Scott is an associate attorney with the firm. He is from Tampa, received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida, and an LL.M. in Real Estate Development from the University of Miami. He has been practicing law for 13 years, and has experience in criminal, family, and real estate law. His inspiration towards becoming a lawyer stemmed from his passion for helping people and the ability to continuously learn new things. Scott’s proudest legal experience is when his motion to suppress and appellate practice permanently changed the way drug trafficking charges are investigated and prosecuted.

I believe that there’s nothing in life that matters more than relationships. The business model of our law firm is founded on the practice of building genuine relationships with our clients and giving them world class legal service. This allows us to get full and fair compensation for them, as well as enriching our lives with lifelong friendships. As a managing partner at Fasig Brooks, I make sure that every client is treated like family. How we treat people matters. I see customer service as not only good for business, but also the way I’m fulfilling my mission in life: to make my community a better place. Life comes down to a series of moments. Some are painful; others are joyful. Sometimes our most painful moments are the catalysts for immense experiences of joy. It’s an amazing honor to support our clients as they recover from injuries, rebuild their lives, and come back stronger. Jimmy is the leader of our personal injury division and lead trial counsel on most of our non-medical malpractice cases. In 2000, he started his law career as a paralegal for what was then Eubanks & Barrett. In his first full year as a lawyer, he litigated a case that resulted in a 1.6 million dollar recovery. His client walked away with more than a million dollars after paying attorney fees and costs. Jimmy became a partner and shareholder in the law firm that same year. Since then, Jimmy has had numerous multimillion and million dollar recoveries. In 2015, he was listed in the nation’s top 1% of lawyers when he obtained a 5.4 million dollar verdict and a 3.1 million dollar judgment from a jury trial in Gadsden County, Florida. Jimmy has witnessed firsthand the way insurance companies and big businesses take advantage of people, and he has developed a strategy he calls the “full court press” strategy for achieving justice for his clients. He loves being a lawyer, and he loves fighting for his clients in front of a jury. His most compelling characteristic is his love for the people he serves. He demonstrates compassion for his clients both in and out of the courtroom. If you are looking for a compassionate, aggressive attorney who will fight for your rights, Jimmy is the attorney for you.

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!

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.

James Claus is a practicing lawyer in the state of Florida. Attorney Claus received his J.D. from Stanford University Law School.

Susan Lawson is a co-founding partner of Lawson and Simmons, PLLC and a Board-Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer. Board certification is the highest level of evaluation recognized by The Florida Bar and is held by only a small percentage of criminal defense attorneys statewide—particularly few women. Susan earned this distinction through demonstrated excellence in trial advocacy, professionalism, ethics, and credibility. Susan has devoted nearly 18 years exclusively to criminal defense, representing clients in serious state and federal criminal matters. She has served as lead counsel in more than 100 jury trials and has handled cases ranging from misdemeanors to complex felony prosecutions carrying substantial liberty and life consequences. While the majority of her career has been based in South Florida, Susan has also practiced in Maryland and the District of Columbia. Before founding Lawson and Simmons, Susan spent over four years as a partner at a prominent South Florida criminal defense firm. Prior to that, she dedicated more than a decade to the Public Defender’s Office, where she handled complex major-crime cases. She has represented both juvenile and adult clients across nearly every category of criminal charge. Susan co-founded Lawson and Simmons to build a firm grounded in thoughtful advocacy, meticulous preparation, and direct attorney involvement in every case.

Mr. Belleh focuses his practice in the areas of Real Property, Bankruptcy, Estate Planning, Business and Immigration Law. He has experience representing public corporations, privately-held corporations, and accredited investors, but takes particular pride in representing entrepreneurs and small business owners – the cornerstone of the American economy. Mr. Belleh is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, in Buffalo, New York, with a concentration in financial transactions. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York and earned a Certificate from the Cours Civilisation Franςaise de la Sorbonne in Paris, France. He served as Corporate Counsel for a real property development firm, where he focused on the formation and operation of Real Estate Investment Trusts, real property acquisition and development, finance, and title insurance matters. He also worked as a commercial litigation associate at boutique litigation firm in Miami, where he focused in commercial disputes and business torts. He has extensive experience representing mortgage lenders and real property developers and investors. Mr. Belleh has jury and bench trial experience and has argued several cases successfully before the District Court of Appeal. Mr. Belleh serves as Corporate Counsel for a number of privately-held companies based in South Florida and operating in a cross-section of industries. He is an agent of the Attorney Title Insurance Fund and Old Republic Title Insurance and the owner/operator of Brightstar Title & Escrow, INC. He is admitted to practice in the Florida Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, and the United States Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Belleh is also a member of the Florida Bar Real Property and Probate Section, the American Bar Association, the Broward County Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Shelby Sielaff is a licensed attorney in Florida and serves as the Associate Attorney and Head of Legal Operations at The Immigration Advocates. With nine years of experience in the legal field, Ms. Sielaff brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the firm. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies from the University of Central Florida and her Juris Doctor from Barry University School of Law, where she distinguished herself in leadership roles within organizations such as the Women Lawyers Association, Student Bar Association, and Barry Environmental & Earth Law Journal. Ms. Sielaff’s leadership, academic achievements, and practical experience make her an invaluable asset to The Immigration Advocates team. Her passion for helping clients achieve their immigration goals is evident in her dedication to making a positive impact in the field. With her strong background in legal operations and commitment to excellence, Ms. Sielaff is well-positioned to lead and enhance the services provided by The Immigration Advocates.

Tamaira Rivera, Senior Legal Counsel at The Immigration Advocates, brings a wealth of expertise in immigration law and is a licensed attorney in the State of Florida and Washington D.C. With extensive experience as a former Immigration Judge and as an ICE immigration prosecutor with the Department of Homeland Security, Ms. Rivera is well-versed in complex immigration matters and committed to serving her clients with precision and dedication. Ms. Rivera also served with distinction as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer in the U.S. Air Force for ten years, attaining the rank of Major. Ms. Rivera was stationed in Texas, Arizona, Washington, D.C., as well as international postings in Okinawa, Japan, and Madrid, Spain. A native Spanish speaker, Ms. Rivera has a passion for travel, theater, and discovering local events and culinary spots. Her diverse background and dedication make her an invaluable asset to our team and clients.