Anastasia Protopapadakis Attorney At Law

Anastasia is a shareholder in GrayRobinson's Miami and Fort Lauderdale law firm offices and currently practices in the areas of commercial litigation, funeral and cemetery law, civil rights law, local government/municipal defense, employment law, ADA/Title III defense, banking litigation and general tort litigation/personal injury defense. Anastasia has state and federal court experience in both the trial and appellate court levels. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Appellate Court for the 11th Circuit; U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida; and all Florida trial and appellate courts. She is also admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

For the first five years of her career, Anastasia’s practice concentrated solely on municipal defense, defending cities and other municipalities in litigation matters in state, federal and appellate courts. She has defended numerous employment litigation matters, assault and battery cases, defamation cases, section 1981 and 1983 cases, trip/slip and fall cases, eminent domain and inverse condemnation cases and other general tort matters for municipalities. Anastasia has since expanded her practice to the private sector where she defends these same litigation matters for corporate clients. Anastasia also assists many corporate clients through the garnishment process, both in answering writs of garnishment and collecting on judgments through the writ of garnishment process.

Regarding her employment litigation experience, Anastasia has defended cases with allegations of race, age, gender, sex, pregnancy, religious and disability discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation claims brought under Title VII and/or the Florida Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and federal and state "whistleblower" statutes. She has also defended wage and hour claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, including collective actions and retaliation.

Regarding her experience in defending ADA cases, she has defended corporate and public entities from  both Title II and Title III claims. These cases include claims regarding barriers to physical access to physical locations by disabled individuals as well as claims regarding the accessibility of websites and mobile applications to visually impaired and hearing impaired individuals. Anastasia has written several articles regarding website accessibility and has been quoted on the subject by the Wall Street Journal.

In addition to her practice, Anastasia is a certified Florida Supreme Court circuit court mediator.

• Background

  Anastasia was born and raised in South Florida. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 2004 with a bachelor of science in advertising. In 2007, Anastasia earned her juris doctor from the University of Florida's Levin College of Law. While in law school, she worked as a certified legal intern for the 8th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office, prosecuting domestic violence cases. She also served on the University of Florida's Law Alumni Council and was the head student recruiter for the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Student Recruitment Team. Anastasia currently serves as a member of the University of Florida Levin College of Law Alumni Matching Program, which connects newly admitted students to law school alumni and remains active in student recruitment through this program.

• Education
  • University of Florida, B.S. (summa cum laude, 2004)
  • University of Florida College of Law, J.D. (2007)
• Languages
  • Fluent in Greek
  • Conversational Spanish
• Admissions
  • Florida
  • District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeal, 11th Circuit
• Professional Associations and Memberships
  • The Florida Bar
  • Florida Supreme Court
    • Certified Circuit Court Mediator
  • Broward County Bar Association
  • The District of Columbia Bar
  • Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
    • Fellow, 2018
• Civic
  • American Heart Association South Florida Go Red For Women
    • Young Professionals Group, Chair, 2016
    • Executive Leadership Committee, 2014-2016
  • Leadership Broward, Class of XXXIV
    • Government and Education Day, Co-Chair, 2016
  • Urban League of Broward County
    • Executive Planning Committee, 2016
• Representative Experience
  • A.A. by and through Adar v. School Board of Broward County, Florida, 2021 WL 5119416 (S.D. Fla. October 15, 2021).
  • S.V.S. by and through Varner v. Broward County Public Schools, 2019 WL 10092979 (S.D. Fla. September 30, 2019) (order granting motion for independent medical examination in favor of defendants).
  • Zinn v. SCI Funeral Services of Florida, Inc., 568 Fed.Appx. 841 (11th Cir. 2014) (affirming district court’s dismissal of a 200 million dollar class action lawsuit for lack of standing under Article III).
  • Schwartz v. SCI Funeral Services of Florida, Inc., 554 Fed.Appx. 823 (11th Cir. 2014) (affirming district court’s dismissal of a 200 million dollar class action lawsuit for lack of standing under the Class Action Fairness Act); 931 F.Supp.2d 1191 (S.D. Fla. 2013).
  • McDaniel v. Sheriff of Palm Beach County, Fla., 491 Fed.Appx. 981 (11th Cir. 2012) (affirming summary judgment to Defendants and the district court's imposition of procedural and monetary sanctions on Plaintiff); Case No.: 10–81082–CIV, 2011 WL 6372788 (S.D. Fla., Dec. 20, 2011).
  • Harrington v. City of Key West, Florida, 2009 WL 1788406 (S.D. Fla. June 23, 2009) (order granting summary judgment in favor of defendant in section 1983 case).
  • Abella v. Simon, 49 So. 3d 1276 (3d DCA 2010) (per curiam affirmation of summary judgment in favor of defendant in defamation case).
  • Kessler v. Monroe County, 995 So. 2d 505 (3d DCA 2008) (per curiam affirmation of summary judgment in favor of defendant in employment case).
• Awards and Recognitions
  • Florida Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2016-2018
  • AV Preeminent® rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Brickell Magazine, "Top 20 Professionals Under Forty," 2015
• Articles and Publications
  • "New Website Accessibility Guidance," Daily Business Review, March 31, 2022
  • "11th Circuit's ADA Reversal Curbed Florida Litigation in 2021, but Digital Accessibility Suits Are 'Here to Stay'," Daily Business Review, January 14, 2022; January 19, 2022 print edition
  • "Proposed Online Accessibility Law Could Curb ADA Litigation," Law360, November 2020
  • "Phased Re-Opening of Hospitality In Florida," Southern Beverage Journal, Florida Edition, June 2020
  • "A New Variation of the ADA Accessibility Lawsuit That Specifically Targets Hotels and Other Places of Lodging," Employment Law Alliance Newsletter, March 2018
  • "Accessibility of Places of Public Accommodation Act: An Answer To Our ADA Prayers, or Buyer Beware?" The Checkoff, August 2017
  • "New ADA Lawsuits Target Businesses," Inside Counsel, December 2016
  • Co-Author, "Avoiding Litigation: Is Your Website Accessible to Visually, Hearing Impaired?" Daily Business Review, October 2016
  • "Litigator, Meet Lion: A Miami Lawyer's Travel Adventures Online," Daily Business Review, August 2016
• Media Mentions
  • "Lawsuits Surge Over Websites’ Access for the Blind," The Wall Street Journal, February 2019 
  • "Businesses ‘Sitting Ducks’ for Lawsuits Because Websites Aren’t ADA Compliant," WFLA-TV, February 2019 
  • "ADA Lawsuits Targeting Hotels’ Websites For Not Disclosing How Accessible They Are," Miami Herald, January 2019
  • "Got Access for People with Disabilities Covered? Don’t Forget your Website," The Guardian, November 2018 
  • "Florida’s Serial ADA Lawsuits: Long Overdue or ‘Legal Extortion’," Daily Business Review. November 2018 
  • "Are Floridians Wasting Billions on Litigation? A New Report Says Yes." Daily Business Review, October 2018
  • "Most Business Websites are Sitting Ducks for ADA Suits, Experts Say," South Florida Sun-Sentinel, July 2018
  • "Where In The World Is Anastasia Protopapadakis?" Super Lawyers, June 2017
  • "Judge Backs Making Consumer Websites Accessible to Blind," Wall Street Journal, June 2017
  • "Companies Face Lawsuits Over Website Accessibility for Blind Users," The Wall Street Journal,  November 2016
  • "Business Websites Battle Litigation Over ADA Compliance," Tampa Bay Business Journal,  October 2016 
• Presentations and Seminars
  • "Website Accessibility and ADA Compliance," Independent Beauty Association, February 3, 2022
  • "Have You Googled It? Website Accessibility under Title II and Title III of the ADA," The Florida Bar, Labor and Employment Section, CLE Webcast, November 20, 2019
  • Florida Festivals and Events Association (FFEA) 25th Annual Convention and Tradeshow, August 21, 2019