Rosalyn Barnes

Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes is a Shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., and the Chairperson of the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. She is Board-Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Florida Bar, and is recognized by US News & World Report as one of the “Best Lawyers in America,” by Lawdragon as one of America’s “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers,” by Florida Super Lawyers magazine as a top lawyer in the state, by Florida Trend magazine as a “Legal Elite,” and by the Daily Business Review as one of South Florida’s Inaugural “Top 20 Women in Law.” In her 25-year career, she has successfully pursued justice statewide for victims in personal injury, medical negligence product liability, whistleblower and civil rights cases. She has achieved numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, including a landmark $300 Opioid Whistleblower settlement against Walgreens and a $20 million compensatory and punitive damages verdict against tobacco giant RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company that was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court and reached the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Baker-Barnes is the President of The Florida Bar, the first African-American female in The Florida Bar’s history, dating back to 1889. She was the 95th president of the Palm Beach County Bar Association and the first African-American female to serve in that role. She is the Co-Founder and Inaugural President of the Palm Beach County Sheree Davis Cunningham Black Women Lawyers Association, founded in 2021 to provide mentorship, support and guidance to black women lawyers and the unique challenges they face in the legal profession. An accomplished trial lawyer, she is a member of the invitation only International Academy of Trial Lawyers, International Society of Barristers and the American Board of Trial Advocates. She is also a life member of the both the National Bar Association and the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the NBA. Ms. Baker-Barnes is a past president of the West Palm Beach Chapter of The Links, Incorporated; a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the Palm Beach Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. She earned her law degree from Florida State University College of Law, where she was a Virgil Hawkins Fellow and a member of the Moot Court Team and argued before the Florida Supreme Court. She earned her undergraduate degree in Communication from Florida State University and completed an undergraduate cooperative program in Journalism at Florida A&M University. She is married and a mom of three children.