Courtney Caprio

Hailed in 2024 by The National Law Journal as one of fifteen Elite Women of the Plaintiff’s Bar nationwide, Courtney Caprio is a formidable high-stakes litigator, successfully navigating disputes across the nation. She specializes in cases involving civil rights, defamation, the First Amendment, fraud, Ponzi schemes, and corporate disputes. Her passion lies in crafting compelling narratives to secure victories for her clients.

Recently, Courtney led a nearly all-female litigation team in a seven-week jury trial to obtain a federal civil rights verdict of $63.5 million – including $47.6 million in punitive damages – for the emotional distress and reputational harm her clients suffered when a sitting City of Miami Commissioner retaliated against them for exercising their First Amendment rights to oppose him. Prior to that, in a federal trademark infringement jury trial, she won an $8.5 million verdict by obtaining crucial testimony to establish the “willfulness” element to disgorge profits: that the wealthy defendant forced her client, the trademark owner, to sue him in several jurisdictions around the world to try to bankrupt him in legal fees so he could “steal the brand.”

After earning both Bachelor and Law degrees from the University of Virginia, Courtney moved to Miami to begin her legal career in BigLaw. Courtney has also managed her own firm specializing in litigation matters, and with Caldera Law, she continues to focus on plaintiff-side commercial cases and protecting our constitutional rights.  She approaches litigation strategically, emphasizing creative solutions and thinking outside the box to help her clients achieve justice. 

Notable Cases:

• Secured a confidential settlement in a defamation case against Harper Collins and Julie K. Brown, who authored Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story that forced the defendants to remove all references to her client from the book.

• Lead counsel for group of defrauded investors in aiding and abetting $65 million Ponzi scheme case against a national bank, securing a confidential settlement while cross-dispositive motions were pending in federal court.

• Obtained a $7.5 million settlement on behalf of Trans Continental Television Production, Inc. in a complex litigation against MTV Networks, Viacom International, Inc., Viacom Inc., Bad Boy Films, Inc. and Bad Boy Records, LLC involving novel issues of copyright law relating to the television franchise, Making the Band.

• Trial counsel for Verizon Wireless, obtaining complete victory in a rare trial of a deceptive trade practices action brought by the Florida Attorney General’s Office seeking $20 million in damages and additional penalties against Verizon’s affiliate, Alltel Communications, Inc., relating to its alleged negative option practices in subscribing approximately 450,000 Florida customers to Alltel’s roadside assistance feature. State of Florida, Office of Attorney General v. Alltel Communications, Inc., Case No.06-2520 (Leon County Circuit Court).

• Represented performing artist Armando Christian Perez p/k/a Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Afrojack and their record labels in a successful First Amendment defense against     the right of publicity action brought by actress Lindsay Lohan under New York law for the mention of her name on the hit song “Give Me Everything.”

• Secured appellate reversal of a magistrate judge to obtain Section 1782 discovery for use in a contemplated UK criminal action and obtained an order compelling the deposition of target of the criminal action to be held in the United States after he intervened to quash the 1782 discovery order, defeating Sidley Austin. 

• Prevailed in a 28 U.S.C. § 1782 action over objections of subpoena targets in connection with obtaining discovery for use in a Colombian litigation over a $50-million dollar fraud relating to a salt mine project.

• Prevailed as lead counsel at AAA arbitration final hearing on an LLC-membership dispute concerning a $24 million shopping center in Broward County, Florida.

• Prevailed at AAA arbitration final hearing on contractual dispute stemming from $25 million option to buy full-power television station in Puerto Rico.

• Prevailed on summary judgment based on fair use doctrine in a copyright infringement action brought by author Noberto Fuentes.

• Representation of an SEC-appointed receiver in a federal district court action involving a $1.2 billion family of hedge funds, including prosecution of insiders and off shore hedge fund administrators for claims derived from the fraudulent Ponzi scheme.

• Defeated America-CV Network, LLC’s Emergency Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, which sought to enjoin Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc.’s broadcast Ahora con Oscar Haza.

• Represented Top Stop Music, Inc., and Top Stop Publishing, Inc., and its principle, Sergio George, in a lawsuit involving Prince Royce, which resulted in the     dismissal of Prince Royce’s $5 million defamation claim.

• Prevailed at the Third District Court of Appeal to affirm a Florida court’s jurisdiction over an Israeli media company for Internet torts directed at a Florida citizen.