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The Downs Law Group: The Boutique That Sued Over Coconut Grove’s Own Incinerator

The Downs Law Group is the practice of a Miami personal injury attorney team whose 34-year record runs from a $15 million personal injury verdict and a $6.25 million Carnival Cruise Lines maritime settlement to the class action over “Old Smokey” — Coconut Grove’s notorious trash incinerator — with the team reporting more than $1 billion recovered for clients overall.

At a Glance

Origin and Background

Craig T. Downs founded the boutique that bears his name and articulated its three stated pillars — justice, integrity, and perseverance. Over 34 years the firm has grown from a Miami injury practice into a Gulf Coast-wide litigation operation, representing workers and residents exposed to contamination from the BP oil spill, PFAS-tainted water sources, and firefighting foam, while keeping a conventional injury docket of auto, boating, malpractice, and premises cases. Its most locally resonant matter is the “Old Smokey” class action over Coconut Grove’s decades-shuttered municipal incinerator — a case rooted in the firm’s own neighborhood.

Miami Personal Injury Attorney Practice Concentration

The injury core spans automobile and boating accidents, maritime claims, wrongful death, medical malpractice, products liability, and slip-and-fall cases; the environmental and mass tort work — toxic exposure, class actions — extends the same plaintiff-side orientation to widespread harm. Awesome Attorneys discloses directly that the firm also litigates commercial disputes, including its largest reported verdict, so its practice is broader than injury alone. See this Miami Personal Injury directory for how this boutique’s range compares to injury-only firms serving Miami-Dade County.

Notable Work / Track Record

The firm publishes a named results table — rarer than it should be in this market: the $15 million Danny Simpson v. Steiner personal injury verdict, the $6.25 million Borcea v. Carnival Cruise Lines maritime settlement, a $1.1 million medical malpractice settlement, a $787,500 auto mediation settlement, and a $430,000 Dolphin Mall slip-and-fall settlement, alongside a $740 million commercial jury verdict and class action recoveries of $14 million and $10 million. All figures are firm-reported; past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a large consolidated body of itemized consumer-platform reviews during research and discloses that directly; the firm advertises 24/7 support and free consultations.

Beyond the Courtroom

The Old Smokey litigation is community advocacy in the most literal sense — pursuing accountability for contamination in the firm’s own Coconut Grove backyard — and the firm’s published BP research papers make its toxic-exposure work a public resource beyond its client roster.

Recognition for This Miami Personal Injury Attorney Team

The firm’s most checkable distinctions are its named, styled case results rather than award badges. Awesome Attorneys did not identify Florida Bar board certifications on the firm’s attorneys’ records during research and, per this directory’s standard, applies no “specialist” language.

Florida Legal Backdrop

Florida’s 2023 tort reform law, HB 837, cut the general negligence statute of limitations from four years to two (Fla. Stat. § 95.11) and adopted modified comparative negligence for most negligence actions (§ 768.81). Maritime claims run on federal law and cruise-ticket deadlines — typically six months’ notice and one-year suit windows — while environmental exposure claims involve their own accrual complexities. None of this is legal advice; consult a licensed attorney promptly about any potential claim.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

The Downs Law Group’s clearest differentiator as a Miami personal injury attorney practice is range with receipts: a boutique that publishes named results across injury, maritime, malpractice, and environmental law, anchored by a genuinely local landmark case. The honest trade-offs, disclosed directly: its practice extends well beyond personal injury into commercial litigation, its aggregate figures are firm-reported, its consumer review footprint is thin, and Awesome Attorneys reports its office at the Coconut Grove level pending street-address confirmation from a primary source. For an injured person in Miami — especially with a maritime or toxic-exposure dimension — this firm is a strong basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from the firm’s own website (downslawgroup.com, including its about, practice area, and notable cases pages documenting the 34-year history, founder, practice scope, and named results) and its published LinkedIn profile.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by The Downs Law Group, P.A. prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.