Lida Rodriguez-Taseff
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 3400
Miami, FL 33131-2318
USA
Phone: +1 305 960 2242
Fax: +1 305 397 2443
Email: LRTaseff@duanemorris.com

Lida Rodriguez-Taseff is a commercial trial lawyer. She has handled state and federal jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations and administrative trials in the areas of business and contract disputes, non-competes and trade secrets, construction defects and bid protests. In addition, she has handled evidentiary injunction hearings in the areas of trade secrets, non-competes and intellectual property. Ms. Rodriguez-Taseff also practices in the area of voting rights.

Ms. Rodriguez-Taseff is admitted to practice in Florida and New York and is a 1992 graduate of the New York University School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar and a recipient of the Vanderbilt Medal, the highest honor bestowed by NYU. She is a graduate of the University of Miami and she is fully fluent in written and spoken Spanish. She is a member of Duane Morris' Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Areas of Practice

• Commercial Litigation
• Intellectual Property
• Construction Litigation

Representative Matters

Business Litigation/Intellectual Property Litigation

• Defended client as lead counsel in federal litigation alleging civil theft, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Obtained total defense verdict after jury trial (January 2010).
• Represented clients as co-lead counsel in real property contract dispute in the federal district court in St. Thomas, USVI. Prevailed after a two-week jury trial (June-July 2009).
• Represented transportation industry client as lead counsel in a formal protest of a recommended government bid award to a competitor. Successfully overturned the recommendation of a municipal agency in administrative trial, resulting in client obtaining the award of a $125 million contract (October-December 2006).
• Represented plaintiff contractor as co-lead counsel in bench trial alleging wrongful termination of construction contract (June-October 2008).

Trade Secrets/Restrictive Covenants/Workplace

• Obtained defense arbitration award in favor of a national company in matter involving allegations of assault/battery in the workplace (March-April 2010).
• Obtained directed verdict on behalf of international vendor of computing systems for transportation terminals in case involving allegations of racial discrimination. An adverse ruling in the case would have potentially jeopardized the company's government contract status (January 2008).
• Obtained numerous injunctions against former employees of various businesses who attempted to make use of their employers' trade secrets in unfair competition.

Condo/Homeowners Associations/Construction

• Represented 600-unit condominium association in multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit against insurance carrier for hurricane-related damages. The litigation was settled for terms the client found very favorable shortly before trial (May 2009).
• Represented more than 450 plaintiffs in a class action against a contractor and developer for damages resulting from structural design defects and building code violations. Procured a favorable settlement, getting all units repaired and brought up to code (November 2005).
• Represented condominium associations for luxury condominiums in lawsuit against developers relating to association governance. Prevailed on all key issues on interlocutory appeal and on summary judgment, which resulted in settlement (July 2007).

Voting/Elections

• Represented plaintiffs as co-lead counsel in federal lawsuit challenging Florida's purges of alleged non-citizens. Lawsuit was resolved in a manner the clients found favorable. (June 2012).
• Represented national civil rights groups in connection with voter registration and get-out-the-vote initiatives for the 2012 presidential election.
• Represented plaintiff as co-lead counsel in federal lawsuit alleging violations of Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by Volusia County, Florida. Negotiated settlement including agreement to provide bilingual ballots to voters in Volusia County (April 2010).
• Represented state and local civil rights groups in connection with voter registration and get-out-the-vote initiatives for the 2008 presidential election.
• Represented a county supervisor of elections on various matters, including negotiation of contracts with voting-system vendors and preparation of testimony before various governmental bodies (2006).
• Consultant for national civil rights organization, directing its Right to Vote Public Education Initiative. The Initiative was designed to increase awareness of current limitations on the right to vote in the U.S. and to explore ways to strengthen the right to vote for all Americans. (August 2005-April 2006).

Professional Activities

• Provide legal commentary for national and international media outlets including BBC, CNN, CNN HeadlineNews, FOX, CNBC, MSNBC, Univision and Telemundo, 2000-present
• The Spellman-Hoeveller American Inns of Court, 2007-present
• Legal commentator, CNN Saturday morning segment Legal Briefs, November 2002 - September 2005
• Guest Editor, Miami Herald, February-December 2005

Admissions

• New York
• Florida
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Education

• New York University School of Law, J.D., 1992

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Board of Directors, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, New York, NY September 2010-Present
• Board of Directors, OWL, The Voice of Midlife and Older Women, Washington, D.C., January 2013-Present
• Board of Directors, Audubon Florida, Tallahassee, FL, January 2013- Present
• Secretary, Friends of the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL, 2009-Present
• Co-chair, South Florida Jobs With Justice, Miami, FL, 2007-Present
• Chair Emeritus, Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition, Miami, FL, 2005-Present

Honors and Awards

• Named in the South Florida Legal Guide Top Rated Lawyers, 2012
• Recipient of Business Leader magazine's "Women Extraordinaire Award," November 2011
• Finalist, Daily Business Review's Most Effective Lawyers 2010
• Honored by the Miami Workers Center, December 2009
• Recipient of the inaugural Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Legacy Diversity Award, 2008
• Florida Trend, Top Florida Attorneys, 2008
• 2007 Civil Rights Award, The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Florida
• Voted to "The Power Women Issue," The SunPost, October 5, 2006
• Voted to "25 Mas Poderosos del Sur de la Florida," Poder Magazine, 2005
• Elaine Gordon "You Make a Difference" Award, Miami-Dade County Lobby Days in Tallahassee, April 2005
• Voted "Best Lawyer" by Miami New Times, March 2004
• Community Service Award, South Florida AFL-CIO, 2004
• Commendation by the City of Miami, Florida, presented for "resolute commitment to the Miami community," serving as President of the Miami Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, March 25, 2004
• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Selected Publications

• Author, "Water Drives South Florida's Economy," The Miami Herald, (July 7, 2013)
• Author "Voting is Not a Technicality—It's a Fundamental Right ," Daily Business Review, (June 4, 2012)
• Quoted in "Attorneys Help in $17.37 Million Purchase of 2-Acre Brickell Site ," Daily Business Review, (May 30, 2012)
• Quoted in "Diversity Scorecard: Lonely At the Top" by Julie Kay, Daily Business Review, (January 23, 2012)
• "The Road to Paper: Is E-Voting Reform Eroding the Gains of Language Minority Voters? The Case of Florida," for The American Bar Association, Inaugural National Institute on Computing and the Law (July 2007)
• "Florida's Post 2000 Voting Systems Overhaul: The Road to Perdition," 23. J. Marshall Computer & Info. L. 497-508 (Spring 2005)

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Panelist, "In the Arena: How Women and Girls Change the World," The Older Women's League Program, National Press Club, Washington, D.C., May 8, 2013
• Panelist, "The Uneasy Embrace: A Reflection on the State of Voting Rights and Voter Access," The George Vashon Lecture-2013, Philadelphia, PA, April 12, 2013
• Panelist, "Law Firm Diversity Best Practices: The Essential Tools to Starting and Maintaining an Effective Diversity Initiative for Hiring and Retention," ABA Forum on the Construction Industry 2011 Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, AZ, April 16, 2011