PENSACOLA – The Pensacola-based Cardoso Law Offices recently increased their legal reach along the Florida Panhandle.
The firm is now offering its services in the areas of auto accidents, criminal defense, civil matters and injunctions on domestic-violence claims in and around Santa Rosa County. With a population of a little more than 150,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Santa Rosa is rather small compared to other Florida areas despite being located almost halfway between the firm’s current headquarters to the west and Tallahassee to the east.
However, for Ryan M. Cardoso, primary attorney and owner of Cardoso Law Firm, the expansion into Santa Rosa was a no-brainer. He told the Florida Record that since criminal cases are more location-specific, involving increased courtroom hearings, the convenient proximity of the courthouses to his home base increased his ability to respond quickly to client needs.
“I really like practicing in Santa Rosa.” Cardoso said. “Everyone there in the court, the judges and all, work well together.”
Cardoso has spearheaded the move to be more representative in Santa Rosa. The effort began in early 2016, when he decided to bring his experience in criminal and civil defense to more Florida residents, whether they were individual or commercial clients.
The branching out kept in line with Cardoso’s belief that people want and deserve personalized and in-person legal advice. His proximity to the area allows for him to accomplish that. Milton, the county seat and location of the county courthouse, is an easy commute for the young attorney.
When asked if he had been retained as a lawyer for anyone in the Santa Rosa area as of yet, he said, “I’ve handled a few criminal cases and a few domestic violence” hearings since expanding his area of service.
The news release said that “The Santa Rosa expansion allows us to provide the same high quality legal services to more people in the Gulf Coast Region.”
Cardoso said that, currently, he is focused on increasing “awareness of services to the area [of Santa Rosa]” that he now offers.
Besides Santa Rosa, Cardoso also serves Escambia – where his home office is – and Okaloosa counties, allowing him to be represented in the three western-most counties of Florida.
Cardoso graduated with honors from the University of South Florida, and in 2002 received his legal degree from the University of Florida College of Law, again with honors. The following year, he passed the Florida Bar and is licensed to practice in the Southern, Middle and Northern districts of the state
He was a commercial-litigation attorney with Shoemaker, Loop and Kendrick in Sarasota from 2003 to 2005, according to his LinkedIn page, before becoming an assistant public defender in the 13th Judicial Circuit for three years. Following that, he served as a lawyer with Fee and Jefferies, P.A. of Tampa for almost two years, and eventually struck out on his own in 2009.