Brenda Fulmer & Joe Saunders, Attorneys at Law

Brenda Fulmer

Brenda was born on December 4, 1966, in Beech Grove, Indiana. She began working as a legal secretary in 1984 and worked for this firm as a paralegal while completing her undergraduate studies. She graduated from the University of South Florida in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and received a Juris Doctor degree cum laude from Stetson College of Law in 1993.

She has practiced with the firm since graduation and is now a partner with the firm. She served as an Assistant Editor on the Stetson Law Review and twice received recognition as an Outstanding Law Review Member. She also served as a Federal Judicial Intern for Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich and worked on several pro bono projects as a Florida Bar Foundation Public Service Fellow and intern with Gulfcoast Legal Services.

She is a member of Phi Delta Phi Internal Honor Fraternity, Hillsborough County Bar Association, American Association for Justice, and AAFJ Litigation Groups for Cox 2 Inhibitors, Heart Devices, Hormone Replacement Therapy, ReNu Contact Lens Solution, Diet Drugs, Baycol, Breast Implants, Propulsid, PPA, and Sulzer. She is a volunteer with Bay Area Legal Services; The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service; and Trial Lawyers Care, an organization providing free legal services to the victims of 9/11. She and her husband, Robert, reside in Tampa with their daughter, Molly.

Joe Saunders

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, January 31, 1953. Admitted to the California State Bar in 1981 and the Florida State Bar in 1982. Also admitted to practice in the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida and the United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

Education
Lone Mountain College (BS in music 1975); University of San Francisco (JD 1981); University of San Francisco Law Review.

Professional
Assistant Pinellas County Attorney and counsel for the Pinellas County Emergency Medical Services Authority 1982 through 1988; Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education; sustaining member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America; Eagles Member of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers; member of the United States Maritime Law Association; member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum as the result of a $5.5 million jury verdict obtained for a client in 1996.

Mr. Saunders won his first jury trial in 1980 while still in law school as a Special Deputy Public Defender with the San Francisco California Public Defender’s Office. While in California he also worked for the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, California, representing farm workers in their struggle for fair housing rights, and published an article in the University of San Francisco Law Review on strategies for bringing claims against local governments for fair housing rights.

As counsel for Pinellas County, he litigated clams in federal courts, challenging the constitutional validity of various county ordinances and anti-trust clams brought against the county by environmental polluters. He advised the County and litigated cases concerning medical standards of care for the emergency medical services system and advised and represented the Sheriff concerning liability claims. He also advised the Community Development Dept. for Pinellas County on and drafted human rights ordinances to prevent discrimination.

From 1993 to present, he has been an active board member and is currently president of Alpha “A Beginning”, Inc., a non-profit residential program for homeless women who are pregnant or have small children. Alpha provides a residential facility and community outreach program to assist women in gaining parenting and employment skills. Recently, Mr. Saunders was elected Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Operation PAR, a county-wide substance abuse treatment and prevention program for both adults and children.

The founding and development of Saunders & Walker, P.A. fulfills a personal philosophic goal of Mr. Saunders to provide aggressive, quality representation and seek fair compensation for individuals and their families who have suffered injury or death at the hands of insurance companies, large corporations, medical providers or governmental entities.