November 16, 2022
By Erik Bojnansky

A local personal injury firm is hiring more attorneys and staff and increasing the size of its Boca Raton office.

Coral Gables-based law firm Falk, Waas, Hernandez, Solomon, Mendlestein & Davis will enlarge its space at 1900 N.W. Corporate Blvd. to 5,000 square feet from 3,000, managing shareholder Scott Mendlestein said. The expanded portion of the office is being built out and is expected to be finished by January, he added.

The firm will also increase its staff at the location, which currently houses three attorneys, five legal assistants, one paralegal and four other office personnel.

“We hope to have 10 attorneys, five paralegals, 10 legal assistants and two office services personnel,” Mendlestein said.

The firm is presently on the hunt for four more attorneys, several paralegals and “talented legal assistants,” he added.

Founded in 1983, Falk Waas has 17 attorneys plus support staff working out of three offices in Boca Raton (where its had a presence since 2012), its headquarters in Merrick View at 135 San Lorenzo Ave,, and a Regus co-working space within the GAI Building in Orlando.

The firm defends clients against personal injury litigation in areas that include medical negligence, wrongful death, liability, and auto negligence. Falk Waas also represents health care providers and insurers in civil litigation.

Mendlestein said the firm is expanding its Boca office because its well-situated to accommodate the growing needs of its clients in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.

“Over the past five or so years, clients in those markets have significantly expanded their businesses. Growth in Boca was thus both a natural progression and part of our strategic growth plan to continue to be a trusted partner for regulated industries in the state,” he said.

South Florida’s economy has grown steadily since the pandemic, thanks to an influx of people and businesses from other parts of the U.S. That growth has included the health care sector, which has led to increased demand for medical office space.

The migration has also attracted large out-of-state law firms that aim to establish a presence either by leasing space in prominent buildings such as 830 Brickell in Miami or by acquiring smaller local firms.

Local firms, meanwhile, have been making their own moves. In early 2023, Miami-based Shutts & Bowen LLP will relocate its Fort Lauderdale office from 200 E. Broward Blvd., where it’s been for the past 24 years, to The Main Las Olas. Fort Lauderdale-based Becker P.A. will also shift its Coral Gables office to 2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd. In both cases, the firms are moving to smaller offices surrounded by more amenities.

Coconut Creek-based real estate firm Butters Group purchased the circa-1980s 1900 N.W. Corporate Blvd. property for $21 million in May 2017, according to real estate website Reonomy. Space in the building is advertised at $26.95 a square foot on LoopNet.com. That rental rate does not include utilities, property expenses or building services.