Louis Battista is board-certified in Civil Trial Law by both The Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Such a distinction identifies Lou as an expert or specialist in his field. He is AV rated, the highest rating given by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, which signifies that a lawyer has reached the pinnacle of professional excellence and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity. Lou has been selected as a member to the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a national organization that seeks members with the requisite trial experience, high moral character and honorable reputation. He has been recognized by Florida Trend Magazine, Florida’s Super Lawyers and South Florida’s Legal Guide as being among the elite trial attorneys in Florida.
Prior to joining the firm, Lou was a partner at Krupnick Campbell, a preeminent personal injury firm in Fort Lauderdale, where he litigated cases statewide for 16 years. He then went on to head the litigation department as a named partner at Toral Garcia Battista for several years. There, Lou began to focus his practice on brain and spinal cord injury cases throughout the state of Florida. For over 30 years, Lou has successfully represented catastrophic injury and wrongful death clients and now utilizes his rich years of experience and expertise in civil trial law to effectively represent clients at Bernheim Kelley.
As a specialist in his field, Lou realized that his clients and their families needed much more than just legal care. His clients needed help navigating the difficult health care system and assistance with caring for their loved ones, often overwhelmed by the tragedy of the injury, medical care and impact on their family. Lou has developed a team approach to meet those needs during the client’s long road to recovery. He is in constant contact with his clients and they have instant and direct access to him and his staff.
Lou is originally from Port Washington, New York, located on the north shore of Long Island. He received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Oswego, New York, where he was a standout scholar-athlete, making the President’s List and leading his college baseball team to three conference Championships. He obtained his law degree from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he was a board member of both the Law Review and Moot Court Society, earned The Florida Bar Trial Lawyer’s Award, and was selected as a National Member of the Order of Barristers.
Lou has been married for over 25 years and he and his wife are the proud parents of three children. He is a member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Lou is a former college baseball player, an avid baseball fan and coach and an enthusiastic runner.
After 30 years, Partner, Lou Battista, is still knocking it out of the park for his clients. A Board-Certified Civil Trial Attorney, he again had an incredible year in 2022. Lou and his paralegal, Sandy Baker, worked tirelessly to recover $9 million for their clients, including numerous cases exceeding $1 million each.
A snapshot of four larger cases from Lou’s incredible year involved two significant injuries, one from a car v. pedestrian crash and the other an apartment complex stairwell, along with two death cases, one from a car vs. pedestrian crash and an elderly abuse case. The settlement amounts for these four cases totaled $7.5 million.
He maintains a boutique litigation department for the firm, limiting the number of cases so that he can give great attention to each of his clients personally. Not only does this allow Lou to focus on greater recovery, it also permits him and Sandy to provide additional help to their clients in navigating the difficult health care system, medical treatment and bills, as well as help them through the impact of the injury and its effect on the family.
“I am blessed with a job that allows me to meet and represent people and families that need help getting their lives back after a serious injury or death. They face an uphill battle in their path to justice, but we get to level the playing field for them against insurance companies and the corporations they ensure that, too often, put profits over safety,” said Battista. “It is so gratifying to be able to help ease the worry and anguish of our amazing clients. It’s why Sandy and I come to work each day.”
