outreach

Experiences

  • Emerson v. Lambert, 374 So. 3d 756 (Fla. 2023) (clarifying that Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine imposing strict vicarious liability upon the owner of a motor vehicle who entrusts that motor vehicle to an individual whose negligent operation causes damage to another does not extend to the nonowner spouse).
  • Harris v. Tiner, 336 So. 3d 1238 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022) (In an action for damages stemming from an automobile accident in which injured motorist obtained an arbitration award following two rejected proposals for settlement, court discussed validity of settlement for proposals).
  • Olguin v. Olguin, 229 So. 3d 1061 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022) (Even if a plaintiff is permitted to proffer evidence during trial in action for dissolution of marriage, it is error for a trial court to order an involutary dismissal before the plaintiff presents his case-in-chief).
  • MTGLQ Investors, L.P. v. Merrill, 312 So. 3d 986 (Fla. 1st DCA 2021) (Mortgage assignee was entitled to retrieve original promissory note and other loan documents for prior foreclosure action).
  • Deutsche Bank Nat. Trust Co. v. Hagstrom, 203 So. 3d 918 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (determined that section 559.715, Florida Statutes does not create condition precedent to foreclosure).
Nicole Ramirez