Attorney Lance A. Garrett was born in Miami, Florida, the product of an American father and Colombian mother. Growing up in diverse South Florida provided Lance an opportunity to observe and experience the unique circumstances surrounding different cultures, ethnicities, and races.
While in high school, Lance realized he had a passion for two areas – politics and law. He enrolled at Florida International University as a journalism major. Lance saw journalism as a medium for expressing his views on the world, and as a forum for seeking change for society’s ills. After graduating with a degree in print journalism, Lance enrolled at Florida International University College of Law.
It was during a summer internship at the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office that Lance realized what he wanted to do. He saw that the so-called justice system was gravely unjust. He saw that the presumption of innocence was turned on its head, and that the application of criminal laws had a disproportionate and unfair impact on ethnic and racial minorities. He realized that if the rights and guarantees of the United States Constitution meant anything, those rights began in the criminal courtrooms of America.
After graduating from law school, Lance began working at the Broward Public Defender’s Office. For almost three years he worked as an assistant public defender, handling almost every kind of offense, from misdemeanor to first-degree felony. He tried numerous cases to jury verdict, took countless depositions, and developed a formidable motion practice.
In order to broaden his legal horizons, Lance next went to an insurance defense firm, where he defended personal-injury and construction-defect lawsuits. Lance gained valuable experience defending complex and interesting cases, such as catastrophic auto accidents, negligent security cases, and wrongful death lawsuits.
Newly armed with a working knowledge of civil-sector litigation, Lance decided in 2013 that it was time to begin his own practice, focusing on personal injury and criminal defense. These days, he works tirelessly to vindicate the rights of the injured and the accused.
