Jorge L. Piedra, managing partner, Piedra & Associates, is an avid fisherman. Photo: J. Albert Diaz

Jorge Piedra can take even the most innocuous of hobbies and make them competitive. Take fishing for instance: Although it's been a passion of his since he was a little boy, the former Cuban American Bar Association president and Piedra & Associates founder told the DBR his preferred pastime “took on a life of its own” upon adulthood.

“We started winning tournaments very early,” Piedra said of his fishing team. The commercial litigator has notched his fair share of aquatic achievements, including first place in the 2008 edition of the World Sailfish Championship—“one of the biggest billfish tournaments in the world at the time”—in addition to winning “virtually every important billfish tournament in Florida” as well as the Miami Swordfish Tournament in 2013.

“I don't do as much competitive fishing as I did three, four or five years ago, but every time I can I try to get out on the water and go fishing,” Piedra said. As he tells it, the same passion pervading his maritime hobby has manifested itself in some form or another his whole life. He played every possible sport on all available teams as an elementary student at St. Theresa School in Coral Gables. Once school was over his mother would pick Piedra up to bring him to his various school sports activities, which ranged from football to rowing. The young man's already packed schedule only grew more intensive in high school when he worked shifts at his father's formal wear store.

“I was busy from the moment I woke up until 9 or 10 at night when I would knock out, and that's true to this day,” Piedra said. “Sitting around is something I don't do well. I'm not quite sure what I would do if I was to go home at 5:30 and have nothing to do until it was time to go to sleep.”

Piedra soon found a way to channel his energy productively as a political science student at Florida State University. He secured a full-time job with former Florida governor and then-U.S. Sen. Bob Graham before completing his undergraduate studies. It wasn't long before he got married and remained in Tallahassee to earn his law degree at the Florida State University College of Law.

“It wasn't lost upon me that a lot of the leaders in American society, in my community in Miami and in Tallahassee were all lawyers,” Piedra said of his reasoning behind becoming a litigator. “I think one of the most important things about having a law degree is the flexibility to do many, many things; It seemed like a profession that lent itself to developing leadership skills and opportunities to engage in the community.”

The demands of law school were soon compounded by the responsibilities of fatherhood: Piedra and his wife, Cristina, had their first set of twins between his first and second semester of law school. Upon graduating in 1996 he began working as an associate at Phillips Eisinger & Koss, a startup law firm founded by former Buchanan Ingersoll lawyers.

“I always tell people I crammed seven years of practicing law into about four,” Piedra said. Although he gained a mentor with attorney Gary Phillips, Piedra also had to commute to the firm's Hollywood office from his Miami home.

“Since I grew up here my family was here, all of my social friends were in Miami, and my business contacts were in Miami — It was starting to be a challenge to develop Miami clients from a Hollywood law firm,” Piedra said. After four-and-a-half years with Phillips Eisinger & Koss, Piedra decided to strike out on his own in March 2001.

He's remained in Miami — not to mention in his position as partner at Piedra & Associates — ever since.

“I was 30 years old, I had three children, and in retrospect … dumb might have been a more prudent word than bold,” Piedra said of his decision. “But I didn't just walk out and hope for the best; I planned, I was prepared, I had a game plan.” At first, Piedra worked as a solo practitioner and shared office space with a part-time secretary. “Some people took what may have been considered a chance on me and they were rewarded. I had some significant victories very early while I was on my own, which kind of just snowballed and allowed me to continue to grow my practice.”

Piedra prevailed in a case on behalf of the Big Five Club, one of Miami's oldest Cuban country clubs. He simultaneously immersed himself with the Latin Builders Association and eventually went on to become the historic organization's general counsel and head of legislative affairs. By associating himself with community-oriented institutions, Piedra was able to build his practice and refine his practice as a sought-after commercial litigator.

Now almost two decades removed from entrenching himself in Miami's legal community, Piedra has presided over a number of communal organizations including CABA and the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana. “As an attorney I feel really blessed that I actually have the time to give back — not everyone does and I understand that,” Piedra said. “I'm serving the community, but I'm also getting to know and work with new and different people all the time, which is something that I enjoy.”

As for the content of Miami legal's character, Piedra said there's nowhere he'd rather keep busy.

“Miami-Dade County is one of the two or three premier legal communities in the United States,” he said. “Some of the largest law firms in the country are located right here in Miami. When you're talking about jury verdicts and jury trials, some of the most important decisions come from right here. And if they don't come from right here Miami-Dade County, there are Miami-Dade lawyers trying the cases in other places … And that speaks volumes for us.”

Jorge L. Piedra

Born: September 1970, Miami

Spouse: Cristina Piedra

Children: Jorge, Alexandra, Annie, Lillie, Charlie

Education: Florida State University College of Law, J.D., 1996; Florida State University, B.S., 1992

Experience: Managing partner, Piedra & Associates, 2001- present; Associate, Phillips Eisinger & Koss, 1996-2001