"The Van Buren File," by Robert Andrew Powell

8/12/99, Jon Sjostrom, Tallahassee

I read with interest Robert Andrew Powell's feature story about the saga of cranky ticket scalper David Van Buren ("The Van Buren File," August 5), not because of any interest in Van Buren or the internal affairs bureau of the Miami Police Department, but because of the involvement of Van Buren's lawyer Miguel de la O.

De la O is described in the article as "operating a modest private practice on Coral Way in Miami." This borders on libel.

Miguel is a remarkable lawyer. He has practiced with the finest civil lawyers (Steel Hector & Davis, of which I am a partner) and criminal defense lawyers (Neal Sonnett, a former assistant U.S. Attorney and past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers). I know that Miguel has remarkable technical skills as a civil and criminal trial lawyer, as well as a formidable intellect.

He has always maintained firm control over his career, motivated by one vision: Miguel is an incorrigible idealist. He left Steel Hector and then the Sonnett firm because of an overriding desire to handle the cases of real people, and he made (at least at the time) financial sacrifices to do it. He put his money where his heart is. I personally would love to be practicing with him again. He also continues to handle larger-scale clients and matters, but he should not be denigrated for his commitment to bringing the highest-caliber legal skills to people of modest means.

Before you cast him aside as some ambulance-chasing filer of wacko claims, consider that Miguel has:

*Walked a person wrongfully accused of murder

*Represented supermodels

*Succeeded in ensuring that a ten-foot alligator lives in a private residence in Coconut Grove (sure, it's a crazy position, but he won)

*Represented a major Miami AIDS charity

*Tried dozens of civil and criminal cases

Anybody on the other side of any of his cases shouldn't underestimate him. If he takes a case, he believes in it and he has the skills and tenacity to see it through. Miguel is one of the genuine treasures (not to mention characters) of our community.

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