Mary Ann Morgan joined Paul Knopf Bigger in 2023 as Senior Counsel. Prior to joining Paul Knopf Bigger, she was the Managing Partner at Morgan Trial Law, formerly Billings, Morgan & Boatwright, where she handled Personal injury/wrongful death cases. Since graduating from Florida State University College of Law in 1986 she has achieved numerous accolades as a lawyer and community leader. She is widely recognized for her dedication to achieving justice for her clients.
Ms. Morgan has had an extensive involvement in the legal community, serving for nine years on the Board of Governors for the Florida Bar. She chaired key Florida Bar committees, receiving the Florida Bar President’s Award for her dedication to the legal disciplinary system. She served as President of the Orange County Bar Association in 2001-2002. In 2023 Mary Ann received the Orange County Bar’s Wm Trickel Professionalism Award, the highest honor given by the bar.
Her commitment to pro bono work and community service is evident through her active participation in organizations like the Central Florida Trial Lawyers Association and the Florida Justice Association. She also served as President of the Orange County Legal Aid Society in 1999-2000.
Mary Ann is highly respected in her field as a consumer justice attorney, earning the prestigious AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and being listed in Who’s Who in American Law. She was recognized as one of the nation’s Leading Plaintiff’s Lawyers, included in Fla Trend’s Legal Elite and is a Florida Super Lawyer.
Throughout her career, she has been involved in various guardianship cases, helping children in need. Her dedication and passion for this work are evident through the pictures displayed in her office of children she has assisted over the years.
Apart from her professional achievements, Mary Ann is also a devoted family woman, being married for 30 years to husband Patrick Burke and having a daughter, Beth and a grandson, Wes. She and her husband are active members at St. Margaret Mary church in Winter Park where she has taught Sunday School.
Bar Admissions
- Florida, 1986; S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 1987; U.S. Supreme Court, 2000
Education
- Florida State University College of Law, Tallahassee, Florida, 1986 J.D.
- Honors: Vice-President, Student Bar Association
- Honors: Legislative Intern, State of Florida House of Representatives
- Honors: FSU Trial Team, ATLA Competition Who’s Who Among American Law Student’s
Classes/Seminars Taught
- Speaker: “Inadequate Security: Making Your Case”, American Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention, 2000
Honors and Awards
- Orange County Bar Assn Wm Trickel Jr. Professionalism Award 2023
- Leading American Attorneys
- Florida Justice Assn Founder’s Award 2016
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Consumer Attorneys 2023
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Supporting Fellow, American Inns of Court, 1992
- Fellow, Florida Bar Foundation, 2002 – 2006
- Fla Bar President’s Tony Boggs Award for Disciplinary Excellence, 2017
- Leader in the Law Award recipient
- The National Trial Lawyers “Top 100 Trial Lawyer Award”
- Martindale Hubbel Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers
- Law Dragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
- The States Legal Leaders (Florida Trend)
- Law Dragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America
- National Association of Distinguished Counsel Nations Top One Percent
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Florida Bar
- Board of Governors 2009 – 2018
- (Chair Communications Committee 2012-2013)
- Florida Bar Foundation, Fellow 2002 – Present
- Grievance Committee for the Ninth Judicial
- Circuit, 1993-1996 (Chair 1996)
- Speakers Bureau, 1997-2013
- Executive Committee 2012-2013
- Disciplinary Review Committee 2009 – Present (Chair 2016-2017)
- Program Evaluation Committee 2009 – 2012
- Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services 2009 – Present
- Strategic Planning Committee 2010-2013
- Orange County Bar Association
- President, 2001-2002
- President, Young Lawyers Sections, 1990-1991
- Executive Council, 1991-2003
- Judicial Relations Committee, 1996-2002
- Medical Legal Committee, 1991-1992
- Legislative Committee, 1987-1989
- Orange County Legal Aid Society
- President, 1999-2000
- Board of Directors, 1997-2003
- Central Florida Trial Lawyers Association
- Board of Directors, 2003-2011
- Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers
- State Representative, 1989-1991
- American Trial Lawyers Association
- Speaker, Annual Convention 2000
- “Inadequate Security: Making your case”
- Christian Legal Society
Pro Bono Activities
- Coalition for the Homeless
- Legal Aid and Society Pro Bono Volunteer Since 1987