Attorney and Founder · Miami, Homestead and Tampa

Jose A.
Dapena

Practising law in Florida since 1998. Personal injury and insurance claims. Born in Puerto Rico, so the conversation happens in Spanish when that is the language you think in.

Call (305) 662-4323 Request a case review

Jose A. Dapena, attorney and founder of DAPENALAW in Miami, Homestead and Tampa, Florida

Florida Bar: 152358Verify with The Florida Bar
Admitted: 199828 years in practice
Languages: English
EspañolSpoken by the attorney and by the staff
Offices: Miami
Homestead
TampaRepresentation throughout Florida

01 Background

In 2002, before he represented a single injured client, Jose A. Dapena was in-house counsel for a Personal Injury Protection carrier. His job was to read claims for the insurer and decide how the company would answer them.

That is where the first-party insurance work comes from, and it is the part of his background that matters most to someone with a claim today. He has seen how an adjuster is trained to read a medical record, how a claim file is assembled from the inside, and which arguments a carrier reaches for when it intends to pay less than the claim is worth.

He began in maritime law, defending cargo and personal injury claims, and holds a master's degree in Ocean and Coastal Law from the University of Miami. He has represented plaintiffs in personal injury, wrongful death and property insurance matters across Florida since founding the firm in 2003.

02 How the firm works

The attorney who reviews your case is the one who handles it

At many firms the attorney who evaluates a case is not the attorney who handles it. A file is taken in by an intake department, assigned, and then moves between case managers as it ages. At DAPENALAW you deal with your attorney directly, at every stage, in whichever office you walked into.

Jose A. Dapena founded the firm in 2003 and has practiced in Florida since 1998. It works from three offices — Miami, Homestead and Tampa — and handles injury and first-party insurance matters across the state.

That is the difference worth asking about before you sign with anyone: not how many people work on the file, but whether the person who decides what it is worth is the person who will be answering your calls a year from now.

03 Credentials

Education

01
LL.M., Ocean and Coastal LawUniversity of Miami School of Law
02
Juris DoctorSt. Thomas University School of Law, 1997
03
B.S., Political Science and SociologyFlorida State University, 1994

Memberships

01
Miami-Dade County Bar Association
02
American Bar Association
03
The Florida Bar, Family Law Section

Admitted to practice

01
The Florida Bar
02
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
03
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
04
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida

Standing

—
Member in good standing No disciplinary history in the last ten years, per the public record of The Florida Bar

Free case review with a Florida injury lawyer

A case review costs nothing and commits you to nothing. English or Spanish, either office.

Miami (305) 662-4323 5975 Sunset Drive, Suite 102 Homestead (786) 900-0184 633 N Krome Avenue Tampa (813) 930-5422 4231 N Habana Avenue