Meet the Staff

                                             ABOUT OUR STAFF





              Jacquelin. friend and client; Dave; and Judge Judith Atkin at her 2007 investiture


David Gorewitz works primarily in the areas of maritime personal injury, wrongful death, insurance disputes and general personal injury claims, including automobile accidents and motorcycle accidents in Florida. The firm represents passengers and crew members injured due to accidents, battery or sexual assaults on cruise ships, yachts, fishing boats, tugboats, sailboats, motorboats and pleasure boats. The firm also represents persons injured in slip and fall accidents and who are injured by defective products. Dave at times represents people in business disputes and real estate litigation. Dave will take cases outside these areas when people are having their legal rights abused by big business or governmental agencies and has been appointed to represent the interests of abused children.

Dave grew up in Cheltenham, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in business/ accounting and worked his way through Loyola Law School, New Orleans, by working full time during the day and attending night classes.

Upon graduation from Loyola in 1983, Dave worked for a short period of time with the New Orleans District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor and then continued his legal career by working for a large, aggressive litigation-oriented maritime defense firm in New Orleans. Dave, while working for this law firm, spent much of his time defending maritime employers from numerous claims of injuries occurring in the Gulf of Mexico on oil drilling rigs, supply boats, tug boats and in all other areas of maritime commerce.

In addition to working as a maritime defense lawyer litigating on behalf of oil companies and oil drilling rigs, Dave spent approximately 50% of his time defending insurance companies and the various municipalities they insured.

Upon moving to Florida in 1989, Dave elected to work for the then largest personal injury law firm in Brevard County. Dave primarily represented personal injury claimants, including employees and passengers injured in the cruise and fishing industries, and persons who suffered injury or death through automobile, truck or motorcycle accidents. Dave also built a significant practice filing lawsuits directly against insurance companies who refused to comply with the terms of their own insurance policies.

Dave started his own law practice in 1991 but remained of counsel with his previous law firm for a number of years.

As a defense attorney in New Orleans, spending years flying back and forth to the drilling rigs, Dave gained a valuable perspective about how maritime employers defend claims. Dave personally tried approximately 15 cases in the federal and state courts of Louisiana, thus gaining extensive trial experience from the defense attorney's point of view in both maritime law and insurance defense. This work involved not only claims against maritime employers, but oftentimes involved the defense of law officers accused of civil rights violations, the defense of allegations of sexual abuse, and standard insurance defense work arising out of automobile, truck and motorcycle accidents.

Because of this initial defense experience, and because Dave has tried a number of cases on behalf of injured victims since arriving in Florida, he is well prepared and uniquely qualified to represent your interests if you were injured in the maritime industry whether on a cruise ship, a tug boat or a fishing vessel, if you were injured in a motorcycle, truck or car accident, if you were injured in an accident through the fault of another person or party, or if you are in a dispute with your own insurance company.

Dave serves as an attorney advisor to the Keiser College Paralegal School. Dave is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer and is a member of the bars of Florida, Louisiana and Pennsylvania and their various courts. He is a member of and participates in a number of legal organizations, including the Brevard Bar, the Florida Bar, the Florida Justice Association, the American Bar Association and the American Trial Lawyers Association.

Dave and Phylis have been married since 1990. They have two children, Lauren, age 14, and Alyssa, age 11.


Anita Pollock has been with our office since 1995 and is an invaluable member of the team. Anita is intimately familiar with each of our files and is a friend to all of our clients. Anita is instrumental in helping ensure cases are fully prepared for trial, and she personally attends all of our trials as an assistant. Anita also has a keen instinct in evaluating the jury potential of any case, and her input is always sought by our clients when they make difficult decisions regarding whether they should settle their cases.

Anita joined the United States Air Force in 1986 upon graduation from high school in Austin, Texas. While in the military, Anita was an Information Management Specialist for Base Command offices at various military bases until she transferred to the Active Air Force Reserves in the legal field in 1993. She trained in Montgomery, Alabama, and was certified as a Paralegal Specialist and Military Court Reporter by the Judge Advocate General of the United States Air Force in 1994. She worked as a reserve paralegal for the Air Force from 1992 through 2000, working for the Military Justice Office, Claims Office, Civil Law and Hospital Claims Recovery.

While Anita worked as an Active Reservist, she obtained her Associates of Arts Degree in Business Administration with a major in Paralegal in 1996. Anita is commissioned as a Notary Public for the State of Florida and is also a Paralegal Member of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.

Anita was one of the first Florida Registered Paralegals with the State of Florida.

Anita in the past was ranked within the top ten gymnasts in the State of Texas and has taught gymnastics to the children of military personnel. Her athletic training has prepared her well for her job, which requires dedication, quick thinking, agility and the ability to concentrate on the task at hand.

Anita is married to Winston Pollock, and they have two children: Patrick, 10 and Krista, 5. In her spare time, Anita coaches Little League Baseball with Palm Bay West Little League for the T-ball and Majors levels and has served on its Board of Directors. Anita currently is an official Little League Umpire with the State of Florida.

Liz Pettee is the newest addition to our team. Liz was born and grew up in Dover, Deleware, and moved to Florida to attend Flagler College in St. Augustine. She relocated to the Melbourne area in 2003. Lez earned her Paralegal Degree in 2004 from Keiser College. Since earning her degree, she has worked in several areas of the law, including family, criminal, probate and personal-injury.

Liz is a huge fan of the Philadelphia Eagles and looks forward to the football season every year. Liz and her boyfriend of six years, John, enjoy boating, fishing and traveling to the Florida keys.

Liz helps with many of the administrative tasks in the office and is the person you will most likely first speak with when you telephone our office.

Our lawfirm is physically located in Melbourne, Brevard County, Florida.