About

Before working on behalf of injured people, Andrea spent six years working as a lawyer hired by insurance companies to defend personal injury and medical malpractice claims. During those years, Andrea learned a lot about the tactics that insurance companies use to defend the claims brought by injured people. Those years spent working for “the other side” provided Andrea with extensive knowledge about injuries and insight into the tactics that insurance companies and their lawyers often use to handle injury claims. Andrea now uses her valuable insurance defense experience to seek maximum compensation for her injured clients.

To be the best, you must be able to handle the worst.

– Wilson Kanadi

Besides being a fierce warrior for her clients, Andrea McMillan is a compassionate human being who truly understands and cares about the emotional suffering and feelings of loss, loneliness and isolation that a person often endures after suffering physical injury.  Andrea McMillan understands and cares, because she has lived with, and loved, someone who endured  those terrible feelings after suffering catastrophic injuries.

Andrea’s Personal Story of Devastating Injury, Loss, And Caregiving That Make Her A Compassionate Warrior for Those Who Were Wronged By Another’s Negligent, Reckless, or Intentional Misconduct

On the morning of January 14, 2003, Andrea was driving to work, as usual. As she turned south onto 45th Street, about 2 miles away from her law offices, Andrea became ensnarled in bumper-to-bumper traffic that inched along the winding road. Like the other motorists in the traffic, Andrea suspected that a car accident was most likely the cause of the gridlock.

As the traffic inched along, Andrea inched along with it. Time seemed to slow down. There was nothing to do but be patient. Eventually each vehicle in the line of traffic inched up to the scene of the crash. Many curious motorists in the line of traffic stuck their necks out of their car windows in order to see the accident scene.

Each motorist slowly went by. Soon it was Andrea’s turn. As she slowly inched up to the accident scene, Andrea received the shock of her life. Her blood ran cold. The mangled car was her older brother’s. In an instant, her brother’s life had changed forever.

Moments before he was hit, Andrea’s brother had stopped at a red light. As he sat at the light. Andrea’s brother was hit from behind at high speed by an inattentive driver traveling several miles over the posted speed limit. At impact, Andrea’s brother’s vehicle spun out of control into the road, where it was hit a second time by an enormous box truck filled with office furniture. The two traumatic impacts from these trucks paralyzed and brain injured Andrea’s brother, changing his life forever.

Andrea knew that a number of things needed to be done immediately to investigate the cause of the accident. At the same time, Andrea knew that she needed to rush to the hospital and vigilantly oversee the care that her brother needed.  She used her extensive medical/legal training as a former medical malpractice defense lawyer to fight for her brother’s rights, and to ensure that he received the best care possible. She was with him every day and fought mightily for his life.

After six months filled with numerous surgeries and extensive stays in 7 hospitals in 3 different counties, along with a lengthy rehabilitation stay in Miami, Andrea’s brother finally came home. He could no longer live alone, so he came to live with Andrea.  A former electrical engineer, he was now confined to a wheelchair with a brain injury. Andrea modified her home to make it wheelchair accessible. Each day her brother required extensive home healthcare, which Andrea helped provide. Every day Andrea witnessed the considerable physical and emotional pain that her brother endured.

Andrea’s brother required many years of physical therapy, hospitalizations, and home healthcare.  With love and compassion, Andrea shepherded and comforted her brother through very difficult times, drawing upon her medical-legal knowledge, training, experience, and her emotional intelligence. Among many other things, she ensured that he had competent healthcare providers who understood and accommodated his special needs.  Having loved and cared for him so, Andrea was devastated when her brother suddenly lost brain function while in a local hospital  on Christmas night in 2012.  Sadly, he passed away a few weeks later, ultimately succumbing to his injuries from the 2003 accident.

Through these and other experiences, Andrea knows first-hand, the devastating impact and toll that injuries can have upon a person and that person’s family members. Andrea fully understands how frightened and vulnerable an injured person can feel after suffering injury.

As is true of some law firms handling a high volume of cases, Andrea does not treat her clients as if they are just another file in the drawer. Rather, she treats each client as a real human being, and shows each person respect and dignity, no matter the extent of their injuries. Each client deserves that respect.

Not only does Andrea advise each of her clients about the legal aspects of the case, but because of her personal experiences dealing with injuries, Andrea also offers the emotional support and guidance that a client may need in contending with the fallout that often occurs after personal injury.  Andrea McMillan treats her clients compassionately, while aggressively fighting those who have caused injury and loss. Call her today at (561) 612-5700.

Andrea’s Education, Legal Experience, Awards,
and Community Service

Andrea is a native of Kingston, Jamaica. In 1977 she migrated with her family to Palm Beach County, where she has lived ever since. Andrea’s rich multi-cultural background enables her to understand, and easily relate to, people from different countries and varied life experiences.  Over the years many of her clients have expressed their appreciation for the easy way in which Andrea has related to them, especially through difficult times.

Andrea attended Palm Beach County public schools and did exceptionally well, earning numerous college scholarships upon graduation. She attended Stetson University in DeLand Florida, where she earned a degree in English with a minor in Spanish. Upon her graduation in 1987, Stetson University awarded Andrea its highest award, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, which is presented to the student whose “personal example and influence throughout the campus best exemplifies the finest spiritual qualities of humanity and high character.”

After graduating from Stetson, Andrea attended the University of Florida College of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree. While at the University of Florida, Andrea was selected to be a member of the prestigious Moot Court, a legal debating team. In the Fall of 1989, she earned an award as “Best Intramural Competitor” on the Moot Court Team. She was also awarded the American Jurisprudence Award for excellence in the study of Family Law.

Andrea has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1990. Upon graduating from law school, she was selected for a prestigious legal clerkship at the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach with the Honorable Harry Lee Anstead. In that position Andrea was exposed to many areas of the law on the appellate level, and participated in the judicial decision-making process. She did extensive legal research and writing that enabled the 12 appellate court judges to decide cases. Some of Andrea’s legal writing was adopted as the appellate court’s published opinions.

Following her clerkship at the appellate court, Andrea joined a law firm, where she worked as a lawyer for the insurance industry, defending various types of personal injury claims, including medical malpractice claims. That experience working for “the other side,” gave Andrea valuable insight and experience into how insurance companies handle and defend personal injury cases.  As a young lawyer in 1993, Andrea  prepared legal briefs for, and argued, a very legally significant  medical malpractice case before the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee, Florida, the highest court in the state of Florida.

After working as an insurance defense lawyer, Andrea switched to representing injured people exclusively, which she has done since 1998.  Andrea is personally fulfilled  representing injured people, because it allows her to further her life’s mission of helping people in times of trouble. In 1999 Andrea was awarded the “Human Rights Advocacy” Pro Bono Award by the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, for her efforts in advocating for the rights of vulnerable people.

Andrea McMillan has been an active member of  the Palm Beach County legal community  for many years.   She has served on numerous committees of  the Palm Beach County Bar Association, including the Judicial Relations Committee, the Circuit Civil Practice Committee, and the Court Advisory/Appellate Committee. She has also been an active member of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, an organization whose mission is to actively promote gender equality and leadership roles to its members in the legal profession, the judiciary, and community at large.  Andrea is also a proud member of  the Florida Justice Association and the Palm Beach County Justice Association, organizations dedicated to strengthening and upholding Florida’s civil justice system and protecting the rights of Florida citizens and consumers.

In addition to her involvement in the legal community,  Andrea McMillan has a long history of serving the Palm Beach County community.  After successfully representing  The Arc (Association for Retarded Citizens) of Palm Beach County in a matter early in her legal career, Andrea was invited to join  the Board of Directors of  The Arc.  The Arc is a not-for-profit organization that provides quality services, education, and advocacy for children and adults with developmental disabilities, and their families.   Andrea served on The Arc board for 12 years, and ultimately served as Board President.  In 2003  Andrea  relinquished the Arc presidency in order to care for her brother after he was suddenly catastrophically injured in an automobile accident.

For several years Andrea helped disadvantaged Palm Beach County residents gain equal access to the judicial system, by serving on the Board of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County.  She also previously served as a board member of the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, Florida’s premier non-partisan political and public affairs organization.

Andrea is also a proud graduate of the 1998 Class of Leadership Palm Beach County, an organization of  professionals selected to participate  in a leadership program based upon their significant service and contributions to the community.  Andrea is a former member of the Board of Governors of  Leadership Palm Beach County, and previously served as General Counsel for that organization.

Andrea has also taught legal writing courses to paralegals at Florida Atlantic University, and has lectured in Palm Beach County schools and in other venues as a member of the Florida Bar Speakers’ Bureau. She remains active in the legal community, and the community at large.

Andrea currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for Clinics Can Help, a Palm Beach County nonprofit that accepts gently used and new durable medical equipment (DME), and unwrapped medical supplies, from individuals and organizations, and redistributes it to needy children and adults in our community. The equipment includes wheelchairs, walkers, shower chairs, and many other types of equipment. Injury victims, children and adults with disabilities, and the elderly, may seek medical equipment and supplies at Clinics Can Help, by calling ahead to find out the current availability. In 2018, Clinics Can Help provided over one-million dollars of medical equipment to over 1,800 children and adults in Palm Beach County.