National law firm Wilson Elser announced that it has hired three leading attorneys in its Miami, Florida, office. The new attorneys bring years of litigation and trial experience to bolster the firm’s prowess in the South Florida region.
Joining as of counsel are Rachel Walters, a 10-year veteran of the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s office; Amy Talisman, most recently with Ft. Lauderdale–based firm Peterson Bernard; and Regina Franco Murphey, who spent the past four years at insurer AIG.“I am thrilled to welcome Rachel, Amy and Regina to Wilson Elser,” said Sean M. McDonough, regional managing partner of Wilson Elser’s Miami and Orlando, Florida, offices. “Our clients value the skilled representation they receive from our attorneys in South Florida venues, and with the addition of these impressive litigators, the firm furthers our promise of excellent client service. All three will strengthen our trial capabilities in this competitive jurisdiction.”
The Three New LitigatorsRachel Walters is a Board Certified Civil Trial lawyer with almost 20 years of litigation experience. She spent 10 years as an Assistant County Attorney, and before that was an Assistant State Attorney in the State Attorney's Office, Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida in Miami for nine years.
At the County Attorney’s office, Walters was assigned to the Torts Section, where her cases included wrongful death, negligent security, premises liability, automobile accidents, and police and corrections department matters. Walters has tried more than 20 civil jury trials to verdict as lead counsel in federal and state court and has argued before the 3rd District Court of Appeals.At the State Attorney’s Office, Walters was a Division Chief, handling homicide, death penalty and gang-related cases. She has tried more than 100 criminal cases.Walters is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates and was named to the Florida Bar Civil Trial Board Certification Committee. She also serves on the Executive Council for the Trial Lawyer Section of the Florida Bar.
Walters received a J.D. degree from the University of Miami in 2004, and a B.S. degree in Political Science from Tulane University in 2000.
Amy Talisman has practiced law for more than 31 years. At Peterson Bernard, she was a senior attorney for six years. Talisman handles all aspects of complex civil litigation and insurance matters in state and federal courts involving insurance and general liability defense issues, including premises liability, professional liability, negligent security, wrongful death and personal injury.Talisman has successfully defended catastrophic injury cases brought against physicians, hospitals and managed care entities, and has defended premises liability matters and negligent security cases. She also has experience with contractual disputes and drafting and enforcing contracts between insurance carriers and policyholders. She has first- and second-chaired cases at trial.Prior to Peterson Bernard, Talisman handled medical malpractice defense at two other Ft. Lauderdale firms.
Talisman received a J.D. degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 1992, and a B.S. degree from the University of Florida in 1989.
Regina Franco Murphey has been in practice for 24 years. She spent the past four years at AIG as senior trial attorney based in South Florida and handled a range of insurance defense cases throughout the state. Her focus was in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.Murphey has experience litigating cases from inception through trial and has been first-chair attorney in jury trials.Prior to AIG, Murphey was a partner at Ft. Lauderdale firm Kelley Kronenberg where she handled general liability cases. Earlier in her career, she worked as an attorney at Progressive Insurance and Mercury Insurance.
Murphey received a J.D. degree in 1999 from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law, and a B.S. degree in 1994 from the University of Florida.
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