Robert Hicks is a legal assistant and the Business Manager. He assists the attorneys on research and case development, as well as computer hardware and software management. He received his Bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1971 and has been working in the legal field for 14 years. He is on the Boards of Directors of Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Cape Coral Municipal Charter Schools Foundation, the Classic Chambers Concerts of Naples, the Board of the Harvard Club of Lee County and is on the Board for Arts Naples World Festival.

C. Robert Linne, Ph.D. is a legal assistant supporting the attorneys with Personal Injury, Disability, Veterans and Long Term Disability appeals. He studied at Harvard University Divinity School from 1967-1970 and Northwestern University where he received his Ph.D. He also received an M.A. degree from Michigan State. He was an Assistant Professor at Florida State University from 1976 to 1980 and an instructor at Edison College from 1981-2002. Prior to working at Avard Law Offices in 1999, he also worked with at-risk youth and their families in therapeutic foster case and was a Program Director of a network of services provided to these families. In addition he was a therapist at Lee Mental Health.

Barbara Roig is an Office Manager and has 17 years experience assisting the attorneys in the processing and filing of Personal Injury and Disability claims from the initial through the appellate levels. She works extensively in maintaining the Personal Injury court pleading's and with the Social Security Administration Headquarters staff in Baltimore completing our clients claims.

Dina Fanora has worked in the legal field since 1992, handling Personal Injury, Insurance, Real Estate, Mortgages, and Medical Records Development on Disability cases. She attended Nassau Community College, Uniondale, NY, where she studied Child Development.

Karen Plum-Herring has 31 years experience working in the Hearing Offices (Office of Disability Adjudication and Review) for Social Security in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Fargo, North Dakota. She was responsible for writing decisions for the Administrative Law Judges.

Lisa Eshelman has assisted attorneys in the legal field since 1990, handling civil litigation and bankruptcy filings. She has worked as a legal assistant in both Maryland and Florida.

Denys Beecher is a legal assistant handling Social Security Disability case development. Educated at the University of South Florida, he currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Southwest Florida Fencing Academy and is former Chairman of the Central Florida Division of the US Fencing Association.

Gavin Dougherty is a Legal Assistant handling the intake of Social Security Disability cases and the development of Personal Injury cases. Having received his Bachelor degree in Percussion Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Gavin is also a professional musician, freelancing throughout Southwest Florida.

Paula Sawyer is a Legal Assistant handling Social Security Disability Intakes and Case Development. She has attended Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kalamazoo, Michigan studying Business Management and South Florida Community College studying Accounting and Computer Technology.

Joanne Avard provides administrative support in purchasing and scanning, and handles the photography for the personal injury cases. She graduated with a B.A. degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in l972. She played on the LPGA Tour in the 70s and 80s. She owned her own screen-printing company in Silicone Valley, California, and worked for Sun Micro System, Inc. HP, and the IBM Corporation before moving to Florida in 1990. She is a food connoisseur, tempting staff daily with homemade creations.

Corey Purcell is a legal assistant handling disability case development. He received his B.A. degree in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a varsity fencer and All-Ivy team member in 2006.

Cara Parsons is a paralegal in the Personal Injury department responsible for individual case management. She received her A.A. degree from Edison College in 2009.

Mary Jo "MJ" Isaksen has worked as a Paralegal since l984 assisting attorneys handling personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability, priest molestation, and divorce cases. She received her Paralegal Certificate from Arizona State University.

Peggy Prossen is a legal assistant with an A.S. degree in Legal Assisting in Science from Miami-Dade Community College. She is a certified legal assistant with the National Association of Legal Assistants. She has been assisting attorneys for many years in insurance defense, workman's compensation defense, and family law.

Alex Albanese is a legal assistant handling electronic data and assisting with client intakes including translating for Spanish speaking clients. Alex is also a Double Bass player and manager of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. Educated in music at Miami University and Cincinnati Conservatory, Alex has played with every professional orchestra in west and central Florida as well at local jazz clubs and on 19 different cruise ships.

Robin Lee is a paralegal and has handled Social Security Disability, Personal Injury, Employment Discrimination cases since 2005. She also has worked with the Social Security Hearing Office in the processing of Avard Law Office cases. In addition to being trained as a Paralegal, she attended the Cleveland Cooper School of Art and is a talented artist and sculptor.

Robin Huffer is the Accounts/HR manager and has experience as a controller and office supervisor handling accounts payable and receivable, trust account, contracts, and human resources. She has a B.S. in Accounting from the Univeristy of South Florida.

Shinesse Lequay assists the staff in medical development and processing of disability claims. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the flute.

Robin Sisk is a Legal Assistant handling intakes in Orlando. She liaisons with the Attorneys. She has experience working with disabled patients in nursing homes, and tutoring disadvantaged students in the public school system. She is working on her Doctorate Degree, at the Hart School, University of Hartford, in music performance. She is a Tuba player in many Symphony Orchestras.