Attorney Lytal named to lead legal lobbyists

Lake H. “Trey” Lytal III and other Palm Beach County attorneys have taken leadership roles in a state legal association that has lobbied the Legislature heavily on issues, including a proposed repeal of Florida’s no-fault car insurance system.

Lytal, 47, was sworn in as president of the Florida Justice Association in its annual meeting last week in Palm Beach.

He serves as managing partner with Lytal Reiter Smith Ivey & Fronrath in West Palm Beach.

“We protect cornerstone American rights and support Republicans and Democrats who support our mission,” Lytal said in a statement.

The group seeks to protect “access to the courts and right to a jury trial,” he said.

The association, which bills itself as advancing the interests of citizens and consumers through the work of member trial lawyers, advocated for a bill that passed the state House last session to end the state’s no-fault car insurance system.

That would bring to a close Florida’s status as one of only two states that do not require bodily injury liability insurance to cover a driver’s injuries to others, but the bill stalled in the Senate.

Other issues on its agenda have concerned workers’ comp legislation and “bad faith” laws affecting insurers.

Lytal, the son of a past president of the organization, succeeds attorney Dale Swope, of Tampa, as president, but he is not the only attorney from the

area to line up officer roles.

Eric Romano, a partner with the Romano Law Group in West Palm Beach, was named treasurer.

The president-elect, or next president in line, is Leslie Kroeger, a partner with Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll in Palm Beach Gardens.

She will be the second woman to serve as president, according to organization officials.