Fighting for the Rights of the Accused in Federal Court Since 2004
Attorney Ann Fitz
Attorney Ann Fitz has over 15 years of experience as a federal criminal attorney and appellate practice attorney. She began her career as a prosecutor in 2003 and started her own boutique federal criminal defense practice in 2007.
In addition to representing privately retained clients, she served for 7 years as a Panel Attorney in conjunction with the Federal Defender's Office under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) in Atlanta and Los Angeles, where she gained an immense amount of experience representing appointed clients charged with everything from defrauding the federal government to drug trafficking to gang cases. She has continued her public service by currently serving as a CJA Panel Attorney in the West Palm Beach, Ft. Pierce, and Fort Lauderdale divisions of the Southern District of Florida.
Ms. Fitz's interest in criminal law began when she served as a juror on a vehicular homicide case while in college. She uses her unique third-person perspective to develop winning strategies and viable theories of defense. She is a seasoned federal criminal defense attorney who has represented individuals from a wide-range of backgrounds and has a passion for helping people stuck in a bad situation.
Over the years, Ann Fitz has proven herself as a reputable criminal attorney by handling numerous high-profile white collar cases with skill and a no-nonsense approach. She has been recognized as a leader in federal criminal defense by Super Lawyers, the National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys, The National Trial Lawyers, and other organizations.
Her distinctive accomplishments in criminal defense have been featured in numerous nationally well-known publications and media outlets including Rolling Stone Magazine, Wired Magazine, CBS’s 48 Hours Mystery and NBC’s Nightly News. She is a chapter author for the Lexis-Nexis Practice Guide: Georgia Criminal Law and has served as a seminar speaker on the topic of white collar crime.
In addition to her work as a criminal attorney, Ms. Fitz has a diversified background of fighting for clients in select civil litigation, mediation and arbitration cases, including employment discrimination cases against the federal government, breach of contract disputes, and defending against copyright infringement charges by Warner Brothers. She currently serves as a Public Arbitrator for FINRA, where she is responsible for listening to both sides of securities-related disputes, weighing the facts and evidence, and rendering final and binding decisions.
Highlights
Licensed in Multiple Jurisdictions
Ms. Fitz is licensed in numerous states and federal jurisdictions, including all federal district courts in Florida. She has prepared motions and briefs in the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Circuits, as well as the United States Supreme Court, and has represented clients in federal courts throughout Florida, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Experienced in Handling High-Profile Cases
Some of her notable cases include a $25 million loan modification scheme, a $12 million tax fraud scheme, and a $7 million Ponzi scheme. She represented a client who was listed on the top-ten most-wanted list in a fraud and identity theft case featured on an episode of CBS’s 48 Hours Mystery, as well as the lead defendant in the Atlanta prosecution of the Black Mafia Family (BMF). She has launched novel constitutional challenges to the applicability of the Florida and Georgia sex offender registration laws to individuals who, she argued, were exempt from registration, changing the law in Georgia and presenting precedent-setting issues to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Called Upon as a Cable News Legal Analyst
Outside of the courtroom, attorney Ann Fitz has been sought-after to provide her insights and opinions as a legal commentator on the Fox News Network, CNN, HLN, and MSNBC, and appeared as a regular guest on truTV’s In Session (formerly CourtTV) from 2009-2011.