Team

Ken Eulo

Managing Partner

Ken Eulo grew up in Los Angeles, California. As a student, he was consistently in the top ten percent of his advanced program of classes. He was also a top athlete and served as a mentor and assistant coach on baseball teams for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children. He moved to Central Florida in 1996 and attended the University of Central Florida on a Bright Future’s Scholarship in 2000, where he studied Criminal Justice and Pre-Law. During this time, he participated in “ride-alongs” with police, where he got a close look at criminal procedures and gained an understanding of criminal law. After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science from UCF in 2005 with cum laude honors, Ken Eulo helped plan and run the first branch of the International Coffee Chain Testa Rosa, where he was offered advanced management training in Europe. However, he decided to return to his first love: The Law.

Darryl R. Smith

Managing Partner

Darryl R. Smith, Criminal Defense and Civil Litigation attorney, was born in Staten Island, New York and raised in Piscataway, New Jersey. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and Legal Studies. Darryl went on to attend Vanderbilt University Law School. During his law school career, Darryl Smith was recognized by Vanderbilt University Law School as a Chancellor’s Scholar, and also was named Senior Editor for the Southern Regional BLSA Law Review Journal. He graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School with his Juris Doctorate in 2011, and moved to Orlando to pursue his dream of practicing law in Central Florida.

Robert Zlatkin

Managing Partner

Robert Zlatkin is an experienced, and dedicated Criminal Defense and Civil Litigation Attorney.  A graduate of the prestigious University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, Robert is a native Floridian with a strong connection to the Central Florida community. He graduated Cum Laude from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in History and made a decision early on to return  to Orlando after law school to give back to the community he calls home.

As an Assistant State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Orlando, Robert most recently prosecuted a broad range of cases including D.U.I., battery, robbery, domestic violence, battery, and a myriad of felonies including violations of probation (VOPs). With hundreds of hours of court appearances and  successful trials, it was here that Robert honed his litigation skills and developed a keen understanding of the nuances of the law.  With his unique perspective of both sides of the criminal justice system, Robert’s clients derive significant benefit from this advantage.

Javier Chavez

Board Certified Criminal Trial Attorney

Javier Chavez was born in Denver, Colorado. Javier attended Denver North High School and went to the University of Colorado to receive a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. He then moved to New Hampshire and graduated from the University of New Hampshire Law School.

Mr. Chavez moved to Miami Florida and intern as an Assistant State Attorney for the Dade County State Attorney’s office. He has also worked as an investigative assistant for the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado. Mr. Chavez has worked for the 9^th Circuit Public Defender’s Office as an assistant Public Defender. Mr. Chavez has also worked for the 13^th and 5^th Circuit Judicial Circuits Public Defender Offices, covering Hillsborough, Sumter, and Lake Counties.

Mr. Chavez became Board Certified in Criminal Trial Law in 2013. Mr. Chavez has tried over 180 trials, including First Degree Murder, Capital Sexual Battery, and DUI Manslaughter cases.

Kenneth Lewis

Senior Attorney

Ken Lewis is a native New Yorker; he attended the State University of New York at Albany before relocating to South Florida and enrolling at FAU where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in History in 1989. He then attended the prestigious Nova Southeastern University where he obtained his law degree in 1991. Ken Lewis is a former prosecutor, his impressive work ethic and dedication resulted in him being named chief homicide prosecutor in Orange and Osceola Counties. Mr. Lewis tried exclusively murder cases for 7 years and sex crimes for another 4 years. In total Ken Lewis has well over 200 jury trials in all areas of criminal law and has tried over 50 murder cases. Additionally, Ken Lewis has been a mock trial judge at numerous competitions and was recognized for his exceptional trial skills by being selected on the faculty of the weeklong Gerald T. Bennett Prosecutor/Public Defender Trial Training Program at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Mr. Lewis has trained hundreds of attorneys through the Florida Prosecutors Attorneys Association.  Ken Lewis has successfully represented individuals facing felony charges across the entire State of Florida, including Orange, Osceola, Polk, Sumter, Seminole, Volusia, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Marion to name a few.

Alexis Sykes

Senior Attorney

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Alexis Sykes is a former prosecutor for who has been dedicated to her community for 15 years. Her legal career spans the state of Florida to include criminal law practice in Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, and Panama City. She was formerly a homicide prosecutor for the 9th Judicial Circuit in Orlando, Florida.  Prior, she has served as the Chief of Violent Crimes in Orlando, a Felony Division Chief in Panama City, a Homicide Major Crimes Prosecutor in Jacksonville, and in the Career Criminal Unit in Miami. She also was a Visiting Professor at Florida A&M University College of Law where she taught Legal Research & Writing to first year law students. She has tried over 90 jury trials. Ms. Sykes was a previous recipient of the Rookie of the Year Award for prosecutors in Jacksonville and a Certificate of Appreciation in Orlando because of her dedication to the communities she served.

Matthew Futch

Senior Attorney

Matthew Futch was born in Hollywood, Florida.  Matthew attended Nova High School in Davie, Florida where he won the National Forensics League National Debate Championship in Student Congress.  After graduation, he attended the University of Florida where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.  He subsequently moved to St. Petersburg, Florida to attend Stetson University College of Law.  At Stetson, Matthew was on both the Trial Team and Moot Court Team.

Bruce Lee Roistacher

Senior Attorney

Bruce Roistacher is a NY native with over 40 years of experience practicing Criminal Law. Bruce has helped over 10,000 clients in NY and Florida. He has taken more than 100 cases to trial in NY and Florida. Bruce graduated form the University of Miami with BA majoring in Acting and Speech he then proceeded to attend Nova Southeastern Shepard Broad College of Law where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree. Bruce has been both a Public Defender in Broward County, FL, and an Assistant District State Attorney in NY where he prosecuted organized crime, gang crime and many other types of criminal activity.

Bruce also had his own Criminal Defense Firm for over 30 years where he handled all types of charges from simple misdemeanors to the most serious of crimes. He has represented clients in county, juvenile, state, federal, supreme, civil, family, and criminal courts. He has had extensive experience in jury trials, pre-trial hearings, depositions, and injunctions for protection including domestic, stalking, repeat, sexual and dating. Recently, he has been practicing in Collier and Lee Counties and is now taking over the Ocala Brand for Smith & Eulo Law Firm.

Marie Taylor

Criminal Defense Attorney

Marie Taylor grew up in West Bloomfield, Michigan, before relocating to the Sunshine state for good. Marie graduated summa cum laude from Flagler College, where she was a four-year student athlete and senior captain of her NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball team. Marie’s competitive drive led her to success in law school at Florida Internal University College of Law, where she graduated cum laude with honors. Throughout her law school career, Marie served as an Editor of the FIU Law Review, interned with a Federal Judge in the Southern District of Florida, and fulfilled summer law clerk roles with both the Broward County Attorney’s Office, and the Office of the General Counsel for FIU.

Marie chose to begin her Attorney career defending the rights of the indigent and accused with Office of the Public Defender for the Ninth Judicial Circuit. There, Marie took over twenty jury trials to verdict. Marie has tried cases with charges ranging from criminal traffic allegations of Reckless Driving, DUI, and DWLS, to serious felony allegations, such as Burglary, Aggravated Assault,  False Imprisonment,, First-Degree Murder, Lewd or Lascivious Battery, and Capital Sexual Battery.  Marie also has expertise in filing petitions for extraordinary writs on behalf of incarcerated clients. She has written appeals at the Circuit Court, District Court, and Florida Supreme Court levels. 

Kortney Daly

Criminal Defense Attorney

Kortney Daly was born in Clearwater, Florida. Kortney attended Palm Harbor University High school and St. Petersburg College simultaneously during her last two years of high school. She obtained her Associates Degree upon completion of high school. She then moved to Orlando to attend the University of Central Florida where she majored in Legal studies with a specialized focus in Criminal law and Individual liberties, as well as a focus in litigation and Advocacy.

After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2015, Kortney continued her education at Stetson University College of Law. While in law school, Kortney focused on clinical education and practical experiences to prepare her for the practice of law. She completed an internship or clinic every semester she was eligible during her legal education. She worked as judicial intern for the Honorable Judge Thane Covert researching issues and watching court every day to get a sense of the day to day in a criminal court room. She then interned for the United States Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida where she researched complex issues and wrote motions for the US Attorney’s Office.
The Summer before her last year of law school, she moved to Chicago, Illinois to intern for the Federal Defender Program where she helped research legal issues, prepared motions, and met with clients who were charged with Federal crimes.

Ashley Dunbar

Criminal Defense Attorney

​Ashley Dunbar is a passionate and experienced trial attorney and New Jersey native. Ms. Dunbar received her Bachelor’s degree from Villanova University and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida. While in law school, Ashley competed on the Black Law Students Association International Negotiation Team and advanced to the Final Four as a first-year student. The following year she was appointed to be the Team Coach. Ashley also competed on the University of Florida Alternative Dispute Resolution Team, served as the Executive Articles Editor for the Journal of Law and Public Policy, presided as the Vice President of the Black Law Students Association, and served as the Community Service Chair for the Florida Association for Women Lawyers and for the Caribbean Law Students Association.

Ms. Dunbar began her legal career as a Public Defender where she tried over 25 cases ranging from juvenile matters to felonies punishable by life. Additionally, Ms. Dunbar collaborated on several successful appeals, and reached countless satisfactory settlements through effective negotiation and motion practice. Ms. Dunbar then gained substantial experience in civil litigation as an associate at McDonald Toole Wiggins and as in-house counsel for Progressive Insurance.

In addition to her legal career, Ashley dedicates substantial time to helping the community directly. Ashley has served on the Community Outreach Committee for the Paul C. Perkins Bar Association. She also serves on the Justice Advisory Committee under Congressman Soto to collaborate on reviewing the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 and other policy issues with fellow community leaders in Florida.

In her spare time, Ashley enjoys fitness, competing in bodybuilding competitions, traveling, and good food.

Luz Root

Criminal Defense Attorney

Luz Root was born in Argentina and moved to the United States to pursue a collegiate tennis scholarship. She attended Point University in Georgia and was a full-time student athlete. Although English is her second language, she was on the Dean’s List and Honor Class Member all four years of college. Luz graduated top of her class, Magna Cum Laude, with a Bachelor in Business Management and a Minor in Biblical Studies.

Luz moved to Orlando, Florida, to continue her education at Barry University School of Law, where she received an academic scholarship. Throughout law school, she interned at NeJame Law, where she found her passion for Criminal Defense. During her Internship, she assisted in defending cases, both in State and Federal Court. She worked on several felony cases, including armed robbery, child pornography, drug trafficking, burglary, aggravated battery, DUI manslaughter, and first-degree murders.

In her last year of law school, she also completed the Juvenile Defense Clinic and the Advanced Juvenile Defense Clinic, where she became a Certified Legal Intern (CLI). During her clinics, she represented juveniles facing up to first degree felonies. Before graduating, Luz accepted the opportunity to work at the Public Defender’s Office in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, in Orlando, Florida. Luz graduated at the top 20% of her class and she passed the Florida Bar with a score placing her in the upper 97% percentile of her class.

Grace Casagrande

Criminal Defense Attorney

Grace Casagrande grew up in Bradenton, Florida. After high school, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri to attend Saint Louis University where she majored in Social Work and International Studies and minored in Spanish and International Business. While obtaining her bachelor’s degree, she spent a semester at La Universidad Centroamericana (Central American University) in Nicaragua. Following her studies there, she taught English in Nicaragua’s public schools. Throughout her undergraduate studies, she did extensive volunteer work with the immigrant and refugee population in St. Louis.

After graduating from St. Louis University, Ms. Casagrande studied at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. She was involved in the Public Service Advisory Board and served on the Board of the Immigration Law Society. She sparked her passion in criminal defense through her internships with the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office and Arch City Defenders, where she worked on various types of criminal cases. She worked as a student attorney at the Washington University Immigration Law Clinic as well as at the Philips Black Post-Conviction Law Clinic, where she helped prepare post-conviction pleadings for clients wrongfully convicted in capital and life without parole cases.

Carlye Owens

Criminal Defense Attorney

Carlye Owens is a Tampa native who has spent her career serving the Bay Area community. Carlye obtained a Bachelors Degree from the University of Florida and then continued her education at The University of Florida Levin College of Law in Gainesville (Go Gators!). During her time in law school, Carlye was a member of the Moot Court Team and was voted Best Overall and Best Oralist by Florida Supreme Court judges in the school’s intramural Final Four competition. She interned at ArchCity Defenders in St Louis, Missouri, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Tampa, and the Appellate Division of the Georgia Public Defender Council. While living in Gainesville, Carlye also spent time tutoring at-risk children, helped to establish a mentorship program at a Title I school, and volunteered with restoration of voting rights clinics for convicted felons. 

Daniel Di Liguori

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Family Law – Of Counsel

​Daniel De Liguori grew up in Long Island, New York. Throughout his youth Daniel has always excelled in athletics and when he was not attending school, he dedicated his time to his family’s construction business. Upon graduating Highschool in 2007 Daniel began his Undergraduate Studies at Pace University in Westchester, New York. Daniel later transferred to Hofstra University in New York where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and administration in 2011. Following his graduation from Hofstra University, Daniel accepted an internship with an International Business Law Firm in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he worked directly for the Managing Partner from January 2012 through July 2012. Upon his return from his internship, Daniel attended Barry University School of Law in Orlando, Florida where he earned his Juris Doctorate in 2015. Since being admitted to the Florida Bar Daniel has focused his career on Immigration, Family Law, and Civil Litigation.