Thank you for looking at our site. I hope we are able to help you. Rather than just giving you the “typical” biographical information, I want to tell you about myself. I have a strong sense of justice. All my friends and family would tell you it is absolutely true, but I once took a personality test that confirmed it! Seriously, when Chris [Klotz, my former partner] and I started our previous firm, we took personality tests to determine if we would work well together, and it confirmed that justice is extremely important to me. That is probably why I became a trial lawyer. The courtroom is the great leveling of the playing field. I enjoy taking on big opponents for the disadvantaged or the oppressed. I feel helping individuals fight against big corporations or the government is a calling of mine. My clients hire me because they know I will fight for them. Sometimes cases go to trial. Sometimes they do not. Regardless, I am always prepared to try a case and to aggressively represent my clients within the scope of the law. I am constantly studying the law and the latest strategies for being a successful lawyer. I regularly talk with other lawyers about what has worked best in their practice and share my own experiences with them so that they can help their clients. Many lawyers try to keep information or strategies to themselves because they are afraid that other lawyers will compete with them for business. I feel that if I can help another lawyer help his or her client, then I have not lost business, but have helped someone gain justice. I am a native Floridian. I was born in Pensacola and graduated from Gulf Breeze High School. I attended college at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. I majored in American History and felt a strong call to become a lawyer after realizing just how short we sometimes fall of the American Dream. I went to law school at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and passed the Florida Bar shortly after. I am also licensed in Federal courts and in Alabama. I have represented clients from Huntsville, Hayneville, Foley, and Mobile, Alabama to Pensacola, Fort Walton, Marianna, Jacksonville, and Tampa, Florida. I have found that the American system of justice is the same in each place. It is the greatest system in the world despite its flaws. I spent my early years as a lawyer honing my trial skills through stints as a prosecutor and an insurance defense lawyer. However, I have found my passion is representing individuals in the courtroom against those who mistreat them. I grew up in the waters and the forests of Florida and Alabama’s Gulf Coast, and I chose to move back home because of the natural beauty of the area. I find strength spending time with my family on the waters of Pensacola Bay or the Gulf of Mexico or among the pine woods of South Alabama. Watching my kids play sports (they play baseball, soccer, and football) gives me great joy. If I am not in the office, I am likely enjoying outdoor activity with my wife or children. I am also active in the community and civic organizations including governing boards for Christ Church, Pathways for Change, and St. John’s Cemetery. I have played drums since I was 10 years old, and Chris [Klotz] and I play in a rock and roll band called Alcaniz. We play in different venues around Pensacola like Hopjacks, The Fish House, The Bridge Bar, and Seville Quarter. Come see us play some time!

Hi, I’m Clifford Wells and thank you for taking the time to check out my attorney bio. For the last 2 decades, I’ve worked as a personal injury lawyer pursuing claims on behalf of my clients in Pinellas, FL. I’m highly experienced with automobile collisions, tractor trailer accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrians who have been hit by a car, workplace accidents, faulty or defective products, negligent maintenance or repairs of property (premises liability), and slip and fall claims. Out of approximately 118,784 attorneys in Florida, only 1,037 of us have been Certified as an expert by the Florida Bar for Civil Trial. These are the only attorneys that can use “B.C.S.” after their name, which stands for Board Certified Specialist. I have extensive experience fighting insurance companies for failing to adequately reimburse their insureds and refusing to pay injury claims for injured people in cases ranging from injury, wrongful death, uninsured/underinsured motorist, homeowners insurance, and other property damage claims. I attend ongoing training and education as well as spend countless hours studying and perfecting negotiation and trial strategies. I am genuinely interested in the intricacies of negotiations and trial presentation. Although people sometimes make fun of me for it, I actually read books about trial technique and strategy while I’m on vacation.

Fermin Lopez strongly believes in service to others. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Lopez served with the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, Africa. He also served with the 2nd Infantry Division in Camp Casey, South Korea and later as a paratrooper with the 18th Airborne Corps in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. A decorated soldier, Mr. Lopez is not only certified as a military parachutist, but the U.S. Army also awarded him the distinguished Air Assault badge, certified him in Military Mountaineering and Rappelling, classified him as an “expert marksman” as well as a making him a U.S. Army Master Fitness Trainer. He is also a “distinguished graduate” from the Army’s Primary Leadership Development Course, from which Mr. Lopez graduated with honors. He completed his collegiate undergraduate studies at the University of Central Florida and graduated from the University of Florida College of Law with honors in trial advocacy. Mr. Lopez was an adjunct professor at the Barry University School of Law from 2006 to 2019, while also serving as a head coach for their mock trial program. He is also a past-president of the Central Florida Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Lopez has served on multiple local boards of directors, including the Hispanic Bar Association of Central Florida, the Orange County Bar Association, and most recently serving on the Board for the COAMED Foundation which provides medical services to under-served communities in Central and South America and with whom Mr. Lopez has participated on medical mission trips.

Mr. Young received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Rollins College in 1982; a Master of Business Administration degree from the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business in 1992; and a Juris Doctorate from Barry University School of Law in 2004. Before attending law school, Mr. Young spent over eight years working in the securities industry. During that period, he was a Vice President at a global securities and money management firm located in Winter Park, Florida, holding licenses as a General Securities Registered Representative (Series 7), a Registered Investment Advisor Representative (Series 65), a Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination (Series 63) and Florida Insurance and Variable Annuity. Mr. Young joined the firm of Colling Gilbert Wright in September 2006 after spending several years practicing plaintiff-side securities litigation with Hooper & Weiss, LLC. He continues to focus his practice on assisting clients with recouping investment losses due to brokerage firm negligence and fraud. Mr. Young also serves as a County Court Mediator in the Orange County Florida Court System. The Supreme Court of Florida, the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar, and the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association recognized Mr. Young for exceptional pro bono service from 2006 through 2024. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Young has personally litigated and resolved over 700 hundred FINRA (formerly NASD) arbitration Claims recovering tens of millions of dollars in investor losses. Additionally, Mr. Young serves as Co-Chair of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Securities and Financial Fraud Litigation Group, was the 2020 recipient of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA) Outstanding Service Award, and currently services on the PIABA Board of Directors.

In the first part of my career, I represented several Fortune 500 companies and tried cases all across the state. I now use that knowledge to help individuals and families through the claim and litigation process. I truly enjoy taking the complicated and making it uncomplicated.

Attorney Edward Rue joined Rue and Ziffra’s team of attorneys in 2006 and was announced as a partner in 2012. Mr. Rue concentrates his practice in several different areas, from auto accident cases to long-term disability to numerous general personal injury matters. Along with being a member of our trial team, Ed is one of the firm’s top researchers for cases. Before coming to Rue & Ziffra, Mr. Rue practiced criminal and insurance defense. He understands how insurance companies and defense attorneys evaluate and defend cases, and he uses that knowledge and experience to the advantage of his current clients. As a top law student at the University of Wisconsin Law School, Mr. Rue won the Wisconsin State Bar Law School Award for the Highest Achievement in Torts. Also, as a member of the Wisconsin Law Review, Mr. Rue won the William Herbert Page Award for the best Wisconsin Law Review article. Mr. Rue presently holds admissions in the Florida Bar Association, all Florida Courts, the Wisconsin Bar, all Wisconsin Courts, the Volusia County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Florida Justice Association, the American Association for Justice, and the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives. He is also admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Having watched a close family member go through the process of applying for disability benefits, he knows it can be a long, complicated, and frustrating process. Mr. Rue applies that personal understanding to every disability case he handles throughout his career. His experience doesn’t stop there, as Mr. Rue handles slip and fall cases, premise liability cases, and has fought for justice for hundreds of auto accident victims. Clients find it easy to speak with Mr. Rue as he is a welcoming person and goes the extra mile for his clients.

Darren Coleman has been practicing workers’ compensation and personal injury law in Central Florida for over two decades. Mr. Coleman has personal experience with the devastation that an on-the-job accident can cause a family. Mr. Coleman’s grandfather had to drop out of school at a very young age and go to work in factories to support his mother and younger sisters following a crippling work-related accident to his father while working for a railroad company. Mr. Coleman has empathy for all Florida’s injured workers. Originally from Virginia Beach, he received his Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. After his undergraduate studies, Mr. Coleman worked as an insurance adjuster in Columbus, Ohio, representing many large insurance companies in automobile and slip and fall accident claims. Before attending law school, he also worked as a teacher in several developing countries. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Mr. Coleman traveled to the Republic of Latvia (his mother’s homeland), where he helped start the nation’s first charitable organization for the aid of orphaned or abandoned children. Mr. Coleman took his law school entrance exam while teaching in Seoul, Korea, and thereafter obtained his law degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He began his legal career defending insurance companies and employers in workers’ compensation claims. Seeking greater job fulfillment, Mr. Coleman joined Rue & Ziffra in 2004 and was named a partner in 2014. He now uses his first-hand knowledge of the insurance industry to fight for the rights of Florida’s injured workers. Mr. Coleman is also accredited through the Veterans’ Administration to represent veterans with their disability claims. For more than a decade, Mr. Coleman has supported a disadvantaged African child through the Children’s Fund and a chimpanzee rescued from a research lab through Help Save the Chimps. For enjoyment, Mr. Coleman played rugby for many years and now engages in the much safer sport of running. He likes to run in Central Florida 5K’s, several of which have been for charitable organizations sponsored by Rue & Ziffra. He is also the very proud owner of a very handsome but rambunctious Irish Setter named Riley. If you ever pass by someone in Port Orange running with a big red dog, it will be Mr. Coleman and Riley.

Mrs. Bouck has lived in Florida with her family for over 40 years. She graduated cum laude in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of West Florida and received her Juris Doctorate in 1984 from Loyola University School of Law. Admitted to the Florida Bar in 1985, Mrs. Bouck has practiced law in the Daytona Beach area for nearly two decades, joining the Law Firm of Rue & Ziffra in 2005. Mrs. Bouck has represented and defended healthcare providers and the insurance industry for allegations of breach of contract, failure to obtain informed consent, as well as failing to perform, and breaching the acceptable standard of care. The majority of time has been spent representing victims of medical malpractice. During her career in law, Mrs. Bouck has been fortunate to work with many fine, bright, and talented professionals. Law has proven to be an amazing career, and disputed resolutions are at the heart of her practice. Medical malpractice litigation requires great scrutiny of detailed documents. Mrs. Bouck prefers and often conducts this analytical review herself. Mediation and arbitration are common methods of resolving litigation cases, and she has been very successful in this endeavor. Mrs. Bouck is a certified risk manager and a member of the Board of Arbitrators, Dispute Resolution, Inc., the National Association of Securities Dealers, Volusia County Bar Association, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, and other professional organizations. Mrs. Bouck is also one of the Top 25 Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyers.

Attorney Matthew Mitchell is a native of Volusia County, having been born and raised in Ormond Beach. After graduating with the highest honors from Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, Matthew went on to attend the University of Florida. Mr. Mitchell graduated with honors from UF in 2004, where he dual majored in Political Science and Criminology. In 2008, Matthew earned his Juris Doctorate from The Florida State University College of Law. Mr. Mitchell first joined Rue & Ziffra in October of 2008 and became a shareholder with the firm in January of 2019. With his practice now focused exclusively on first and third-party personal injury matters, Mr. Mitchell is committed to aggressively advocating for the rights of his injured clients and their families. Ever mindful of the needs of his clients, Mr. Mitchell believes in an individualized approach to each case, for which the ultimate goal is to achieve an outcome that is most favorable for the injured. As a detail-oriented lawyer, Mr. Mitchell is responsive to his clients and thoroughly prepares each case from its inception up to and through its resolution. Mr. Mitchell has recovered millions of dollars on behalf of those injured and wronged by others and insurance companies. In addition to being admitted to the Florida Bar Association and all Florida State Courts, Mr. Mitchell presently holds memberships with the Volusia County Bar Association, the Florida Justice Association, the American Association for Justice, and the Trial Lawyers Section of the Florida Bar. He is also admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. When away from the office, Mr. Mitchell devotes much of his free time to boating, fishing, and spending time with family and friends. Mr. Mitchell is an avid supporter of the University of Florida Athletic Association, and you can frequently find him attending Gators sporting events.