MIAMI—Elisa D’Amico, a partner in the Miami office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP, is the recipient of the 2016 Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award.
The award is presented annually to one lawyer who is younger than 36 and who has not practiced for more than five years in Florida. D’Amico was chosen as this year’s honoree for her tireless work as a trailblazer in the fight against nternet abuse and to protect the online privacy of countless victims. She will be honored at a ceremony on January 28 at the Supreme Court of Florida.
D’Amico collaborated with K&L Gates Seattle partner David Bateman to found the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project, which leverages the firm’s cybersecurity and cyber forensic resources to offer sophisticated legal help to victims who need help tracing the origin of online postings of private information and reclaiming their online identities. Since its inception in late 2014, the project has become recognized both nationally and internationally as a leader in the fight against cyber harassment, most specifically the nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images, which colloquially is referred to as “revenge porn.” D’Amico has devoted over 1,000 hours of her time to this effort since she founded the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project, and she also worked to help shape legislation in the area.
D’Amico’s practice involves assisting clients with sophisticated litigation issues with a focus on Internet and technology law, specifically online privacy and cyber harassment. She also counsels clients concerning online affiliate marketing, consumer deception and fraud, unfair and deceptive acts and practices, and bankruptcy-related matters.
Just six years after relocating to South Florida from her native New York, D’Amico was named the Daily Business Review’s inaugural “Attorney of the Year.” Also that year she was honored with the “HYPE® Miami Difference Maker Award” by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. In 2014, the Miami Herald named her one of South Florida’s Emerging Leaders with its “20 Under 40” Award. In October she was named a Founding Member of the Advisory Board of the newly formed Tyler Clementi Institute for Internet Safety at New York Law School. She currently is an officer of the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, a member of the Dade Legal Aid Advisory Board, and a member of the Development Committee of The Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade. She received her B.S., cum laude, from Cornell University – Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management – and her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. D’Amico is licensed to practice law in both Florida and New York.