Denise C. Desmond

Denise Desmond is a seasoned family law and appellate attorney, as well as a certified mediator. With 25 years of experience, she has successfully handled or worked on hundreds of cases – many very complex and high profile.  She has been solely responsible for over 75 appeals, mostly in the family law arena.  Ms. Desmond incorporates her vast legal knowledge with an unparalleled dedication to her clients in order to provide effective representation.  For clients seeking to avoid litigation, her mediation skills provide added value and an opportunity to resolve matters without the emotional and financial expense of a trial or protracted legal proceedings.

Denise obtained her Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law in 1990.  She is a member of the Florida Bar and an inactive member of the California Bar, and is a Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator.  She began her career as a law clerk at the Fourth District Court of Appeals for the Honorable George Hersey and the Honorable Robert Gross.  She then worked as an Assistant Public Defender and a Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Division.  She was previously a partner at Weissman, Yaffa & Desmond and ran her own practice of several years.  She has spent the last several years working part-time in order to focus on her family. 

Denise has been an AV rated attorney with Martindale-Hubble for over 10 years and she was named one of America’s Most Outstanding Lawyers in 2004.  She appeared on Court TV as co-counsel in a high profile watercraft personal injury litigation case.   In 2012 she was named as a top legal leader in the family law section of the Wall Street Journal’s Legal Leaders South Florida Publication and was named a top legal leader again in 2015 in the categories of appellate law, general law and family law.  In law school she received the Book Award in Legal Drafting (highest grade in the class) and was named to Who’s Who among American Law Students. 

Denise is dedicated to providing outstanding legal service to each and every one of her clients, while at the same time emotionally supporting them through the difficulties of ending their marriage or partnership or modifying a previous dissolution judgment.