![]() Alyssa Reiter Office: Fort Lauderdale Direct: (954) 847-4838 areiter@wickersmith.com Practice Areas: Admitted to Practice:
Brooklyn, NY |
Alyssa ReiterBiographyAlyssa Reiter is a partner at the Wicker Smith Fort Lauderdale office where she focuses her practice primarily on handling appeals, litigation support, and insurance coverage matters. In a career spanning over 30 years, Alyssa has handled over 100 appeals and is counsel of record in dozens of reported opinions. She has represented clients in a wide range of cases, including products liability, professional malpractice, commercial litigation, insurance coverage and bad faith, vehicular accident, premises liability, and aviation. She has argued cases in the Florida Supreme Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit and the 7th Circuit, and numerous appellate courts throughout not only Florida and Illinois but the entire United States. After the first 10 years of her practice in Florida, Alyssa moved to Chicago, Illinois. There, she headed the appellate department of a prominent litigation firm for many years. She achieved leadership roles in the Appellate Lawyers Association, being one of the only members to be asked to serve on the Board of Directors for three different terms. Alyssa was selected by her peers as a Leading Lawyer and a Super Lawyer in the field of civil appeals. In 2015, Alyssa was ranked #6 in the state of Illinois for women civil appellate lawyers. Alyssa also has earned an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating awarded by that organization. Alyssa has been a speaker at numerous Continuing Legal Education seminars, primarily on legal writing. She co-authored a chapter of an Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education book on product liability. For several years she also was one of three civil appeals lawyers the Illinois State Bar Association selected to write summaries of Illinois Supreme Court opinions for an ISBA publication. Alyssa earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, from the University of South Florida in 1984 and then earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida in 1987, graduating cum laude and Order of the Coif. Professional & Civic Affiliations
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Alyssa Reiter - Partner
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Profile
Alyssa Reiter is a partner at the Wicker Smith Fort Lauderdale office where she focuses her practice primarily on handling appeals, litigation support, and insurance coverage matters.
In a career spanning over 30 years, Alyssa has handled over 100 appeals and is counsel of record in dozens of reported opinions. She has represented clients in a wide range of cases, including products liability, professional malpractice, commercial litigation, insurance coverage and bad faith, vehicular accident, premises liability, and aviation. She has argued cases in the Florida Supreme Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit and the 7th Circuit, and numerous appellate courts throughout not only Florida and Illinois but the entire United States.
After the first 10 years of her practice in Florida, Alyssa moved to Chicago, Illinois. There, she headed the appellate department of a prominent litigation firm for many years. She achieved leadership roles in the Appellate Lawyers Association, being one of the only members to be asked to serve on the Board of Directors for three different terms. Alyssa was selected by her peers as a Leading Lawyer and a Super Lawyer in the field of civil appeals. In 2015, Alyssa was ranked #6 in the state of Illinois for women civil appellate lawyers. Alyssa also has earned an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating awarded by that organization.
Alyssa has been a speaker at numerous Continuing Legal Education seminars, primarily on legal writing. She co-authored a chapter of an Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education book on product liability. For several years she also was one of three civil appeals lawyers the Illinois State Bar Association selected to write summaries of Illinois Supreme Court opinions for an ISBA publication.
Alyssa earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, from the University of South Florida in 1984 and then earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida in 1987, graduating cum laude and Order of the Coif.
vCard
Credentials
Education
- University of South Florida (B.A., honors, 1984)
- University of Florida (J.D., cum laude, 1987)
Representative Matters
Nuclear Verdict Avoided in a Legal Malpractice Matter
We represented a defense lawyer in a malpractice matter in which he faced a $535 million claim arising from an underlying auto claim with unusual and aggravating facts. The Plaintiff alleged the attorney’s misinterpretation of a settlement offer led to the defendant’s exposure to an excess judgment. Summary judgment was sought and subsequently granted by the trial court, and the case was dismissed. Plaintiff appealed, and on October 27, 2023, the Florida Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s summary judgment ruling.
Clarke v. Northwest Medical Center, Inc., 308 So. 3d 1031 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)
This was a medical malpractice case that was transferred to Wicker Smith. Previous counsel had missed the deadline to request voluntary arbitration by one business day. The Defendant, who we represented, sought to enforce the cap on noneconomic damages that applies when a malpractice plaintiff rejects an offer of voluntary arbitration. The trial court enforced the cap.
On appeal, following oral argument, as well as the filing of an amicus brief for the Plaintiff, the appellate court affirmed. The decision saved our client over $2 million.
Gurin Gold, LLC v. Dixon, 277 So. 3d 600 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019)
This appeal arose out of a verdict for the Plaintiff following a jury trial in an automobile accident case. During trial, the Plaintiff’s counsel showed his expert an MRI image that the expert had not previously reviewed. The expert changed his testimony based on the review. The trial court denied the request for a new trial based on the new testimony.
On review, the appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial. The appellate court agreed that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the expert testimony. The appellate court held that even though Wicker Smith’s trial counsel had skillfully undercut the expert’s testimony on cross-examination, the Defendant had still been prejudiced by the mid-trial change in testimony.
Hullick v. Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust Co., 279 So. 3d 809 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)
The former Chief Operating Officer of a bank corporation sued the bank and its Chief Executive Officer for defamation, claiming that the CEO made false statements about him to the corporation’s board of directors that destroyed the plaintiff’s reputation in the banking community. The plaintiff sought a seven-figure amount from the CEO. Wicker Smith obtained summary judgment in favor of the CEO.
On appeal, the appellate court affirmed the summary judgment. It held that the alleged statements did not constitute a “publication” to a third party. The court agreed with Wicker Smith’s argument extending previous case law, which held that statements made to certain employees of a corporation are statements to the corporation itself, to this case even though the Board of Directors was comprised of a majority of non-employee directors.
Practices
Education
- University of South Florida (B.A., honors, 1984)
- University of Florida (J.D., cum laude, 1987)
Credentials
Admitted to Bar
- 1987, Florida
- 1997, Illinois
Professional Affiliations
- Broward County Bar Association
- Appellate Lawyers Association