Larsen, John J.

Dawn Vallejos-Nichols brings a set of skills, experience and commitment to her job that make her the sort of lawyer everyone hopes to have in critical times of personal injury or loss.

Dawn graduated with Honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1994.

Since joining Avera & Smith in 1996, Dawn has represented Florida’s injured in personal injury cases of almost every description.

Dawn’s primary focus at the firm is now wrongful death and personal injury litigation against tobacco manufacturers. Dawn was instrumental in winning two of the firm’s most significant cases in recent years, two separate verdicts against tobacco giant R. J. Reynolds, one verdict for $3.75M, and another for $15.5M.

These cases received national attention and set an important precedent for all attorneys who battle the seemingly limitless dollars and resources that tobacco companies use in their efforts to deny victims who have suffered illness and death from the use of their products.

• Florida’s Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association, Editor of monthly newsletter, Forum 8, receiving President’s Award for Service for that publication in 2007.

Dawn Vallejos-Nichols holds lifetime memberships in the honor societies of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi.

She is also a strong believer in giving back to the community around her, having served for several years as a member of the Constituency Board for CARD, the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.