Mr. Powers hails from Miami, Florida, where he was born and raised. He completed his secondary education at Archbishop Curley High School in 1964 before embarking on his academic journey. Mr. Powers pursued his undergraduate studies at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, majoring in French. During his junior year, he had the enriching experience of traveling through Europe and immersing himself in the French language while studying in Pau, France, where he resided with a local French family.
Upon graduating from college in 1968, Mr. Powers returned to Miami and enrolled at the University of Miami Law School. During this time, he joined the Delta Theta Phi law fraternity. However, his legal studies were briefly interrupted by the Vietnam War. Following his first year of law school, Mr. Powers enlisted in the Navy, serving as a personnel man aboard the destroyer DD-763 William C. Law, based in Jacksonville, Florida. Additionally, he utilized his linguistic skills as a French interpreter for the Navy at Mare Island, California. Further advancing his military career, Mr. Powers attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and Damage Control School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For two years, he served as a line officer aboard the cable repair ship ARC-2 Neptune. After his ship's decommissioning, Mr. Powers continued his service in the Naval Reserves and received an honorable discharge.
Following his military endeavors, Mr. Powers resumed his legal studies at the University of Miami School of Law, graduating in 1976. During his time there, he gained practical experience by clerking for a defense law firm in Miami Beach and working at the law school library. In his final year of law school, he interned with Legal Services of Greater Miami, specializing in civil litigation. After passing the Florida Bar, Mr. Powers spent 11 years working at a prominent law firm in Miami, focusing on defense cases involving general liability, products liability, and medical malpractice claims concerning doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes.
Subsequently, Mr. Powers transitioned to a small law firm in Ft. Lauderdale, where he broadened his legal practice for two years. His work encompassed probate estates, liability cases, domestic cases, and landlord-tenant disputes. In 1990, he joined a Miami-based law firm that specialized in workers' compensation law. During his tenure there, Mr. Powers dedicated his vacations to a total immersion Spanish language program in Costa Rica, attending language school and residing with a local family in San Jose. In 1994, he obtained a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Barry University, earning admission into the National Honorary Society in Business Administration, Delta Mu Delta. He furthered his education at Barry University, attaining a Master of Science Degree in Health Services Administration.
In 2000, Mr. Powers joined a law firm focused on defending employers and carriers in workers' compensation cases across Florida. However, in 2013, he shifted his practice exclusively to representing injured workers in workers' compensation cases. He became of counsel to Mario R. Arango P.A. while also establishing his own law firm. In 2018, Mr. Powers obtained an LLM in Elder Law from Stetson University College of Law. Throughout his legal career, he has remained committed to staying abreast of the latest developments in laws, rules, and judicial decisions by regularly attending continuing legal education courses, seminars, and conferences.
Mr. Powers is an active member of various professional associations, including the Florida Bar Association, American Bar Association, Dade County Bar Association, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Additionally, he is affiliated with organizations such as Florida Workers Advocates (FWA), Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys (AFELA), and the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives.
Mr. Powers actively contributes to the legal community, having served on the Panel on Staff Leasing at the FWA Educational Conference in 2017 and as a judge for the Trial Advocacy Competition in 2018. He is dedicated to community service as a member of the Knights of Columbus (Fourth Degree) and the Catholic Lawyers Guild.
