When people think of a personal injury or medical malpractice attorney, they usually picture someone who came up through law […]
When people think of a personal injury or medical malpractice attorney, they usually picture someone who came up through law school and straight into the courtroom. Attorney Suzanne Friedman of The Russo Firm, serving clients across Fort Lauderdale and Delray Beach, Florida, took a very different road to get there, and it shows in the way she practices law today.
From the Bedside to the Courtroom
Before she ever picked up a law book, Suzanne was working as an oncology nurse and cancer research associate at the University of Miami School of Medicine. That background matters more than it might seem at first glance. When Suzanne reviews a medical malpractice case, she isn’t relying only on expert witnesses to explain what happened in a hospital room. She’s seen it firsthand. She understands medical charts, treatment protocols, and the kind of decisions doctors and nurses make under pressure, because she used to be the one making them.
That clinical experience, paired with her law degree, gives her clients an advantage that’s hard to replicate. Few attorneys can say they’ve worked both sides of a hospital bed and a courtroom.
A Career Built on Range
Suzanne’s legal career actually started on the defense side. Early on, she represented insurance companies and hospitals in major medical malpractice claims, which gave her a front row seat to how these cases are built and defended. That kind of insight is invaluable now that she represents injured clients instead of the institutions being sued. She knows the playbook because she used to write it.
For the past two decades, Suzanne has worked in private practice, and her caseload reflects just how broad her skill set really is. At The Russo Firm, she focuses on medical malpractice, personal injury, and business litigation. Outside of that, she also maintains a general business practice, serving as house counsel for national and international companies navigating corporate legal matters. She’s even represented several Major League Baseball players during contract negotiations, proof that her legal instincts translate well beyond the courtroom.
It’s a rare combination: an attorney equally comfortable arguing a personal injury claim, negotiating a corporate contract, or reviewing a professional athlete’s deal.
A Trusted Voice for Broward County’s Children
Suzanne also serves as a Court Appointed Guardian Ad Litem for Broward County, a role where she advocates for children’s best interests in legal proceedings. It’s volunteer work in the truest sense, requiring patience, compassion, and a genuine investment in outcomes that have nothing to do with billable hours. For Suzanne, it’s simply part of who she is as an attorney and as a person.
Education and Credentials
Suzanne earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Psychology from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut before heading to Nova Southeastern University in Broward County, where she received her Juris Doctor in 1985. She’s been a member of the Florida Bar Association since 1988. Her professional background and legal experience are also reflected on her Avvo profile, giving prospective clients another way to learn more about her credentials and career.
Community Roots and Life Outside the Law
Suzanne’s commitment to her community goes well beyond the office. She previously served as President of the Coco Plum Homeowners Association and remains active as a volunteer for several civic and charitable organizations throughout South Florida.
She’s also built a life outside the legal world that’s just as impressive. Suzanne is a certified yoga teacher who owns her own yoga studios, along with a yoga clothing line and a high end women’s accessories company. She frequently lectures on the business side of yoga, sharing what she’s learned about turning a passion into a sustainable enterprise. It’s a reminder that Suzanne understands business not just as a lawyer advising clients, but as someone who has built and run her own ventures.
Why This Matters for Clients
Clients who work with Suzanne aren’t just hiring a lawyer with a strong resume. They’re working with someone who has sat on the medical side of a malpractice claim, defended hospitals before representing patients, advised Fortune level companies, negotiated for professional athletes, and built businesses of her own from the ground up.
That range is exactly what makes her such a valuable advocate at The Russo Firm. Whether the case involves a car accident, a medical error, a business dispute, or a complex corporate matter, Suzanne brings a depth of experience that most attorneys simply don’t have.
For anyone in Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach, or the greater South Florida area looking for legal representation grounded in real world experience, Suzanne Friedman offers a perspective shaped by decades in medicine, law, and business alike.
