Oscar Cabanas

Oscar Cabanas

Oscar J. Cabanas is a managing partner of the firm and works in the Miami office of Wicker Smith where he has been a shareholder since 1999. He holds an AV Preeminent^® rating from Martindale-Hubbell and focuses his practice in healthcare, professional liability, products liability, commercial litigation, and transportation. Mr. Cabanas has been honored as Best Lawyers in America’s^® Miami Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants “Lawyer of the Year” in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2018 and American Board of Trial Advocate’s Miami Chapter “Defense Lawyer of the Year” in 2020.

Mr. Cabanas is admitted to practice in Florida before the Southern and Middle District Federal Courts and in Illinois before the Northern District Federal Court and the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. He was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of USLAW NETWORK, Inc. and named Membership Management Director to the organization in 2021.  He has held various leadership positions in a number of professional organizations including the American Board of Trial Advocates, where he served as past president and executive committee member to the Miami chapter and additionally served on the organization’s national board of directors. Mr. Cabanas has also held section-chair and vice-chair positions within the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. From 2019 to 2022, he served as Chair of the Trial Tactics and Procedure Section for the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and now serves as Chair Emeritus. He is an active member of USLAW NETWORK, Inc.

Mr. Cabanas received his Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University in 1981 and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami in 1984. He was born in Havana, Cuba and is fluent in Spanish, helping him further serve the diverse jurisdictions in South Florida from West Palm Beach to Key West.

• American Bar Association
• American Society for Healthcare Risk Management
• American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
  • Defense Lawyer of the Year, 2020
  • Representative, National Board, 2016-Present
  • Executive Committee, Member
  • Past President, 2010
• American Hospital Association
• Cuban American Bar Association
• Dade County Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), 2006-Present
  • Chair Emeritus, 2022- present
  • Section-Chair, The Trial Tactics Section, 2019-2022
  • Vice-Chair, The Trial Tactics Section, 2016-2019
• Florida Defense Lawyers Association
• Florida Hospital Association
• Litigation Counsel of America
  • Senior Fellow, 2017
• Transportation Lawyers Association
• USLAW Network, Inc.
  • Executive Committee, Membership Management Director, 2021
  • Board of Directors, Member, 2019-Present
  • Vice Program Chair, Professional Liability, 2019 Fall Conference

• Recipient, Best Lawyers in America^®, Miami Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants “Lawyer of the Year”, 2022
• Listed, Florida Super Lawyers, Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense, 2021
• Recipient, Best Lawyers in America^®, Miami Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants “Lawyer of the Year”, 2018
• Panelist, USLAW NETWORK Roundtable, “Resolution Strategies in the Covid-19 World” (June 12, 2020)
• Recipient, American Board of Trial Advocates, Defense Lawyer of the Year, 2020
• Listed, 10 Best Attorneys, American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys, 2017
• Listed, Best Lawyers in America^®, Medical Malpractice Law, 2015-Present
• Faculty, Dade County Bar Association, Superstars at Trial, 2015-2016
• Listed, America’s Top 100 Attorneys®, Florida (Southern), Lifetime
• Listed, Florida Super Lawyers, 2007-Present
• Listed, Florida Trend’s Florida Legal Elite, Civil Trial, 2010-2011, 2013, 2015
• Invited Faculty, Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies, 2013
• Invited Faculty, Masters in Trial, American Board of Trial Advocates, 2013
• Listed, Super Lawyers Business Edition, 2011-2012

• Panelist for USLaw Roundtable, “Resolution Strategies in the Covid-19 World” (June 12, 2020)
• Presenter, “Ethics for Claims Professionals”, The Doctors Company, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (November 7, 2018)
• Speaker, “Dissecting and Understanding the Tripartite Relationship”, 2018 USLAW Network Professional Liability Exchange In Cooperation With The Insurance And Risk Management Practice Group, May 2018
• Presenter, “Defending Negligent Premises Security Claims”, Orlando PLRB Conference, April 2018
• Presenter, Baptist Health South Florida, “The Importance of Documentation In The Electronic Medical Record”, October 2017
• Presenter, “Trends in Negligent Security Defense: A Trial Lawyer’s Guide to Winning The Case”, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC) Winter Meeting, Charleston, North Carolina, 2017

• Author, “What’s So Special About Special Damages”, FDCC Trial Tactic Blog, June 2017
• Co-author, “Attacking ‘Fake Bills’ In Personal Injury Cases”, FDCC Insights, September 2017
• Co-presenter, “The Good Fight Against Bad Medical Expenses”, FDCC Summer Meeting, Montreux, Switzerland, 2017