500 S. Australian Ave., Ste. 542 West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Phone: 561-932-1690
Email: ann@fedlawgroup.com
Attorney Ann Fitz
Ann Fitz has over 15 years of experience as a federal criminal trial and appellate attorney. She began her career as a prosecutor in 2003 and started her own boutique federal criminal defense practice in 2007.
In addition to representing privately retained clients, she served for 7 years as a Panel Attorney in conjunction with the Federal Defender's Office under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) in Atlanta and Los Angeles, where she gained an immense amount of experience representing appointed clients charged with everything from defrauding the federal government to drug trafficking to gang cases. She has continued her public service by currently serving as a CJA Panel Attorney in the West Palm Beach, Ft. Pierce, and Fort Lauderdale divisions of the Southern District of Florida.
Ms. Fitz's interest in criminal law began when she served as a juror on a vehicular homicide case while in college. She uses her unique third-person perspective to develop winning strategies and viable theories of defense. She is a seasoned federal criminal defense attorney who has represented individuals from a wide-range of backgrounds and has a passion for helping people stuck in a bad situation.
Over the years, Ann Fitz has proven herself as a reputable criminal attorney by handling numerous high-profile white collar cases with skill and a no-nonsense approach. She has been recognized as a leader in federal criminal defense by Super Lawyers, the National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys, The National Trial Lawyers, and other organizations.
Ms. Fitz is licensed in numerous states and federal jurisdictions, including all federal district courts in Florida. She has prepared motions and briefs in the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Circuits, as well as the United States Supreme Court, and has represented clients in federal courts throughout Florida, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Some of her notable cases include a $25 million loan modification scheme, a $12 million tax fraud scheme, and a $7 million Ponzi scheme. She represented a client who was listed on the top-ten most-wanted list in a fraud and identity theft case featured on an episode of CBS’s 48 Hours Mystery, as well as the lead defendant in the Atlanta prosecution of the Black Mafia Family (BMF). She has launched novel constitutional challenges to the applicability of the Florida and Georgia sex offender registration laws to individuals who, she argued, were exempt from registration, changing the law in Georgia and presenting precedent-setting issues to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Her distinctive accomplishments in criminal defense have been featured in numerous nationally well-known publications and media outlets including Rolling Stone Magazine, Wired Magazine, CBS’s 48 Hours Mystery and NBC’s Nightly News. She is a chapter author for the Lexis-Nexis Practice Guide: Georgia Criminal Law and has served as a seminar speaker on the topic of white collar crime.
In addition to her work as a criminal attorney, Ms. Fitz has a diversified background of fighting for clients in select civil litigation, mediation and arbitration cases, including employment discrimination cases against the federal government, breach of contract disputes, and defending against copyright infringement charges by Warner Brothers. She currently serves as an Arbitrator for FINRA, where she is responsible for listening to both sides of securities-related disputes, weighing the facts and evidence, and rendering final and binding decisions.
Outside of the courtroom, Ann Fitz has been sought-after to provide her insights and opinions as a legal commentator on the Fox News Network, CNN, HLN, and MSNBC, and appeared as a regular guest on truTV’s In Session (formerly CourtTV) from 2009-2011.
Practice Areas
- Criminal Defense
- Criminal Law - Federal (White Collar Crime)
- Federal Criminal Defense
- Insurance Fraud
- Theft
- Embezzlement
- Internet Crimes
- Mail Fraud
- Identity Theft
- Immigration Fraud
- Tax Fraud
- Credit Card Fraud
- Health Care Fraud
- Mortgage Fraud
- Public Corruption
- Appeals
Bar Admissions
State Bar Admissions
- Florida
- Georgia
- New York
- California (inactive)
- Ohio (inactive)
- South Carolina (inactive)
Federal District Court Admissions
- Southern District of Florida
- Middle District of Florida
- Northern District of Florida
- Northern District of Georgia
- Middle District of Georgia
- Southern District of Georgia
- Central District of California
- Southern District of California
- Western District of Tennessee
- District of South Carolina
Federal Appellate Court Admissions
- 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
- 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
- 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States Supreme Court
Education
- Mercer University, Walter F. George School of Law, Macon, Georgia, May, 2003 J.D.
- Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, May, 1999 B.A. Major: English Major: Communications Studies
Classes and Seminars
- Trends in Corporate Crime, Institute of Continuing Legal Education
Professional Associations
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- Federal Bar Association, Palm Beach Chapter
- Palm Beach County Bar Association
- Palm Beach Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Honors
- 2013 Rising Star, Super Lawyers
- 2014 Rising Star, Super Lawyers
- 2014 Top 10 Under 40, National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys
- 2016 Rising Star, Super Lawyers
- 2018 America's Top 100 Criminal Defense Attorneys
- 2019 The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Criminal Litigator
Representative Clients
- Ann Fitz has represented clients from a variety of professional backgrounds including lawyers, doctors, federal employees, law enforcement officers, and real estate, banking and financial professionals.
Published Works
- Chapter Author, Persse et al., Georgia Criminal Practice Guidebook (Matthew Bender) Chapter 1: Criminal Jurisdiction, 2012
- Chapter Author, Persse et al., Georgia Criminal Practice Guidebook (Matthew Bender) Chapter 14: Appeals, 2012