Attorney Profile

2014 Corporate Intl Magazine Global Award: 'Employee Rights Attorney of the Year
in Florida'

Our Fort Lauderdale law firm is headed by Donna M. Ballman. Donna Ballman has built a reputation as a skilled and knowledgeable attorney in all of the aspects of labor and employment law, including discrimination,noncompete agreements and employment agreements, pregnancy discrimination and family responsibilities, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation and wrongful termination.

An honors graduate of Wellesley College, Attorney Ballman received her J.D. from the University of Miami, also with honors, in 1986. She has received many awards and honors from her peers in the legal profession, including being named in 2000 as a member of Leading Florida Attorneys* voted on by members of the Florida Bar. She is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2006, has been named a Top South Florida Attorney** by South Florida Legal Guide in 2002-23 and is listed in Who's Who in American Law.* Donna M. Ballman is AV-rated and has received the highest peer review rating under Martindale Hubbell's Peer Review Rating process.***

Donna Ballman has been practicing employee-side employment law in Florida for over 35 years. Donna's book, Stand Up For Yourself Without Getting Fired: Resolve Workplace Crises Before You Quit, Get Axed or Sue the Bastards, was named the Winner of the Law Category of the 2012 USA Best Books Awards. She is also the award-winning author of The Writer's Guide to the Courtroom: Let's Quill All the Lawyers, a book geared toward informing novelists and screenwriters about the ins and outs of the civil justice system. She's been practicing employment law, including negotiating severance agreements and litigating discrimination, sexual harassment, noncompete agreements, and employment law issues in Florida since 1986. Her blog on employee-side employment law issues, Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home, was named one of the ABA Blawg 100 best legal blogs 6 years in a row, one of the top 50 legal blogs in the inaugural ABA Web 100, and the 2011 Lexis/Nexis Top 25 Labor and Employment Law Blogs. Paralegal411 rated her blog #4 in the Top 25 Employment Law Blogs for 2013.

She has written for The Huffington Post and has written a weekly column for AOL Jobs. She has also written for Forbes, Monster.com and Ask A Manager on employment law issues. She has taught continuing legal education classes for lawyers and accountants through organizations such as the American Bar Association, National Employment Lawyers Association, Sterling Education Services, Lorman Education Services, Alison Seminars, the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, National Business Institute and community organizations. Ms. Ballman has published articles on employment law topics such as severance, non-compete agreements, discrimination, sexual harassment, and avoiding litigation. She's been interviewed by MSNBC, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Next Avenue, AARP, Lifetime Television Network, NPR, the Daily Business Review, Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post, and many other media outlets on employment law issues. She was featured on the Forbes Channel's "America's Most Influential Women" program on the topic of severance negotiations and non-compete agreements.

Donna Ballman is the author of the award-winning book, Stand Up For Yourself Without Getting Fired.

"Donna Ballman's book is like having an employment attorney on call to guide workers through every stage of employment, from the job interview onward. It's exactly what employees need."
--Alison Green, author of Ask A Manager blog and career columnist for U.S. News and World Report

Hate your job? Ready to quit?

Facing a layoff before you even have a chance to quit?

Is your boss is a flaming jerk? Think you might have a lawsuit?

If any of these scenarios apply to you, you are facing a crucial career moment. Mistakes and misinformation will cost you dearly.

In Stand Up For Yourself Without Getting Fired, celebrated attorney Donna Ballman provides winning answers to these and many more tough questions, such as:

Donna Ballman is also the author of Behler Publications' "A Writer's Guide to the Courtroom: Let's Quill All the Lawyers"

The book, part of Behler's award-winning "Get it Write" series, is a guide for novelists, screenwriters, and other writers on the ins and outs of the civil justice system. Ms. Ballman also has served on the Editorial Advisory Board for James Publications, a legal publisher, for their employment-related books. Ms. Ballman enjoys writing fiction, but she refuses to write legal thrillers, insisting that her fiction writing take her away from the law. Instead, she concentrates on writing children's books. She received third prize in the international Litopia Writer's Colony short story contest in June 2007, and a finalist award for children's writing in the 2006 South Florida Writer's Guild annual writing competition. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Donna Ballman was interviewed on the Forbes' "America's Most Influential Women" radio program. You can listen to the program by clicking on the SKY RADIO button.

Download the free Windows Media Player application, if necessary:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-media-player

Office Manager/Paralegal
Raquel B. Suarez

*"Leading Florida Attorneys" is determined based upon an extensive survey involving thousands of members of The Florida Bar, and is published by American Research Corporation.
**"Top South Florida Lawyers" was determined and published by South Florida Legal Guide based upon a survey of practicing lawyers.
***Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell Ratings fall into two categories - legal ability and general ethical standards.