Carol Avard, Esq.

Practice Areas

• Personal Injury
• Social Security Disability (over 40 years of experience)
• Long Term Disability
• Employment Discrimination

Education

• ABE Harvard ’71
• University of NH, Juris Doctorate Degree, 1980

Bar Admissions

• Florida -1989
• Massachusetts -1981
• The U.S Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
• The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
• U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran’s Claims
• The United States Supreme Court

Professional Appointments

• Appointed by the Florida Bar Grievance Committee to serve as an expert witness on a disability case concerning reasonable Attorney’s fees.
• Appointed by the Chief Judge Anne C. Conway of the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, to serve on the Lawyer Advisory Committee on Rules for the U.S. District Court in 2011-2012.
• Appointed to the Social Security Section Executive Council of the American Association for Justice
• Chairperson of NOSSCR Nominations and Elections Committee
• Special Committee for the National Board of Trial Advocacy

Professional Associations & Memberships

• Board of Directors National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR); 2013-2015
• Florida Justice Association; 2016
• Commission Member on the Social Security Disability Law Specialty Program Commission, for the National Board of Trial Advocacy; 2018-Present
• Harvard Club of Naples Member
• Attorney Broker Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers – Active License

Professional Awards

• Board Certified Social Security Disability Advocacy Attorney by National Board of Trial Advocacy
• Accredited Veterans Disability Attorney

Professional Achievements

• Distinguished 2016 Peer Review Attorney Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
• Panelist and speaker at the Worker’s Compensation Institute’s Annual Conference, August 18 – 20, 2014, Orlando, FL, Attorney Avard was part of two social security disability presentations titled “The Experts: How to Make Your Good Case Better Prior to the Administrative Hearing” and “The Experts: The Best Way of Presenting Your Case at the Administrative Hearing”.
• NOSSCR Director, 11th Circuit, 2013-2015
• Attorney Carol Avard, Sustaining Member and Director, Board of Directors, NOSSCR, lectured at their National Social Security Disability Law Conference in May 14 – 17, 2014. Her presentation concerned managing, questioning and disqualifying vocational expert (V.E.) testimony in Social Security Disability hearings.
• Faculty speaker for the National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives (NOSSCR) conference in San Antonio, Texas, in October 2011, speaking about the Social Security Rulings used in the Sequential Evaluation Process at Hearings before Administrative Law Judges. In addition, she presented to NOSSCR “Exit Strategies for Attorneys”.
• Speaker at the American Association for Justice (AAJ’s) Social Security Success! Seminar in Las Vegas, NV on August 19-20, 2010, on the topic of “Using Jobs Software Tools and Internet Resources: O*NET, Job Browser Pro, and PAQ/ERI with Vocational Witnesses Before, During, and After ALJ Hearings”.
• Lecturer for the National Organization of Social Security Disability Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR) on September 22-25, 2010, Chicago, IL, speaking about using Software Tools and Internet Resources with Vocational Experts at hearings before Administrative Law Judges.
• Lecturer for the Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Courses in Tampa and Miami at a seminar on Effective Advocacy Before The Appeals Council and Beyond, 2000
• Federal Court Lecture for NOSSCR, “Federal Court Appeals: Step by Step”. NOSSCR, May 14-17, 2014
• Faculty: American Association for Justice, 2016, Las Vegas, Nevada.  Faculty member, cross-examining a vocational expert,  at a MOCK HEARING before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ played by Attorney Eric Schnaufer).

Leadership Positions

Carol Avard is a member of the Medical Malpractice, Social Security, Federal Torts, and Motor Vehicle Collision sections of the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America). She is also a member of the Bad Faith, Disability Law, Employment Law, ERISA Litigation, Insurance Law, Medical Negligence, Nursing Home, PI/Wrongful Death, Products Liability, Professional Negligence, and Social Security Disability Law sections of The Florida Association for Justice. Additionally, she is an Accredited Veterans Disability Attorney. Carol is a member of the NOSSCR Board of Directors – a professional association of Social Security Disability practitioners.

Qualifications & Certifications

Carol is Peer Review Rated for Ethical Standards and Legal Ability by Martindale-Hubbell, an independent organization of attorneys and judges that has rated attorneys for over a hundred years. She is Board Certified in Social Security Disability Advocacy law by The National Board of Trial Advocacy .

In her spare time she enjoys playing classical piano.