Maria Elena Abate

Since joining Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky, Abate & Webb in 1992, Maria Elena Abate has built her reputation and expertise in the areas of civil rights claims, class action litigation, governmental affairs and insurance matters representing individuals, corporations and state agencies in cases dealing with discrimination, constitutional violations, insurance, employment and health care issues.

Being named partner in 1997 and shareholder in 2001 affirmed Ms. Abate’s strengths as an attorney, client advocate and respected leader among her peers.

Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Abate served as a staff attorney for The Honorable Arthur M. Birken, the Honorable Miette K. Burnstein, the Honorable Robert L. Andrews, the Honorable Patricia W. Cocalis, the Honorable Mel Grossman the late Honorable Joseph E. Price, and the late Honorable Stephen R. Booher of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County, Florida.

An attorney skilled in complex insurance issues, Ms. Abate has been involved in the representation of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and has represented the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association, as well as the Department of Insurance, Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation Services.

For six years, Ms. Abate served as General Counsel to the South Florida Workforce Board for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. 

A member of the Florida Bar, Ms. Abate is admitted to practice in all Florida state and appellate courts, the United States District Court for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Broward County Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida Legal Panel in Miami-Dade County, and the Stakeholder’s Committee for the United States Equal Opportunity Commission Miami District Office.

Ms. Abate chairs the Florida Bar’s Public Interest Law Section's Legal Needs of Children Committee and is a member of the Bar's Public Interest Law Executive Committee. 

She also is a founding board member of the Florida Breast Health Initiative, a charitable organization dedicated to providing free mammograms to uninsured women.

Fluent in Spanish, Ms. Abate received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Miami, cum laude, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law, cum laude.