Meet Your Attorney

Joanne Fanizza Profile & Experience

 

From Florida to New York Joanne Fanizza has been committed to protecting her clients since receiving her law degree from the University of Florida - Fredric G. Levin College of Law in 1987. In October 2020 she brought with her more than 30 years of experience to serve as Of Counsel for BGS&A.

 

AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the premier lawyer rating system in the world, Fanizza specializes in estate planning and administration, probate, elder law, real estate, corporate and commercial law, civil litigation as the founder and owner of her own law firm since 1995. Specifically, she can help clients with wills, trusts, Medicaid planning, powers of attorney, health care proxies, living wills, real estate transactions, business matters and civil litigation.

 

Prior to founding her own firm and collaborating with BGS&A, Fanizza’s first jury trial resulted in a $3 million verdict for the firm's client in a motorcycle products liability case, making case law in Mississippi. Also during her career, she has served as a voting rights attorney with the New York Democratic Lawyers Council and has even served as an election recount observer, counting "chads" during the contested 2000 Presidential election in Broward County, FL.

 

Fanizza is admitted to practice law in New York, Florida and the District of Columbia as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, the 5th and 11th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Florida (Trial Bar and General Bar) and the Eastern District of New York.

 

The New York native is committed to helping others by doing pro bono work. She has taught civil liberties to public school students as a guest speaker for the Nassau County Civil Liberties Union; counseled many senior citizens on Long Island through bar-sponsored pro bono clinics; and has served in pro bono programs for both Superstorm Sandy and mortgage foreclosure victims. Her efforts have not gone unrecognized, as she was the recipient of the Florida Bar President's Pro Bono Award for the 17th Judicial Circuit in 2005 and named Pro Bono Attorney of the Month ‎by the Nassau County Bar Association in 2015. Before she began her law career, Fanizza was a successful newspaper reporter in Florida, experience that helped her hone both her research and writing skills and served as a strong foundation to transition into law.

 

When she is not in court, Fanizza is a self-proclaimed news junkie and Beatles fan. She loves animals and spending time with family and friends.