Brenda F. Pagliaro

Professional Experience

Brenda’s career spans private practice and senior in-house leadership, offering a rare dual perspective on insurance, corporate liability, and risk management. She began as a litigator representing municipalities, insureds, and self-insured entities in workers’ compensation, general liability, and premises claims.

For 18+ years, she served as General Counsel for City Furniture, Inc., where she built and led the in-house legal department from the ground up. In this role, she managed enterprise-wide litigation, insurance coverage disputes, regulatory compliance, and cost-containment strategies—consistently reducing reliance on outside counsel. Brenda collaborated closely with executives and employees to resolve internal conflicts, sharpening her communication and consensus-building skills now central to her mediation practice.

As a strategic advisor, Brenda counseled C-suite leaders on contracts, intellectual property, governance, and compliance while overseeing litigation in employment, labor, ADA (including web accessibility), consumer protection, and statutory retaliation claims.

Prior to law, Brenda was a Staff Accountant in Prudential Insurance’s Property & Casualty Division (PRUPAC), gaining hands-on expertise in insurance accounting, financial reporting, and claims valuation. This foundational experience equips her to dissect complex damage models and financial data with unmatched clarity—critical in disputes involving economic loss, business interruption, or third-party liability.

Brenda’s blend of courtroom advocacy, corporate leadership, and financial acumen enables her to guide parties toward efficient, equitable resolutions, preserving relationships and minimizing uncertainty.

• Insurance Claims (First - and Third Party)
• General Liability & Premises Claims
• Workers’ Compensation
• Corporate & Commercial Disputes
• Personal Injury
• Employment and Labor Law (Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FLMA, FCRA, Whistleblower, Wage and Hour), Statutory Retaliation & Regulatory Claims

• The Florida Bar, Member in good standing since 1992
• Prior Member, Florida Workers’ Compensation Strategic Task Force
• Employment and Labor Law Section of the Florida Bar
• Workers’ Compensation Section of the Florida Bar
• Broward Bar Association
• Association of Corporate Counsel
• Broward County Crime Stoppers, Board of Directors (2011-2015)
• Children’s Harbor, Inc., Founding Board of Directors Member
• Dunn’s Run, Founding Board of Directors Member
• Jim & Jan Moran Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County, Founding Board of Directors
• University of Miami Forum on Women’s Health, Board of Directors

• Georgian Court University, BS in Accounting, minor Business Administration
• Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law, JD
  • Book Award Federal Jurisdiction
• People First Certified
• Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court Mediator
• Florida Supreme Court Qualified Arbitrator

• United States Southern District of Florida
• Florida State and Administrative Courts

• Soroptimist Businesswoman of the Year Award
• Leadership Broward Class XXXIV Graduate
• Doreen Koenig Philanthropy Award
• Co-Chairperson Leadership Broward Profiles in Leadership Gala 2017, 2018
• Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow

• Guest on The Verdict is Marketing Podcast discussing Web ADA Compliance.
• Presented a CLE at the Paralegal Association of Florida, Inc. (Broward Chapter) on An Overview of Employment Law: Avoiding ethical violations in the workplace (Feb 2024)
• Presented at Forums on Employment Law, General Counsel and Legal Operations
  Program Coordinator, National Workers’ Compensation Risk Manager Program (2013, 2014)