William R Amlong - Family Law

Divorce trial are, well, trials. I am a trial lawyer.

I am what you get extra when you hire The Amlong Firm in marital-and-family law case - a 25-year lawyer who is Board Certified by the Florida Bar's Board of Legal Education and Specialization in the areas of Civil Trial Law, Business Litigation and Labor-and-Employment Law. Before starting law school at age 36, I worked for The Miami Herald for 18 years as a reporter and editor.

While neither The Florida Bar nor common sense would let me describe myself as an expert in marital-and-family law, I have become familiar with it through accompanying my divorce-lawyer wife/law partner, Karen Coolman Amlong, to marital-and-family law seminars, and assisting her in major cases where trial skills and an on-your-feet knowledge of the rules of evidence are critical.

We have found through trying dozens of jury trials together that most major trials take two lawyers to try well, and that the two of us do it especially well together. Twenty-five years of dancing together, rather like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, have given us an ability to finish each other's sentences and to anticipate what the other needs without him or her asking for it.

That's the something else you get when you hire us.

Areas of Practice

• 65% Labor & Employment
• 10% Appeals, State and Federal
• 25% Other Business Litigation
• Civil Rights
• Business Law

Litigation Percentage

• 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Certified Legal Specialties

• Civil Trial Law, Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education, 1991
• Business Litigation, Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education, 1998
• Labor & Employment Law, Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education, 2001

Bar Admissions

• Florida, 1985
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 1988
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida, 1992
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida, 1985
• U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 1986
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1988
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida Trial Bar

Education

• Nova University Center for the Study of Law, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  • J.D. (Cum Laude) - 1985
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  • B.A. - 1968
  • Major: Journalism
• Miami-Dade Jr. College, Miami, Florida

Published Works

• The Daily Tar Heel, Editor, 1968
• Faragher v. City of Boca Raton: A Seven-Year Retrospective, 80 Fla. Bar. J., January, 2006

Representative Cases

• Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998)
• Davis v. Locke, 936 F.2d 1208 (11th Cir. 1991)
• Glickstein v. Sun Bank/Miami, N.A., 922 F.2d 666 (11th Cir. 1991)
• LaMarca v. Turner, 662 F.Supp. 647 (S.D. Fla. 1987)
• LaMarca v. Turner, (aff'd in part, rev'd in part), 995 F.2d 1526 (11th Cir. 1993)
• Taylor v. Martell, 893 So.2d 645 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
• Snow v. Ruden, McClosky, Smith, Schuster & Russell, P.A., 896 So.2d 787 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2005)
• Selim v. PAN AM, 889 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
• Donovan v. Broward County Bd. of Comm'rs, 974 So. 2d 458 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)

Classes/Seminars

• Volunteer Faculty, Stetson University/Florida Bar Five-Day Employment Law Trial Skills Workshop, 1996
• Volunteer Faculty, Stetson University/Florida Bar Five-Day Employment Law Trial Skills Workshop, 1997
• Volunteer Faculty, Stetson University/Florida Bar Five-Day Employment Law Trial Skills Workshop, 1999
• Volunteer Faculty, Stetson University/Florida Bar Five-Day Employment Law Trial Skills Workshop, 2001
• Volunteer Faculty, Stetson University/Florida Bar Five-Day Employment Law Trial Skills Workshop, 2002
• Volunteer Faculty, Stetson University/Florida Bar Five-Day Employment Law Trial Skills Workshop, 2004
• Volunteer Faculty, University of Miami/Florida Bar Five-Day Employment Law Trial Skills Workshop, 1994
• Lecturer, "Florida State Court Discovery & Motion Practice", Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Fall Conference, St. Petersburg, FL, 2006
• Presenter, "Doing Well by Doing Good: Making Money as Civil Rights Lawyers", Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Spring Conference, Melbourne, FL, 2005
• Panelist, "What's My Case Worth: How to Negotiate for Maximum Value", National Employment Lawyers Association, Fifteenth Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX, 2004
• Presenter, "The (Unwritten) Rules of Engagement: How it Really Works in State Courts in Florida", Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers, Spring Conference, Melbourne, FL, 2004
• Panelist, Round Table Discussion, Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Fall Conference, St. Petersburg, FL, 2003
• Panelist, Round Table Discussion, Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Spring Conference, Melbourne, FL, 2003
• Moderator, "Strategies and Techniques for Effective Cross-Examination", National Employment Lawyers, Thirteenth Annual Convention, Lake Buena Vista, FL, 2002
• Lecturer, Trial Strategies in the Mendoza, Clover Era: Plaintiffs Employment Law as Guerilla Warfare", Georgia Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Negril, Jamaica, 2001
• Lecturer, "Discovery: Practical Tips and Considerations: A No-Muss, No-Fuss Guide to Getting What You Need -- Even If It Might Not Be Everything You Want", Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Fall Seminar, St. Petersburg, FL, 2001
• Lecturer, "2000-2001 Good, Bad and Ugly Awards: Employment Discrimination Update", American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida Lawyers Conference, Key West, FL, 2001
• Presenter, "We Won't Sue You If...", Proskauer Rose Law & the Workplace 2000 Seminar, 2001
• Lecturer, "How to Recover and Defend Against Attorneys' Fees", Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Fall Seminar, St. Petersburg, FL, 2000
• Lecturer, "So What Is Sexual Harassment Anyway, and How Do I Keep From Getting Sued?", PAC Industry Fund (Plumbing Contractors), West Palm Beach, FL, 2000
• Panelist, 21st Annual National Conference on Law and Higher Education, Stetson University, St. Petersburg, FL, 2000
• Lecturer, "Litigating Sexual Harassment Claims for Love and Money in the Southern District", Florida, Volunteer Lawyers Project, Florida Justice Seminar, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 1999
• Moderator, "The Closing Argument, National Employment Lawyers Association", Trial Practice for the Employment Lawyer, Seattle, WA, 1999
• Lecturer, "KISSing (Keeping it Simple, Sweetheart): Sexual Harassment after Faragher v. City of Boca Raton", ABA Tele-COnference: Sexual Harassment in the Public Workplace, 1999
• Lecturer, "Discovery Abuse: Problems and Solutions", Tactics and Techniques Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Fall Seminar, Clearwater, FL, 1999
• Panelist, "Crossing the Line: Free Speech vs. Harassment in the Workplace", Anti-Defamation League, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 1998
• Lecturer, "Using the Courts to Change the Law", Broward Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 1998
• Lecturer, "Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination", Broward County Trial Lawyers, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 1998
• Lecturer, "Combating Discovery Abuse in Employment Discrimination Cases", Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Annual Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL, 1997
• Panelist, "Going for the Gold: Damages post Civil Rights Act of 1991", American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law, Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, 1996
• Employment Law Trial Skills Program, Fla. Bar, Labor & Employment Section, 1994 - 2004

Honors and Awards

• Recipient, Sigma Delta Chi Award for Outstanding Male Senior, 1968
• Honoree, Broward County National Organization for Women at Women's Equality Luncheon, August, 1993, 1993
• AV Peer Review Rated through Martindale-Hubbell*
• Small Firm Practitioner of Merit Award, American Bar Association General Practice, Solo and Small Section, 2004 - 2005
• Chambers USA, America's Leading Business Lawyers, 2003 - 2004
• Palm Beach NOW Appreciation Award, 2004
• Florida NELA President's Award, 1999
• Florida NOW Glass Ceiling Award, 1998
• Broward County NOW, Women's Equality Day Award, 1993

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Florida Bar, Labor and Employment Section, Member
• Broward County Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, Member, 1994 - Present
• Broward County Bar Association, Litigation Sections, Member
• Federal Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, Member
• Federal Bar Association, Litigation Section, Member
• American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Section, Member
• American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Member
• National Employment Lawyers Association, Vice President, Florida Chapter, 1993 - 1995
• National Employment Lawyers Association, President, 1995 - 1997
• National Employment Lawyers Association, Member, Florida Chapter
• National Executive Board, Member, 1996 - Present
• American Association for Justice, Member
• Society of Professional Journalists
• Florida Bar Labor, Employment Law Section, Faculty Member, Employment Law Trial Skills Program, 1995 - 1999
• Florida Bar Labor, Employment Law Section, Faculty Member, Employment Law Trial Skills Program, 2001
• Broward County Commission on the Status of Women, Member, 1994 - 2006
• Broward County Commission on the Status of Women, Chair, 1998 - 1999
• American Justice Association
• American Bar Association
• Broward County Bar Association
• Florida Bar, Labor and Employment Section, Judicial Education Committee, 2004
• Broward County Commission on the Status of Women, Chair, 2005

Past Employment Positions

• The Daily Tar Heel, Editor, 1967 - 1968
• The Miami Herald, Herald Staff Writer, 1968 - 1982

Fraternities/Sororities

• Phi Kappa Sigma
• Sigma Delta Chi