LONGTIME VOLUSIA PERSONAL-INJURY LAW FIRM BECOMES “RUE, ZIFFRA AND CALDWELL”

PORT ORANGE – After 36 years of operation, the Port Orange-based law firm of Rue & Ziffra has been renamed “Rue, Ziffra & Caldwell” to recognize Thomas E. Caldwell, a board-certified attorney and longtime partner. The name change now is reflected on signs at the firm’s main office on Dunlawton Boulevard in Port Orange, as well as at additional offices in DeLand and Palm Coast, according to firm President Allan L. Ziffra. “Tom has been instrumental in the growth of the firm and the addition of several practice areas: trial practice, social security, workers’ compensation, nursing home litigation and ERISA long-term disability,” Ziffra said in an announcement to staff members. He said the addition of those practice areas can be credited for the employment of several attorneys and an increase in staff. “He has increased the firm’s reputation with the Bar and the Judiciary,” Ziffra added. Firm co-founder John Rue said Caldwell has worked hard at the firm and very much deserves the recognition. “He not only is an asset, Tom is a leader at this firm,” Rue said, adding that the name change signifies the firm is expanding and moving to a higher level. Caldwell, who joined Rue & Ziffra in 1995, was promoted to partner in 2000 and became the only lawyer at the firm to be board certified earlier this year. He previously practiced law for an insurance defense law firm, a position, he has said, that gave him “insight into the strategy behind the defendant’s case.” A member of the Florida Bar, Volusia County Bar Association, Florida Justice Association, American Association for Justice, and the American Bar Association, Caldwell is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School Of Law. He practices in all Florida Courts, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. “I am honored and humbled to be recognized by the members of the firm,” Caldwell said.