A Judge Inducted to the College

Prior to joining the law firm of Almeyda & Hill in 1991, I did not have any knowledge or experience in workers’ compensation. My law school did not offer a course in it and my experience was limited to insolvencies.

 

I had two interviews for the Associate position: the first one with Chick (Charles Hill) and the second one with Ed Almeyda and Iliana Forte. I vividly remember them although many years have passed. The interview with Chick was calm and instructive as to workers’ compensation law. My second interview was at lunch with Ed and Iliana which I felt was a whirlwind. Their thinking and discussion was at warp speed in a language (IMEs, Vocs, etc.) which I did not understand. In between their discussion, Ed would ask me general questions about medicine and the law. I left the interview in a daze and questioning whether I could withstand the training by Ed.

 

As a new Associate, I looked to Ed for quick answers. After all, I knew he was board certified and he authored a book for proper adjusting of workers compensation cases. On every occasion, Ed would kindly respond that he did not know the answer and suggested I research it. At first I was perplexed how a legal authority like Ed did not know the answers to my simple questions. After a while, I caught on and researched the issues prior to discussing any pending questions with Ed. Ed always had time to discuss the law with me (which I enjoyed) and pushed me to grow as a lawyer.

 

He introduced me to the workers’ compensation community and taught me that every person has a valuable role to play. He expected all the lawyers in his firm to be professional and have compassion toward other people. On one occasion, Ed and I were taking several depositions in a case going to trial within 2 days. Ed received a phone call that one of our colleague (a claimant’s attorney) was hospitalized due to a heart attack. At a break, we drove straight to the hospital. We couldn’t stay for long but our brief visit lightened our colleague’s day. At that moment, I learned from Ed that while earning a living and being successful at your profession is important, visiting a friend/colleague in need was way more important.

 

Ed was great in dealing with mistakes. On one occasion, we were going to a doctor’s deposition in downtown Miami. We were walking and I was leading the way. I did not know where I was going and we became very lost. Ed laughed and said that I was walking with such confidence that he had confidence in me!

 

Lastly, while we worked long hours, like many other firms, Ed fostered a family environment in our firm. We worked together and had fun together. We celebrated our successes as well as shared our disappointments. Without even knowing it (perhaps), Ed helped instill in all of us (Chick, Iliana, Millie Powell-Rodriguez-circuit court judge and I) the love for the workers' compensation law and encouraged attributes so very sought after for the position of a Judge.