Aleida Mielke delivers excellent results for a wide range of clients. 

With more than 25 years of experience defending doctors, nurses, dentists, hospitals, pharmacists, nursing homes, lawyers and other professionals in complex litigation and catastrophic injury cases, Aleida understands the personal and professional toll that malpractice claims exact.

She has successfully defended professional clients from beginning to successful resolution in administrative proceedings and state and federal courts, including pre-suit negotiations, mediation, trial and appeal.

Aleida walks lockstep with her clients, explaining the nuances of litigation and its impact in and out of the courtroom. She believes that an informed client is an empowered client – and that empowering a client at a time when their professional judgment has been called into question is the key to success in the courtroom and beyond.   

She defends clients in the maritime space, successfully handling passenger and crew claims including complex Jones Act claims involving medical care and treatment, as well as maintenance and cure cases through trial in federal court.

Over her career, Aleida also successfully handled a diverse range of products cases, with a primary emphasis on medical devices, premises liability claims arising in hospital and retail settings, as well as in equine law matters involving claims for equestrians that arise from negligence or undisclosed medical conditions. In addition to her extensive experience in medical device litigation, she has also dealt with automotive product liability cases involving seatbelts, airbags, and tires.

In addition to her own robust trial practice, Aleida also serves as co-chair of the firm’s Equine practice group and as the Fort Lauderdale office’s litigation, trial support and appellate shareholder, drafting and arguing dispositive motions and pre-trial and post-trial motions for her clients as well as those of her colleagues. She also briefs and argues appeals in state and federal courts of appeal, and she has argued cases before Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal, Fourth District Court of Appeal and the United States Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit. 

Honors

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating

Professional & Civic Involvement

  • Defense Research Institute (DRI)
  • Florida Defense Lawyers Association (FDLA)

Languages

  • American Sign Language
  • Spanish

Practice Highlights

Representative Matters

  • Secured a defense judgment for a maritime client in a three-week bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, where a former employee claimed $20 million in compensatory and punitive damages arising from a Jones Act and general maritime claim.
  • Successfully defended a home health agency in a three-week jury trial in West Palm Beach Circuit Court involving the wrongful death of a minor, resulting in no recovery for the plaintiff.
  • Served as second chair in a three-week wrongful death trial in Florida in Broward County Circuit Court arising from an alleged failure to diagnose a thermal ablation injury, resulting in a defense verdict for an emergency room physician.
  • Negotiated a favorable settlement for a neurologist accused of misdiagnosing a 43-year-old patient after obtaining two defense verdicts in a West Palm Beach court-ordered alternative dispute resolution mock trial.
  • Secured dismissal on summary judgment on behalf of a lawyer in a defamation action in West Palm Beach Circuit Court, a dismissal successfully defended on appeal in the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
  • Second-chaired a defense verdict on behalf of an emergency room physician accused of misdiagnosing and failing to properly treat compartment syndrome.
  • Achieved dismissal of all charges by the Florida Board of Medicine for a neurologist accused of misdiagnosis resulting in death of a patient.
  • Achieved dismissal of all charges by the Florida Board of Medicine for a physician accused of improper administration of medications.