Florida Lawyers for Employers
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This firm is committed to support and defend the Constitution of the United States
of America and the Constitution of the State of Florida, to maintain the respect due
to American Courts of Justice and its judicial officers, to attain the highest level of
skill for its members, to improve the law, to exemplify the legal profession's ideals
of public service to its citizens, and to safeguard the American Legal System -- that
its flames may reach those who offend it, so that all may realize justice, democracy,
freedom from government oppression, and the protection of individual rights.
ALEXANDER PENALTA, Esquire is an American Trial Lawyer born in Matanzas
City, Cuba and is of Galecian Spanish descent. He was raised in Oklahoma and
has resided in Florida over 29 years.
Mr. Penalta is a shareholder at the Law Firm of Penalta & Stiger, P.A. and is
licensed to practice in Florida and Washington, D.C. He is a Supreme Court
Certified Arbitrator fluent in English and Spanish. He concentrates his practice on
representing and defending Florida Families, Florida Entrepreneurs, Small and
Medium Business Owners and Fortune 500 Companies in Business Litigation,
Unemployment Insurance, UC Appeals, EEOC Investigations, Independent
Contractor Tax Determinations, Employment Claims, and Civil and Criminal
Employment Trials. As a former Appeals Referee for the Florida Department of
Labor & Employment Security, Division of Unemployment Compensation, Bureau of
Appeals, he is experienced in representing and defending businesses and former
management throughout Florida in a variety of legal issues.
Alexander is presently an Adjunct Associate Professor at Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University of Daytona Beach, Florida, Fort Lauderdale Area Resident
Center, Division of Business Administration. He teaches "Seminar in Aviation
Labor Relations," "Aviation Law," and "Federal Regulations, Ethics and the Legal
System," to pilots, maintenance personnel, and aviation management. He is a
licensed FAA Private Pilot.
From 1995 to 1998, Mr Penalta served as an Adjunct Professor at Florida Atlantic
University at Boca Raton, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Leadership
and taught "Education and the Law" to education graduates regarding legal issues
facing public and private sector employees and employers. Mr. Penalta has jointly
authored "OSHA Regulations' Potential Impact on the Dive Industry." with Robert F.
Millott, Ed.D., Milledge Murphey, Ph.D., Mary Beth Horodoski, Ed.D. in the National
Journal of Underwater Education (1995).
Mr. Penalta was the legal advisor to the University of Florida, College of Health and
Human Performance, Academic Diving Program; National YMCA Scuba Program-
Florida Field; U.S. Underwater Federation and the National Association for Cave
Diving. He has spoken before the Broward County Bar Assoc., Labor and
Employment Section on "Tactics and Procedures before the Florida Dept. of Labor
and Employment Security, Div. of Unemployment Compensation Bureau of
Appeals." Alexander Penalta has been a guest on several radio and television
interviews including RADIO FIESTA, WLVS-AM1380, Morning Show with Dante
Medina & Helman Ruiz, "Sexual Harassment & The Jury System (Spanish)". His
past membership activities include the Assoc. of Former Intelligence Officers
(AFIO); Individual Rights Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section of
the Florida Bar; The ABA, Labor and Employment Section, Young Lawyer's Division;
The Broward County Bar Assoc., Labor and Employment Section, Young Lawyer's
Division; Palm Beach County Bar Assoc.; Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce;
South Palm Beach County Bar Assoc.; Hispanic Bar Assoc. of Palm Beach County;
Cuban-American Bar Assoc; National Assoc. of Administrative Law Judges; ATLA ;
The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers; The Florida Bar Speakers Committee.
He has served as a Legislative Aid for Republican State Representative Nancy
Brown, in the Kansas House of Representatives, Office of the 27th District at the
Kansas State Legislature in Topeka, Kansas.
Alexander Penalta is a former U.S. Naval Reserve Officer, LTjg, Judge Advocate
Generals Corps, (JAG), Honorably Discharged in June 1992 and a recipient of the
National Defense Medal, M-16 Rifle Marksman, Operation Desert Shield/Desert
Storm for military service during the Persian Gulf War.
Mr. Penalta is experienced in sailing Sloops and Catamarans. He holds multiple
American Sailing Association (ASA) Sailing Certifications and is a United States
Coast Guard (USCG) Licensed Captain and a USCG Licensed Master with Sailing
Endorsements.
Alexander was trained by two time World Champion Frank Hawley at the Gainesville
Raceway and is licensed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to race
Super Comp Dragsters and ET Bracket Class Race Cars. He is a member of the
NSX Club of America, Scuderia Ferrari and Exotics Club of South Florida, the BMW
Car Club of North America, and S2k (S2000 Honda Motorsports) International. He
has participated in Pace Car activities at the Inaugural Street Race in St.
Petersburg, Florida for the Indy Racing League on behalf of S2k International and
Honda of North America. Alexander has served as a Teen Survival Safety Instructor
for BMW CCA in Palm Beach, Florida and is proponent of educating teenage drivers
on motor vehicle safety throughout the state in public and private schools. Mr.
Penalta has attended Bertil Roos Racing School at Moroso, Richard Petty Driving
Experience at Disney Raceway and Daytona Super Speedway, and Mario Andretti
Racing School at Homestead Speedway.
Mr. Penalta is a graduate of Boca Raton High School (1983), and the University of
Florida (B.A. 1987), and of Washburn University of Topeka, School of Law (J.D.
1991). Washburn School of Law is best known for the trial lawyers it has historically
produced, as well as for being credited with creating one of the first law clinics in
the nation which later served as a model for other law schools. Among its most
notable graduates are the honorable former Senate Majority Leader and past
president-elect Bob Dole, and the esteemed CBS News reporter Bill Kurtis of the
popular "A&E's -- Investigative Reports." Among the most famous cases tried by
Washburn Law graduates are the class action Dalkon-Shields case, the $10.3
billion dollar case of Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco Inc., and the landmark United States
Supreme Court case of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education.
NOTABLE JURY TRIALS
CIVIL: Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida. The plaintiff,
a 29 year old commercial airline 727 pilot survived a three impact crash of a Beech
55 Baron light twin-engine aircraft, while riding as a passenger in the back seat.
The airplane crashed due to negligence and pilot-induced oscillation in the landing
phase. Plaintiff suffered multiple herniated disks at the hands of the defendant. The
jury returned a verdict in the amount of Three Million ($3,950,000.00) Nine-Hundred
Fifty Thousand Dollars. Alexander Penalta, Lead Trial Attorney for the Plaintiffs.
CRIMINAL: Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Dade County, Florida. Decorated for
service in Beirut, Lebanon, the defendant, a 29 year old former U.S. Marine Sniper
and survivor of the Marine barracks bombing in 1983 was attacked by two patrons
in July 1994 while working as security at Solid Gold in North Miami Beach in Florida.
Charged with Attempted 2nd Degree Murder, the jury returned an acquittal after a
four day jury trial in Miami, Florida in which use of deadly force at one's place of
employment was successfully asserted. Gary Ostrow and Alexander Penalta,
Attorneys for the Defendant.
ACADEMIC INSTRUCTIONAL EXPERIENCE
St. Thomas University, The Archdiocesan Catholic University of Florida, Department
of Management. Graduate Curriculum for the Masters in Science Management
Program: MAN 710 Legal of Business Administration; MAN 712 Labor Relations
and The Law. Adjunct Professor Miami, Florida
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University of Daytona Beach, Florida, Fort Lauderdale
Area Resident Center, Division of Aeronautical Science. Undergraduate Curriculum:
AS 405 Aviation Law; BA 390 Business Law; BA 632 Seminar in Aviation Labor
Relations; BA 322 Aviation Insurance and Risk Management: Graduate Curriculum:
BA 655 Aviation Law & Insurance; Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky Aircraft, and Pratt &
Whitney - United Technologies Rocket Propulsion Engineers: MSTM 620 The Legal
& Regulatory Environment of Business, Adjunct Associate Professor Fort
Lauderdale, Florida
Lynn University, College of Business. Graduate Curriculum for the Masters in
Business Administration Program: MBA 510 Legal Aspects of Business
Administration, Undergraduate Curriculum Business Law I (312) and Business
Law II (313). Adjunct Professor, Boca Raton, Florida Florida Atlantic University at
Boca Raton, College of Education,Department of Educational Leadership.
Graduate Curriculum: EDA 6232 Education and the Law, Adjunct Professor, Davie
Campus & North PalmBeach Campus - Davie, Florida
University of Florida, College of Health and Human Performance, Department of
Exercise and Sport Sciences, Academic Diving Program. Undergraduate
Curriculum: Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Assistant Instructor and Instructor,
Assistant Director and Adjunct Instructor, Gainesville, Florida
COLLEEN M. STIGER, Esquire is a shareholder in the Law Firm of Penalta &
Stiger, P.A. in Boca Raton, Florida. Ms. Stiger limits her practice to representing
selected individuals who have been seriously injured.
Since becoming a resident of Florida, she has been actively involved in a number of
charitable organizations. She was honored as Soroptimist International Boca
Raton/Deerfield's "Women of Distinction" for her professional and charitable
accomplishments. She was also honored as "Boca's Best" by the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation for being one of the most outstanding single professionals in the Boca
Raton Community for her outstanding charitable and civic contributions to the South
Florida community. She was featured in the Sun Sentinel as an "Attorney Honored
for Helping Others". Ms. Stiger and the law firm were spot lighted on NBC in Tonya
Rogers' Power Woman Series.
She has Co-Chaired two Arthritis Creaky Bones Costume Balls and Co-Chaired
two Arthritis Magic of Caring Fashion Shows. She was on the Boca Bacchanal
Committee from 2002 to 2003. She served on the Advisory Council of Broward
Meals on Wheels from 1993 to 1999, the Executive Board of Directors of Broward
Meals on Wheels from 1999 to 2001, Recording Secretary 1999 to 2001, Board of
Directors from 2001 to present and has been the Legal Committee Chairperson
from 1999 to present. She is on the Cystic Fibrosis Leading Men committee for
2003.
From 1997 to 1999, Ms. Stiger served as the President of the Boca Raton Alumnae
Chapter of Delta Gamma Fraternity. She was a member of the Theater Guild at the
Royal Palm Festival Dinner Theater Center. She has served on the Friends of
Debbie-Rand Board of Directors for the Boca Raton Community Hospital from 1999
to present, Corresponding Secretary 2000 to 2001, Membership Chairperson 2001-
2002, Chairperson from 2001 to 2002, Treasurer 2002, Dinner with Friends Co-
Chairperson 2001-2003, Debbie-Memorial Service League Ways and Means from
2001 to 2002. She has also received her 100 hour pin for service at the Boca Raton
Community Hospital.
She is a member of the Florida Bar and Pennsylvania Bar. She received Certificates
of Appreciation for recognition of dedicated and distinguished service from the
South Palm Beach County Bar Association from 1997 to 1999. Ms. Stiger is a
member of the Florida Bar Association and has been on the Florida Bar President's
Speaker's Bureau since 1997 and has served as Chairperson of the Immigration
Section of the South Palm Beach County Bar Association.
She served on the Little Palm Family Theatre Annual Gala, "Give My Regards to
Broadway " Committee in 2003. She is an active member of the Kiwanis Club of
Boca Raton Sunrise since 2003. She has also participated in walk-a-thons for the
Arthritis Foundation, Broward County Meals on Wheels, Diabetes Foundation,
March of Dimes and MS.
She is an active member of GFWC Royale Woman's Club since 2002. She co-
chaired the Honor Your Doctor Luncheon Drawing and served as the Master of
Ceremonies. Ms. Stiger was an active member of the Boca Raton Chapter of Zonta
International since 1996 and has served on the Board of Directors from 1998 to
2001as Recording Secretary, Director and Nomination Committee in 2002, and
Second Vice Present from 2002 to present.
Ms. Stiger is a graduate of Vermont Law School (Juris Doctor 1991) and holds a
Masters in Environmental Law (LLM, 1992). She attended undergraduate at
Washington & Jefferson College with a concentration in English & Business
Administration (B.A. 1988).
of America and the Constitution of the State of Florida, to maintain the respect due
to American Courts of Justice and its judicial officers, to attain the highest level of
skill for its members, to improve the law, to exemplify the legal profession's ideals
of public service to its citizens, and to safeguard the American Legal System -- that
its flames may reach those who offend it, so that all may realize justice, democracy,
freedom from government oppression, and the protection of individual rights.
ALEXANDER PENALTA, Esquire is an American Trial Lawyer born in Matanzas
City, Cuba and is of Galecian Spanish descent. He was raised in Oklahoma and
has resided in Florida over 29 years.
Mr. Penalta is a shareholder at the Law Firm of Penalta & Stiger, P.A. and is
licensed to practice in Florida and Washington, D.C. He is a Supreme Court
Certified Arbitrator fluent in English and Spanish. He concentrates his practice on
representing and defending Florida Families, Florida Entrepreneurs, Small and
Medium Business Owners and Fortune 500 Companies in Business Litigation,
Unemployment Insurance, UC Appeals, EEOC Investigations, Independent
Contractor Tax Determinations, Employment Claims, and Civil and Criminal
Employment Trials. As a former Appeals Referee for the Florida Department of
Labor & Employment Security, Division of Unemployment Compensation, Bureau of
Appeals, he is experienced in representing and defending businesses and former
management throughout Florida in a variety of legal issues.
Alexander is presently an Adjunct Associate Professor at Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University of Daytona Beach, Florida, Fort Lauderdale Area Resident
Center, Division of Business Administration. He teaches "Seminar in Aviation
Labor Relations," "Aviation Law," and "Federal Regulations, Ethics and the Legal
System," to pilots, maintenance personnel, and aviation management. He is a
licensed FAA Private Pilot.
From 1995 to 1998, Mr Penalta served as an Adjunct Professor at Florida Atlantic
University at Boca Raton, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Leadership
and taught "Education and the Law" to education graduates regarding legal issues
facing public and private sector employees and employers. Mr. Penalta has jointly
authored "OSHA Regulations' Potential Impact on the Dive Industry." with Robert F.
Millott, Ed.D., Milledge Murphey, Ph.D., Mary Beth Horodoski, Ed.D. in the National
Journal of Underwater Education (1995).
Mr. Penalta was the legal advisor to the University of Florida, College of Health and
Human Performance, Academic Diving Program; National YMCA Scuba Program-
Florida Field; U.S. Underwater Federation and the National Association for Cave
Diving. He has spoken before the Broward County Bar Assoc., Labor and
Employment Section on "Tactics and Procedures before the Florida Dept. of Labor
and Employment Security, Div. of Unemployment Compensation Bureau of
Appeals." Alexander Penalta has been a guest on several radio and television
interviews including RADIO FIESTA, WLVS-AM1380, Morning Show with Dante
Medina & Helman Ruiz, "Sexual Harassment & The Jury System (Spanish)". His
past membership activities include the Assoc. of Former Intelligence Officers
(AFIO); Individual Rights Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section of
the Florida Bar; The ABA, Labor and Employment Section, Young Lawyer's Division;
The Broward County Bar Assoc., Labor and Employment Section, Young Lawyer's
Division; Palm Beach County Bar Assoc.; Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce;
South Palm Beach County Bar Assoc.; Hispanic Bar Assoc. of Palm Beach County;
Cuban-American Bar Assoc; National Assoc. of Administrative Law Judges; ATLA ;
The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers; The Florida Bar Speakers Committee.
He has served as a Legislative Aid for Republican State Representative Nancy
Brown, in the Kansas House of Representatives, Office of the 27th District at the
Kansas State Legislature in Topeka, Kansas.
Alexander Penalta is a former U.S. Naval Reserve Officer, LTjg, Judge Advocate
Generals Corps, (JAG), Honorably Discharged in June 1992 and a recipient of the
National Defense Medal, M-16 Rifle Marksman, Operation Desert Shield/Desert
Storm for military service during the Persian Gulf War.
Mr. Penalta is experienced in sailing Sloops and Catamarans. He holds multiple
American Sailing Association (ASA) Sailing Certifications and is a United States
Coast Guard (USCG) Licensed Captain and a USCG Licensed Master with Sailing
Endorsements.
Alexander was trained by two time World Champion Frank Hawley at the Gainesville
Raceway and is licensed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to race
Super Comp Dragsters and ET Bracket Class Race Cars. He is a member of the
NSX Club of America, Scuderia Ferrari and Exotics Club of South Florida, the BMW
Car Club of North America, and S2k (S2000 Honda Motorsports) International. He
has participated in Pace Car activities at the Inaugural Street Race in St.
Petersburg, Florida for the Indy Racing League on behalf of S2k International and
Honda of North America. Alexander has served as a Teen Survival Safety Instructor
for BMW CCA in Palm Beach, Florida and is proponent of educating teenage drivers
on motor vehicle safety throughout the state in public and private schools. Mr.
Penalta has attended Bertil Roos Racing School at Moroso, Richard Petty Driving
Experience at Disney Raceway and Daytona Super Speedway, and Mario Andretti
Racing School at Homestead Speedway.
Mr. Penalta is a graduate of Boca Raton High School (1983), and the University of
Florida (B.A. 1987), and of Washburn University of Topeka, School of Law (J.D.
1991). Washburn School of Law is best known for the trial lawyers it has historically
produced, as well as for being credited with creating one of the first law clinics in
the nation which later served as a model for other law schools. Among its most
notable graduates are the honorable former Senate Majority Leader and past
president-elect Bob Dole, and the esteemed CBS News reporter Bill Kurtis of the
popular "A&E's -- Investigative Reports." Among the most famous cases tried by
Washburn Law graduates are the class action Dalkon-Shields case, the $10.3
billion dollar case of Pennzoil Co. v. Texaco Inc., and the landmark United States
Supreme Court case of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education.
NOTABLE JURY TRIALS
CIVIL: Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, Florida. The plaintiff,
a 29 year old commercial airline 727 pilot survived a three impact crash of a Beech
55 Baron light twin-engine aircraft, while riding as a passenger in the back seat.
The airplane crashed due to negligence and pilot-induced oscillation in the landing
phase. Plaintiff suffered multiple herniated disks at the hands of the defendant. The
jury returned a verdict in the amount of Three Million ($3,950,000.00) Nine-Hundred
Fifty Thousand Dollars. Alexander Penalta, Lead Trial Attorney for the Plaintiffs.
CRIMINAL: Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Dade County, Florida. Decorated for
service in Beirut, Lebanon, the defendant, a 29 year old former U.S. Marine Sniper
and survivor of the Marine barracks bombing in 1983 was attacked by two patrons
in July 1994 while working as security at Solid Gold in North Miami Beach in Florida.
Charged with Attempted 2nd Degree Murder, the jury returned an acquittal after a
four day jury trial in Miami, Florida in which use of deadly force at one's place of
employment was successfully asserted. Gary Ostrow and Alexander Penalta,
Attorneys for the Defendant.
ACADEMIC INSTRUCTIONAL EXPERIENCE
St. Thomas University, The Archdiocesan Catholic University of Florida, Department
of Management. Graduate Curriculum for the Masters in Science Management
Program: MAN 710 Legal of Business Administration; MAN 712 Labor Relations
and The Law. Adjunct Professor Miami, Florida
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University of Daytona Beach, Florida, Fort Lauderdale
Area Resident Center, Division of Aeronautical Science. Undergraduate Curriculum:
AS 405 Aviation Law; BA 390 Business Law; BA 632 Seminar in Aviation Labor
Relations; BA 322 Aviation Insurance and Risk Management: Graduate Curriculum:
BA 655 Aviation Law & Insurance; Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky Aircraft, and Pratt &
Whitney - United Technologies Rocket Propulsion Engineers: MSTM 620 The Legal
& Regulatory Environment of Business, Adjunct Associate Professor Fort
Lauderdale, Florida
Lynn University, College of Business. Graduate Curriculum for the Masters in
Business Administration Program: MBA 510 Legal Aspects of Business
Administration, Undergraduate Curriculum Business Law I (312) and Business
Law II (313). Adjunct Professor, Boca Raton, Florida Florida Atlantic University at
Boca Raton, College of Education,Department of Educational Leadership.
Graduate Curriculum: EDA 6232 Education and the Law, Adjunct Professor, Davie
Campus & North PalmBeach Campus - Davie, Florida
University of Florida, College of Health and Human Performance, Department of
Exercise and Sport Sciences, Academic Diving Program. Undergraduate
Curriculum: Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Assistant Instructor and Instructor,
Assistant Director and Adjunct Instructor, Gainesville, Florida
COLLEEN M. STIGER, Esquire is a shareholder in the Law Firm of Penalta &
Stiger, P.A. in Boca Raton, Florida. Ms. Stiger limits her practice to representing
selected individuals who have been seriously injured.
Since becoming a resident of Florida, she has been actively involved in a number of
charitable organizations. She was honored as Soroptimist International Boca
Raton/Deerfield's "Women of Distinction" for her professional and charitable
accomplishments. She was also honored as "Boca's Best" by the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation for being one of the most outstanding single professionals in the Boca
Raton Community for her outstanding charitable and civic contributions to the South
Florida community. She was featured in the Sun Sentinel as an "Attorney Honored
for Helping Others". Ms. Stiger and the law firm were spot lighted on NBC in Tonya
Rogers' Power Woman Series.
She has Co-Chaired two Arthritis Creaky Bones Costume Balls and Co-Chaired
two Arthritis Magic of Caring Fashion Shows. She was on the Boca Bacchanal
Committee from 2002 to 2003. She served on the Advisory Council of Broward
Meals on Wheels from 1993 to 1999, the Executive Board of Directors of Broward
Meals on Wheels from 1999 to 2001, Recording Secretary 1999 to 2001, Board of
Directors from 2001 to present and has been the Legal Committee Chairperson
from 1999 to present. She is on the Cystic Fibrosis Leading Men committee for
2003.
From 1997 to 1999, Ms. Stiger served as the President of the Boca Raton Alumnae
Chapter of Delta Gamma Fraternity. She was a member of the Theater Guild at the
Royal Palm Festival Dinner Theater Center. She has served on the Friends of
Debbie-Rand Board of Directors for the Boca Raton Community Hospital from 1999
to present, Corresponding Secretary 2000 to 2001, Membership Chairperson 2001-
2002, Chairperson from 2001 to 2002, Treasurer 2002, Dinner with Friends Co-
Chairperson 2001-2003, Debbie-Memorial Service League Ways and Means from
2001 to 2002. She has also received her 100 hour pin for service at the Boca Raton
Community Hospital.
She is a member of the Florida Bar and Pennsylvania Bar. She received Certificates
of Appreciation for recognition of dedicated and distinguished service from the
South Palm Beach County Bar Association from 1997 to 1999. Ms. Stiger is a
member of the Florida Bar Association and has been on the Florida Bar President's
Speaker's Bureau since 1997 and has served as Chairperson of the Immigration
Section of the South Palm Beach County Bar Association.
She served on the Little Palm Family Theatre Annual Gala, "Give My Regards to
Broadway " Committee in 2003. She is an active member of the Kiwanis Club of
Boca Raton Sunrise since 2003. She has also participated in walk-a-thons for the
Arthritis Foundation, Broward County Meals on Wheels, Diabetes Foundation,
March of Dimes and MS.
She is an active member of GFWC Royale Woman's Club since 2002. She co-
chaired the Honor Your Doctor Luncheon Drawing and served as the Master of
Ceremonies. Ms. Stiger was an active member of the Boca Raton Chapter of Zonta
International since 1996 and has served on the Board of Directors from 1998 to
2001as Recording Secretary, Director and Nomination Committee in 2002, and
Second Vice Present from 2002 to present.
Ms. Stiger is a graduate of Vermont Law School (Juris Doctor 1991) and holds a
Masters in Environmental Law (LLM, 1992). She attended undergraduate at
Washington & Jefferson College with a concentration in English & Business
Administration (B.A. 1988).
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