AUWCL Graduates Shine as Florida Rising Star Lawyers
Diana Mendez ‘10 and Liana Kozlowski ‘13, named top up-and-coming attorneys in Florida
Two American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) Alumni have been named Rising Stars in Florida. Diana Mendez ‘10 and Liana M. Kozlowski ‘13, both attorneys for Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP in Miami, have been named top up-and-coming attorneys in the state.
Mendez and Kozlowski have been recognized among other Rising Star attorneys in the 2023 Florida Super Lawyers Edition. Super Lawyers recognizes outstanding attorneys in each state across 70 practice areas who have attained the highest degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is based on independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations.
Mendez has earned the acknowledgement every year since 2018. She says it’s worth it when her hard work is recognized in the community.
“It always shows the support and how the legal community really sees the hard work that you are doing,” she said. “I think it also speaks to not only being an attorney that does great work, but also an attorney who’s involved in the community and pays off.”
When she first came to AUWCL, Mendez wanted to work in government. The Colombia native thought AUWCL was the perfect spot to meet that goal.
“I knew about the reputation of the school,” Mendez said. “That it was an environment where it was very collegiate as opposed to cutthroat competition, which is the reputation of other schools in the area.”
Mendez says her experience was what she expected. She created good, long-lasting friendships, learned a lot and had the opportunity to be in a diverse location with people from all over the world doing interesting things.
“Being in DC gave me the opportunity to have access to a very diverse group of people,” she said.
This is Kozlowski’s first year being named a Rising Star. She said it feels good to have someone notice your hard work.
“What’s particularly cool is who you’re appearing with,” she said. “To be recognized with someone like Diana and to be noticed on the same page as some of the mentors who are recognized as Super Lawyers in the same publication is an honor. It feels like someone’s noticing that you’re putting in the hard work and that something’s happening, things are clicking. So, it feels good.”
A journalist for The Miami Herald, Kozlowski came to AUWCL to pursue public interest work. However, the trial advocacy program caught her eye during the application process.
“I came to WCL thinking I would do public interest work, maybe working in government,” she said. "The trial advocacy program was a big deal for me. I had not been thinking about litigation. It was actually pretty terrifying to me. I had to think long and hard about taking the course, but it was certainly the best decision I made.”
Mendez practices in government contracting and public-private partnerships while Kozlowski practices in land development and government relations. Both women are also members of the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers.
Story by Liz Newton.