The Law Offices of Matthew J. Jowanna, P.A., have been serving the legal needs of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa since 2005. The firm, located at the Windguard Professional Center off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in Wesley Chapel (near The Goddard School), specializes in personal injury, probate and estate planning and administration.
Attorney Matthew J. Jowanna has been practicing law for more than 30 years and has specialized in personal injury cases since 1994. The firm’s founder, president and managing shareholder, Jowanna says his experience working in large law firms in downtown Tampa inspired him to do things differently. He says his goal since opening his firm has been to make that big downtown law firm experience accessible to people in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel and the surrounding communities. Jowanna wants his clients to know that his is a quality local law firm focused on professional, caring service.
“I wanted to open a small neighborhood law firm,” Jowanna explains, “where people in the local communities are able to get top-quality legal representation.”
In order to expand the services Jowanna’s firm offers to clients, he recently added Farral A. Haber as managing attorney for estate planning and probate. Haber has been practicing law for thirteen years, with ten years specifically in trusts and estates. Together, Jowanna and Haber offer a wealth of experience to their clients.
“We don’t do everything under the sun,” Jowanna says, “but our practice areas now include some of the most common needs in the neighborhood — we’re here as neighbors to help you with the typical legal problems that you and your neighbors may have.”
When it comes to injury cases, whether someone gets hurt in a car accident, while on vacation or in the workplace, The Law Offices of Matthew J. Jowanna can assist you. Jowanna also helps clients who are having problems receiving their deserved injury benefits from insurance companies.
Meanwhile, Haber’s estate planning and probate specialization helps clients with creating wills, living trusts, making plans for their estates and probate cases. Regardless of which services you require, Jowanna and Haber make every effort to meet those needs, and also make accommodations for their clients’ financial needs.
“People shouldn’t have to drive to downtown Tampa for quality legal representation,” Jowanna says. “Every client is important and every case is different.”
Jowanna earned his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Broadcasting and Mass Communications from the University of South Florida in Tampa. He worked for several Tampa Bay area radio and television stations for seven years before pursuing his law degree. He then obtained his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale and graduated Summa Cum Laude (with Highest Honors), in the top 2% of his law school class. He also completed a prestigious postdoctoral Legum Magister (LL.M., or “Master of Laws”) degree from the University of Notre Dame, in Notre Dame, IN, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude (with High Honors) and received a perfect score on his LL.M. thesis.
Jowanna’s first job out of law school was for an insurance defense firm, which helped him realize that insurance defense wasn’t where he wanted to spend his career.
“It’s the opposite of what I do now,” he explains. “Doing that made me realize that I was on the wrong side of the fence, and I would prefer to be on the plaintiff side to help someone in their claim against a big insurance company.” He says he is appreciative of the knowledge he gained from seeing the other side, and that it has given him added insight when working with clients who are going up against insurance companies.
Jowanna and his firm have been included in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of the Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms in the U.S. He also is included in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, a unique guide to the legal community’s preeminent professionals who have received the highest ratings, according to the prestigious Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.
Tampa is ranked in the top-10 worst cities for drivers. Therefore, if you drive regularly in the Tampa Bay area, you have most likely witnessed an accident, its aftermath, or have possibly been involved in a collision yourself. Jowanna shares the following advice as to what to do if you find yourself in that situation.
“I tell every client to take care of yourself first,” says Jowanna. “Your injuries obviously come first; the legal claim will be there afterwards. If you get into your typical fender bender and still have your wits about you, you should take photographs. A picture is worth a thousand words. Document, document, document!”
Clients truly appreciate the way the firm advises them and goes above and beyond, even in the most challenging scenarios — as evidenced by its 4.9-star (out of 5) overall rating on Google on more than 50 reviews. And, while it is a neighborhood practice, the attorneys and legal staff can assist you even when you are far from home.
In a five-star review on Google, Alexander Hunter says, “They handled my accident claim with incredible patience, even though I had to process everything from overseas. The team took the time to explain every step in detail and negotiated on my behalf when issues arose with different medical providers. Their professionalism and commitment to my case made a stressful situation so much easier.”
The Estate Planning Side
Helping folks during difficult and emotional times is an aspect of the work that Haber says she finds most rewarding. Working in probate and estate law, Haber helps clients both prepare for their own futures, as well as wrap up the affairs of someone who has passed. She helps clients with the process of figuring out exactly how an estate is to be administered, locating assets, discerning whether a court needs to be involved, as well as explaining what paperwork needs to be filed.
Haber earned her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Psychology from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Cum Laude (with distinction). She was the Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She then earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law.
While in law school, Haber received the Book Award for the highest grade in Trial Practice; she also was the Executive Articles Editor for the UF Journal of Law & Public Policy and was a Certified Legal Intern with the State Attorney’s office. She is licensed to practice law in Florida, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
While Haber initially started out as a litigator, after a few years, she chose to focus on estate planning and probate. “What I love about estate planning,” she says, “ is that it is something that everybody needs, and yet it is so easy to put off. I enjoy demystifying the process for folks and explaining things, making it approachable and customizing it to what a client actually wants, then seeing those goals put into practice.”
Haber adds that she encourages people to plan ahead of time, and to not be afraid of the process. “People avoid it or dig their head in the sand because they don’t understand what it entails,” she says. Her goal is to make estate planning more approachable for clients and to help them get something in place, even if it is a step-by-step process that takes a few years.
Jowanna says Haber’s talents are a great addition to the practice. “We are simply thrilled to have Farral joining us,” Jowanna says. “I hope the clients are as thrilled with her as we are.”
While both Jowanna and Haber say they see growth of the firm as a goal, they are clear about what they want that growth to look like. “I never want to get so big that I don’t remember a client’s name and I don’t remember their file,” explains Jowanna, to which Haber adds, “I certainly want to assist as many folks as I can, but I never want to sacrifice quality.”
The Law Offices of Matthew J. Jowanna, P.A., are located at 2521 Windguard Cir. For more information, call (813) 929-7300 or visit LetMattDoThat.com.
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