Lourdes Ferrer, Esq.

Founding Attorney

Lourdes Ferrer is the Founding Partner of Ferrer Law Group. She provides legal counseling on both transactional and litigation matters related to community association law, consumer protection law, business law, real estate and commercial litigation. Her clients include both homeowner and condominium associations, as well as individual property owners, corporate business entities, real estate investors and investment groups. Ms. Ferrer’s practice has an emphasis on community association law, consumer protection & commercial litigation matters. She is well versed in issues surrounding the Condo Act, HOA Act, Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Florida Consumer Credit Protection Act (FCCPA), and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), amongst other inter-related consumer protection statutes.

Spending the first decade of her legal career representing both sides, i.e. plaintiffs and defendants, including over seven years of defense experience representing insurance carriers and insureds, Ms. Ferrer provides her clients with a unique perspective.

For over 20 years, Ms. Ferrer has focused her litigation practice to the South Florida area as a member of The Florida Bar since 2001, having worked in the legal industry for over 25 years. Her understanding of the diverse cultural backgrounds and individual community association issues impacting the tri-county area has allowed her to effectively lead her legal team in providing custom tailored legal and business strategies. Ms. Ferrer provides legal counseling on all matters relating to management companies, contractual obligations and contract enforcement, corporate elections, lien foreclosures and debt collections practices. She also represents associations in property damage claims against insurance companies.

Prior to starting her firm, Ms. Ferrer worked at two of the larger premier law firms in Florida. Ms. Ferrer worked at Conroy, Simberg, Ganon, Krevans, Lurvey & Abel, one of the largest insurance defense firms in the state. In 2010, Ms. Ferrer expanded her practice areas by joining one of the largest community association practice groups, Becker & Poliakoff, well known to be one of the pioneer firms in condominium legislation. Shortly after joining this group as a Senior Associate, Ms. Ferrer was appointed as the Managing Attorney for Becker & Poliakoff’s high volume assessment collection and foreclosure department, heading the opening of the firms newest expansion office in Miramar, and responsible for overseeing the collection and foreclosure handling of 4,000 plus community associations in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach & Monroe counties. She served primarily in the litigation and community association practice groups and was instrumental in the development and expansion of the firm’s collection and foreclosure practice group, as featured in the July 29, 2011 issue of the South Florida Business Journal. Following her career in “Big Law,” Ms. Ferrer founded the firm in April 2012, implementing Ferrer Law Group’s current business model, designed to provide aggressive, effective and results oriented legal solutions, individually tailored to a client’s particular legal needs, rather than a traditional “cookie cutter” approach.

Education & Court Admissions

Ms. Ferrer received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1998, with honors, from Florida International University, with a “major” in criminology and a “minor” in political science and psychological/sociological studies. She was a member of the National Honor Society. She uses her psychology and sociology educational background, along with her ongoing hands on training and continuing education, serving as a trial consultant with an emphasis in the jury selection process.

Ms. Ferrer received her Juris Doctorate degree from St. Thomas University School of Law in 2001, graduating in the top percentile of her class. While in law school, Ms. Ferrer was a member of both the law school’s prestigious Moot Court Board and Law Review. During her third year, she competed in the National Labor Law mock appellate competition in New York City. She also served as an Articles Editor for The St. Thomas University Law Review, the Student Bar Association and was also a member of the invitational only Peter T. Fay Inns of Court, as well as a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity where she served on the Advisory Council.

Ms. Ferrer has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2001 and is admitted to practice in all Florida state courts. She is also admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and the Southern District’s Bankruptcy Court.

Notable Trial & Appellate Accomplishments

In addition to Ms. Ferrer’s litigation, transactional and consulting practice, Ms. Ferrer serves as appellate counsel on selected cases, depending on the presented underlying issues. She has obtained favorable written opinions in both the First DCA and Fourth DCA. In 2009, Ms. Ferrer successfully represented one of her large corporate clients, Bass Pro Outdoor World and its insurance carrier, Travelers Insurance Company, in the case White v. Bass Pro Outdoor World and Traveler’s Insurance Company, 16 So.3d 992 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) involving claims of injury in the workplace despite evidence of pre-existing conditions. Successfully defending the case at trial, the court’s decision was appealed to the First District Court of Appeal. Following submission of briefs followed by oral arguments, the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s defense judgment, upholding the denial of all medical and wage benefits. This decision provided the defense bar with further clarification and provided leverage by way of a written opinion when determining cases on causation issues, to include the significant role a plaintiff’s credibility plays on cases involving major contributing cause defenses.

In 2014, Ms. Ferrer successfully reversed a trial judge’s ruling involving disqualification of counsel in the case of Lieberman v. Lieberman, 160 So.3d 73 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014),a Fourth District Court of Appeal case, resulting in an “extraordinary yet not unprecedented” issuance of sanctions against the opposing party’s attorney, personally, for maintaining a frivolous legal issue rather than conceding error on existing law.

In 2018, Ms. Ferrer successfully reversed a trial judge’s motion for summary judgment, in favor of her client, Emerald Estates Homeowner Association, in Weston, Florida involving U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n’s obligation to pay attorney’s fees and costs, post issuance of Certificate of Title, for failure to pay delinquent assessments, notwithstanding the existence of safe harbor provision for the past due assessments accrued.

In 2019, Ms. Ferrer successfully reversed a trial judge’s denial of prevailing party attorney’s fees and costs, after defending a lien foreclosure claim filed against the condo owner by the association in Victor Tison v. Clairmont Condominium F Association, Inc., 288 So.3d 699 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019). This case has served to provide much needed precedence in the association law industry, whereby the appellate court held, “legal rights accrue and are fixed, not when an action is brought to enforce them, but rather when the last element necessary to constitute the cause of action occurs…stated another way, the substantive rights and obligations as to attorney’s fees in particular types of litigation vest and accrue as of the time the underlying cause of action accrues.”

In 2020, Ms. Ferrer successfully defended the lower tribunal’s order, in a PCA decision in the matter of Pompano Auto. Assocs. LLC. v. Horgan, 2020 Fla. App. LEXIS 11405 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).

Ms. Ferrer’s client base has consisted of companies such as American Airlines, The Home Depot, and Publix Supermarkets alongside some of the largest insurance carriers such as Liberty Mutual, AIG, Farmers Insurance, Travelers, State Farm, CNA and Summit Insurance.

Awards/Industry Recognitions

In addition to her notable trial and appellate accomplishments, Ms. Ferrer was consecutively named as a “Top Up and Comer” by The South Florida Legal Guide for the year 2012 – 2015. This recognition is aimed at establishing the next generation of leaders in the South Florida legal community. The methodology is based on nominations of attorneys with a minimum of 10 years after receiving their Florida Bar Certification. In 2019, Ms. Ferrer was named into the Who’s Who of America publication. In 2020, she was nominated for membership into the Lawyers of Distinction organization. Most recently, Ms. Ferrer was recognized with an Avvo Top-Rated Attorney in 2020 by the legal community.

Speaking Engagements & Instructional Series

Throughout the past 15 years, Ms. Ferrer has been a featured speaker for various statewide seminars on hot topics impacting the legal industry. Ms. Ferrer has served as a member on panel discussions on various issues impacting the South Florida community. She has appeared on radio programs in the South Florida market educating the public on topics ranging from homeowner association issues, consumer protection rights and lien foreclosures. She was also a panel legal contributor in 2013 to the weekly radio program Community News and Review with Phillip Bell and Mike Wolfe on WINZ (940) radio.

Ms. Ferrer has served as a frequent faculty instructor for the National Business Institute. She has been a frequent faculty speaker at nationally aired webinars on “Real Estate Litigation – Foreclosure Process; Short Sales; Deeds-in-Lieu and Effects on Credit Ratings.” In 2016, Ms. Ferrer was a featured guest speaker at the seminar “Boot Camp: Foreclosure and Loan Workout Procedures.” Ms. Ferrer also serves as a guest speaker for associations and insurance companies on current legal trends, real estate market conditions and legal rights and responsibilities afforded under shared ownership statutes.

Business & Legal Industry Consulting

Ms. Ferrer began her career in the legal field at a young age. With twenty-five years of legal industry experience, Ms. Ferrer understands all aspects of running a successful law practice. While in college, Ms. Ferrer served on the board for her mother’s business. Throughout her tenure with the business, Ms. Ferrer successfully negotiated an exclusive distributorship agreement for the United States territory, with the Ecuadorian artist Mr. Eduardo Vega, traveling to artisan’s corporate headquarters located in Cuenca, Ecuador, as seen in the 1999 featured cover story of: The Nuevo Miami Herald, Vida Social Publication. http://www.retire-in-ecuador.com/Eduardo_vega.html.

While in law school, Ms. Ferrer was selected and served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Barry Garber, in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. Approaching her tenth year in practice with two of the 25 largest law firms in Florida, Ms. Ferrer was inspired to start her own firm. Applying her hands-on experience, training and resources with big firms, she furthered her vision of providing superior legal services, without passing the large overhead of a larger institution and billable hour mandates to her clients. With today’s technological advances and carefully selected collaborative alliances, Ms. Ferrer is able to provide large firm service, without the comparable expense, while ensuring a personalized, individual touch.

Business & Legal Community Leadership

As a community leader, Ms. Ferrer served on multiple boards and committees throughout South Florida. She previously served on the Board of Directors for the charity “Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund.” Ms. Ferrer formerly served as the President-Elect of the Weston Bar Association in 2013-14. Ms. Ferrer is a member of the Broward County Bar Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Broward County Bar Association and is also the Chairperson of the Weston Section of the Broward County Bar Association.

Community & Philanthropic Involvement

Ms. Ferrer is committed to improving the lives of individuals lacking support and resources. Through participation and leadership within various organizations, the firm provides community support to a variety of organization and philanthropic groups. Ms. Ferrer has participated in numerous fundraising events for organizations such as the National Epilepsy Foundation, South Florida Chapter. The firm is an annual sponsor to the golf tournament for Goldie’s Gang, benefitting children within the South Florida community. In an effort to carry out Ms. Ferrer’s mission as well as those of affiliated groups and memberships, the Ferrer Law Group’s community involvement programs focus on providing support of nonprofit organizations providing education related to the legal industry and equipping students with the knowledge and skills to contribute towards their professional community growth. Ms. Ferrer is an avid supporter and volunteer rescue coordinator for the pet rescue charity, Saving Grace and her Furry Friends and Saving Sage Animal Rescue.

Ms. Ferrer is a home and business owner in the City of Weston, Florida where she is heavily involved in philanthropic and community issues. Ms. Ferrer enjoys sharing time with family, friends and her dogs. Ms. Ferrer’s hobbies include traveling, reading, golfing, hockey and the game of poker.