Don Keenan
Painting a subject without their knowing it, a surprise portrait, is always fraught with danger… and in the case of Don Keenan, doubly so. A larger than life character, electrifying, the trial lawyer community with his “Reptile Theory” of practice, a TV personality, renowned children’s advocate, often to be found unshaved wearing shorts, T-shirt, and always those sunglasses. An ex-marine of Irish blood and creator of the Kids Foundation and Bono aficionado. All this and more went into this painting. It was with relief that I saw it was warmly and enthusiastically received at its unveiling in Houston. Kudos to the courage of the man brave enough to commission this painting!
Painting a subject without their knowing it, a surprise portrait, is always fraught with danger… and in the case of Don Keenan, doubly so. A larger than life character, electrifying, the trial lawyer community with his “Reptile Theory” of practice, a TV personality, renowned children’s advocate, often to be found unshaved wearing shorts, T-shirt, and always those sunglasses. An ex-marine of Irish blood and creator of the Kids Foundation and Bono aficionado. All this and more went into this painting. It was with relief that I saw it was warmly and enthusiastically received at its unveiling in Houston. Kudos to the courage of the man brave enough to commission this painting!
Don Keenan
Keenan, Don. 16" x 20". 2015. Collection of Keenan Law Firm. Atlanta, GA. Portrait on canvas. Commissioned by HMR Funding, Dean Chase.
Keenan, Don. 16" x 20". 2015. Collection of Keenan Law Firm. Atlanta, GA. Portrait on canvas. Commissioned by HMR Funding, Dean Chase.
Miami workers’ compensation attorneys with more than 100 years of collective legal experience. Dedicated to protecting Florida workers’ rights, fighting diligently for their clients with an exceptional history of success in going to trial.
Founded in 2014 in Coral Gables for the purpose of representing the interests of injured workers throughout the state of Florida. The merger of the partners' law firms brought together over 100 years of legal experience. The firm handles workers' compensation claims, public employee pensions, Heart/Lung bill , social security disability, unemployment claims, Longshore & Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), Defense Base Act, and personal injury cases.
TOUBY, CHAIT & SICKING
Richard Chait, Richard Sicking and Mark Touby pictured in the Florida Supreme Court Chamber having won their case, Castellanos v. Next Door whereby the Court struck down the state's mandatory fee schedule as unconstitutional. Original painting on canvas, 24" x 30", 2018, in the private collection of Touby Chait Sicking, Coral gables, Florida.
Regularly recognized for their achievements by the legal community Richard Chait received the Inaugural Levine/Colling "Filling the Shoes" award from the Florida Workers' Advocates and the 2015 Albert Frierson - Stewart Colling Professionalism Award from the The Florida Bar, Workers' Compensation Section. In doing so, he joined Richard Sicking (2010) as one of only eight recipients of the award. "The award is presented annually to an attorney that the Section believes represents the highest professionalism and ethical standards." Mark Touby and Richard Sicking are Board Certified in Workers' Compensation and were both named "Legal Elite" by Florida Trend for 2015. Mark Touby was also named a Super Lawyer for 2015 and rated AV Preeminent 5 out of 5 by Martindale-Hubbell for the tenth consecutive year. At the Masters of Justice Conference 2016, the Florida Justice Association presented all three partners with the distinguished Jon E. Krupnick Award which recognizes incredible perseverance demonstrated throughout a career.
Mark A. Touby,
Mark A. Touby is the managing partner of Touby, Chait & Sicking , holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Florida and received a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami in 1995. Mr. Touby is Board Certified in Workers’ Compensation and has been representing claimants since 1995. He was recognized as a Rising Star in Florida Super Lawyers Magazine in 2009 and as a Super Lawyer in 2015.
Mr. Touby has served on the Board of Directors of Florida Workers’ Advocates since 2003. He currently serves on the Executive Council of the Workers' Compensation Section of the Florida Bar. He served as Chair of the Workers' Compensation Rules Advisory Committee from 2014-2015. In addition, Mr. Touby serves as a trustee and Vice-President of Fundraising for the Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund. He has served as President of the Friends of 440, Inc. from 2009-2010 and Vice-Chair of the Dade County Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Committee from 2009-2013. Mr. Touby is a frequent lecturer and his practice also includes Unemployment Appeals, Social Security Disability and Personal Injury cases.
Richard E. Chait
Richard E. Chait specializes in the representation of injured workers throughout the state pof Florida. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration - Finance from the University of Florida in 1984 and attended the University of Miami School of Law graduating in 1987. For the majority of his career he has specialized in the field of Workers' Compensation Law protecting the rights of injured workers.
Richard is a former president of the Florida Workers' Advocates (FWA), 2000-01 and has held a District Seat on the FWA Board of Directors since 1993. He sits on the FWA Executive Committee and provides special counsel to the acting President and other officers and is Chair of FWA’s Legislative Committee and Political Action Committee. Richard is the current Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Florida Justice Association Committee on Workers’ Compensation dealing with the ongoing legislative and political proceedings which constantly impact this area of the law. Past Chair of the Florida Bar Workers' Compensation Section (2009-10) he has held a seat on the Section’s Executive Council since 2001. He currently serves on the Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Rules Advisory Committee. In 2010, he served on the Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate’s Joint Task Force on Workers’ Compensation.
Richard has maintained a vital role in Florida’s political, legislative and leadership process, relevant to Workers’ Compensation issues, since his FWA presidency. He regularly works with the FWA and Florida Justice Association leadership teams to formulate various strategies and other plans of action to advance the cause for injured workers. Richard spends extensive time in Tallahassee and traveling through other parts of the state on behalf of Florida’s injured workers and the Workers’ Compensation System. He has testified before the Florida Senate and House of Representatives during various legislative sessions. He has also provided testimony during several Workers’ Compensation Rules Hearings, and most recently, the Office of Insurance Regulation Workers’Compensation Rate Hearing.
Throughout his career, Richard has received numerous awards and recognitions from FWA, Florida Justice Association, Friends of 440 and other organizations for his efforts and contributions on behalf of injured workers and the workers’ compensation system. In 2004, Friends of 440 honored him as the Outstanding Attorney on behalf of injured workers. During the 2007 FWA Educational Conference, he was presented with the inaugural David H. Levine Outstanding Leadership Award. Following the 2009 Legislative Session, FWA awarded Richard the inaugural Stewart L. Colling Legislative Leadership Award, and thus far he is the sole recipient of this honor. In 2015, the Workers' Compensation Section of the Florida Bar awarded Richard the Frierson-Colling Professionalism Award and the FWA bestowed upon him the inaugural Fill the Shoes Award. In the Summer of 2016, Richard was presented with the Cornerstone Award and the Bronze EAGLE Award at the Florida Justice Association Annual Convention.
Richard A. Sicking,
Richard A. Sicking has been a member of the Florida Bar for over 50 years. He came to Florida from Van Buren County, Michiganin the 1950s, attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and then obtained his law degree from the University of Miami in Coral Gables where he was a member of Iron Arrow (the University's highest honor society).
In 1963, he went to work for Kaplan, Ser, Abrams and O'Malley in Miami, representing many labor unions and also doing workers' compensation representing employees and their families.In 1979, he received the Friends of 440 award as a claimant's attorney. He left the firm in 1989 to practice by himself as general counsel for the Florida Professional Firefighters, International Association of Firefighters, AFL-CIO (the firefighters' union), and as workers' compensation panel lawyer for the National Football League Players' Association, AFL-CIO, NFLPA (Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Bucs and Jacksonville Jaguars.
In 2014, he joined with long-time workers' advocates, Mark Touby and Richard Chait to continue his dedication to workers' rights in Florida. He has served as chairman of the Workers' Compensation Section of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers and the Executive Council of The Workers' Compensation Section of The Florida Bar, and he has been Board Certified in Workers' Compensation Law since 1988. From 1983 to 1987, he was the labor member of the State of Florida Workers' Compensation Panel which sets the medical fee schedule. A frequent author and speaker for the Florida Bar CLE programs in workers' compensation. Richard Sicking is responsible for naming the Florida Workers' Compensation Institute (FWCI) at its founding.