Rosalyn “Sia” Baker-Barnes is a Shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., and the Chairperson of the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. Ms. Baker-Barnes is Board-Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Florida Bar, and is recognized by US News & World Report as one of the “Best Lawyers in America,” by Lawdragon as one of America’s “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers,” by Florida Super Lawyers magazine as a top lawyer in the state, by Florida Trend magazine as a “Legal Elite,” and by the Daily Business Review as one of South Florida’s Inaugural “Top 20 Women in Law.”
In her over 20-year career, she has successfully pursued justice for victims in personal injury, medical negligence and product liability cases and frequently lectures throughout the United States on catastrophic injury cases. She has achieved numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, including a landmark $20 million compensatory and punitive damages verdict against tobacco giant RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company that was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court and reached the United States Supreme Court.
Committed to professionalism, civility and service, Ms. Baker-Barnes is the President-Elect-Designate of The Florida Bar, the first African-American female to serve in this role in the bar’s history, dating back to 1889. The Florida Bar is the organization of all lawyers licensed by the Florida Supreme Court to practice law in the State, comprising over 111,000 members. Ms. Baker-Barnes will begin her term as President in 2025. In her five years of service on the Board of Governors, she served as Chairperson of the board’s Legislation Committee, Program Evaluation Committee and Co-Chair of the COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery Task Force. She serves on the board’s Executive, Strategic Planning and Communications Committees. For the past three years, she has received the Florida Bar President’s Award of Merit for exemplary service on the board. Ms. Baker-Barnes is also active in The Florida Bar’s Trial Lawyers Section, where she serves as a member of its Executive Council. In 2023, the Florida Bar Young Lawyer’s Division awarded her the Woman Lawyer of Achievement Award for outstanding service to the profession. She is also the 2022 recipient of one of the Florida Bar’s highest honors, the Henry T. Latimer Diversity Award, for her long-time commitment to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.
Ms. Baker-Barnes is a past president of the Palm Beach County Bar Association (PBCBA), an organization comprising nearly 3,000 lawyers. As the 95th President, she was the first African-American female to serve in this role. Her signature program was “You’ve Been Served: Lawyers Answering the Summons to Community Service,” designed to emphasize the importance of community service and recognize the positive impact lawyers make in their communities and beyond. She is a recipient of the PBCBA’s Judge Edward Rodgers Diversity Award, given to an individual who exhibits visionary and insightful leadership to resolve inequities in the legal community and the community at large.
She is the Co-Founder and Inaugural President of the Palm Beach County Sheree Davis Cunningham Black Women Lawyers Association, founded in 2021 to provide mentorship, support and guidance to black women lawyers and the unique challenges they face in the legal profession. In just two years, the organization has grown to nearly 200 members. Ms. Baker-Barnes has led two delegations of its members to the United States Supreme Court to be sworn in as members of the Court.