Meet Litigation Lawyer, Aziza F. Elayan

With her vast knowledge and experience, Aziza now focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, including class actions in multidistrict litigation proceedings. Notably, Aziza is now part of a team who handles cases involving Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Solidarity Act of 1996, also known as the Libertad Act, which allows U.S. nationals to file lawsuits in U.S. federal courts against entities or individuals that operate on property confiscated by the Cuban government.

Aziza graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University with a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations. She also received her Juris Doctor from Florida International University College of Law where she placed on the Dean’s list and received the “Book Award” for the highest grade in Real Estate Transactions. While in law school, Aziza worked at the Carlos A. Costa Immigration & Human Rights Clinic where she represented low-income immigrant clients in court—notably, she obtained political asylum for a client that was issued a deportation order. Aziza was also hand-picked to participate in a Wage Theft Council, and earned an Excellence in Service Award for her work in the clinic. During law school, Aziza also served as a judicial intern for Third District Court of Appeal Judge Cortiñas, and served on the law school’s Board of Advocates where she regularly competed in competitions against other law students from across the nation and around the world. She placed as a Finalist in the 2009 Board of Advocates Intramural Negotiation Competition, as a Semi-Finalist in the 2010 Board of Advocates Intramural Appellate Advocacy Competition where she also won Third Place for her Appellate Brief, and as a Quarterfinalist in the 2010 Wechsler First Amendment Moot Court Competition.

After law school, Aziza practiced first party insurance defense and commercial litigation where she obtained notable settlements after having conducted her own investigation of the alleged facts and exposing the opposing party’s frivolous claims. Her experience includes drafting claims for breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranty and arguing various motions, taking and defending depositions, and propounding and responding to discovery in connection with shareholder disputes, real estate matters, and construction defect cases. Over the last three years, Aziza—a native of Brazil and fluent in Portuguese and Spanish—has also accumulated extensive experience in foreign language e-discovery, a valuable skill gave the increasingly global nature of e-discovery. Aziza has worked on several complex litigation cases concerning allegations of fraud, money-laundering, antitrust violations, and consumer protection law violations involving multinational companies and international banks.

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Miami-Dade County Bar Association
• Florida Bar