Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes

Rosalyn “Sia” Baker-Barnes is a Shareholder at Searcy Law and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. A Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, she has spent more than 25 years representing individuals and families in complex personal injury, medical negligence, product liability, whistleblower, civil rights, and catastrophic injury cases.

She is recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Top Women Lawyers, included in The Best Lawyers in America, in America’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers by Lawdragon, as a top lawyer by Florida Super Lawyers, and as a Legal Elite by Florida Trend. The Daily Business Review also recognizes her among South Florida’s inaugural Top 20 Women in Law.

Throughout her career, Ms. Baker-Barnes has pursued justice for individuals, families, whistleblowers, and communities facing life-altering injuries, losses, discrimination, and other violations of their rights. She has achieved numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements, including a landmark $300 million opioid whistleblower settlement against Walgreens and a $20 million compensatory and punitive damages verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company that was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court and reached the United States Supreme Court. She frequently lectures throughout Florida and nationally on catastrophic injury litigation, whistleblower litigation, civil rights, trial practice, professionalism, leadership, and issues affecting the legal profession.

Her standing as a premiere trial lawyer is reflected in her membership in several of the profession’s most respected invitation-only organizations. She is a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

She is also active in the Palm Beach County Justice Association and the Florida Justice Association (FJA), where she previously chaired the Young Lawyers Section, served on the Board of Directors, and continues to lecture at continuing legal education programs. The FJA Minority Caucus honored her with its Beyond Excellence Award in 2023, and in 2024 she received the FJA’s B.J. and Tom Masterson Professionalism Award.

Ms. Baker-Barnes is the Immediate Past President of The Florida Bar and was the first African-American woman to serve as President in the organization’s history, dating to 1889. With more than 115,000 members, The Florida Bar is the third-largest unified state bar association in the nation. Her election represented a significant milestone in Florida’s legal profession.

Her presidency was guided by her Seat at the Table theme and a commitment to ensuring that Florida lawyers have meaningful opportunities to engage, lead, and help shape the future of their profession. Among her signature initiatives, Ms. Baker-Barnes established the Corporate Counsel Committee to strengthen The Florida Bar’s engagement with in-house counsel and expand their voice within the organization. She also launched the Sustainability Initiative and statewide listening tour, engaging lawyers across Florida in conversations about the challenges affecting the practice of law and the profession’s long-term strength and sustainability.

Investing in the next generation of lawyers was another cornerstone of her presidency. Alongside The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division, Ms. Baker-Barnes helped launch the Open for Opportunity Job and Resource Fair. She provided essential support in bringing the initiative to lawyers across Florida, connecting young lawyers with employers, professional resources, and opportunities to help them build successful and sustainable careers. The partnership reflected her belief that effective leadership requires collaboration and a commitment to preparing the next generation of lawyers for success.

Her service to The Florida Bar spans many years. She served six years on its Board of Governors and is a three-time recipient of The Florida Bar’s President’s Award of Merit for exemplary service. She has also served on The Florida Bar’s Trial Lawyers Section’s Executive Council.

Ms. Baker-Barnes has received significant honors for leadership, professionalism, and service. The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division presented her with its Woman Lawyer of Achievement Award, and she received The Florida Bar’s Henry T. Latimer Award for her longstanding commitment to strengthening the profession and expanding opportunity within it.

A longtime member of the F. Malcolm Cunningham, Sr. Bar Association, Ms. Baker-Barnes has served as chapter advisor and is the recipient of its Trailblazer Award. She is a former board member of the Palm Beach County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. PBC FAWL presented her with its Justice Barbara J. Pariente Award, and South Palm Beach County FAWL named her Woman Lawyer of the Year in 2024, the highest honors bestowed by each organization.

A Life Member of the National Bar Association, she has received its Presidential Award and Nation’s Best Advocates: 40 Lawyers Under 40 Award. She is also a Life Member of the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association and received its Trailblazer Award.

Ms. Baker-Barnes’ community leadership includes service on the Orange Bowl Committee, an opportunity that aligns naturally with her longstanding commitment to service and her enthusiasm as an avid sports fan. Her leadership has also included service on the Board of the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches; as Chair of the Board of Directors of Inlet Grove Community High School, Inc.; as President of the West Palm Beach Chapter of The Links, Incorporated; and as Chair of the Southern Area Links Ethics & Standards Committee. She is a Fellow of The Links, Incorporated’s Scott-Hawkins Leadership Institute.

She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Zeta Tau Omega Chapter; the Palm Beach Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated; and the International Women’s Forum. She received the Florida Anti-Defamation League’s Jurisprudence Award and is recognized in Palm Beach Illustrated’s Palm Beach 100, honoring influential leaders whose accomplishments, leadership, and service are helping shape the future of the Palm Beaches.

Ms. Baker-Barnes earned her Juris Doctor from the Florida State University College of Law, where she received the prestigious Virgil Hawkins Fellowship, a full scholarship for academic achievement. She was a member of the Moot Court Team and, as a first-year law student, was selected as one of the school’s “Final Four,” earning the opportunity to argue before the justices of the Florida Supreme Court. She was later inducted into the Order of the Barristers.

Her relationship with Florida State University has continued throughout her career through leadership, mentoring, and speaking. She is a charter member of the FSU Law Black Alumni Network, serves on the FSU Student Affairs Development Council, and previously served on the Board of Directors of the FSU College of Law Alumni Association.

She is the proud patron of the Florida State University College of Law Sia Baker-Barnes Breaking the Glass Ceiling Scholarship, supporting female law students pursuing careers as civil trial lawyers. A proud Double Nole, Ms. Baker-Barnes earned both her undergraduate degree in Communication and her law degree from Florida State University.

During her undergraduate studies, where she achieved Dean’s List recognition and interned in Governor Lawton Chiles’ Executive Office of Communication. She also completed a cooperative journalism program at Florida A&M University. For her longstanding record of service to her alma mater, she is being honored this year with the FSU National Black Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Ms. Baker-Barnes resides in West Palm Beach with her husband, Attorney Edrick E. Barnes, and their three children, Selia, Emri, and Edan Barnes. A longtime Scout leader, she has devoted years to mentoring young people and supporting the Scouting America Troops 116 and 4116. She is the recipient of the Gulfstream Council’s Distinguished Citizen Award and is especially proud of her daughter, Selia, who achieved the distinguished rank of Eagle Scout. Ms. Baker-Barnes and her family are active members and patrons of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church.

Through her work as a trial lawyer, leader, mentor, and community advocate, Ms. Baker-Barnes remains guided by a central belief: professional achievement carries with it a responsibility to open doors, create opportunities, and serve others. That commitment is at the heart of her Seat at the Table philosophy: to take your seat, use your voice, open doors for others, and make room at the table for those who follow.

To learn more about Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes, see:

• FSU Law Leadership, Legacy, and the Future of the Legal Profession
• Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes: President of the Florida Bar
• Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes Promises a Seat at the Table for Every Lawyer
• Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes to be Sworn-In as Bar President Tomorrow
• AP News – Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes to be Sworn In as the 77th President of The Florida Bar
• Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes becomes the first Black Female president of The Florida Bar
• New Florida Bar President Sees Vast Potential in Attny’s Roles
• ‘Historic Milestone:’ Florida Bar to Swear in First Black Female President
• WPBF – Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes makes history as Florida Bar Association’s first African American woman …
• Florida Bar Courts Booming, Untapped In-House Legal Sector
• Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes Becomes Florida Bar President-Elect
• FL Bar President-Elect-Designate
• Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes Becomes FL Bar President-Elect Designate: 
• FSU Law Cover
• FL Bar President’s Award
• Professionalism Event – FSU Law
• Mentoring
• Legacy Magazine
• Baker-Barnes Awarded Florida Bar President’s Award of Merit
• Selected to Florida Bar Board of Governors Executive Committee
• A Tradition of Excellence: Black Alumni of FSU Law
• Palm Beach County Sheree Davis Cunningham Black Women Lawyers Association Launched
• New Palm Beach County Sheree Davis Cunningham Black Women Lawyers Association Installs Officers
• LawDragon – The Plaintiff Issue 2021
• PBCBA – Recipient of the 2021 Judge Edward Rodgers Diversity Award
• $2M Settlement Over Teen’s Choking Death Could be a Model for Florida Schools
• Lawdragon – The Ethos of Advocacy at Searcy Denney
• Legacy South Florida – 2020 – Most Influential & Powerful Black Professionals
• Legacy South Florida – 2019 – Most Influential & Prominent Black Women in Business & Industry
• Top 10 Black Female Attorneys You Should Know
• Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes – AALM article
• Best Lawyers in America (Florida)
  
• Attorney at Law Magazine
• Gardens pharmacy whistleblower wins $300M settlement from Walgreens over opioid abuse
• Walgreens Florida Whistleblower Plays Key Role in $300M Opioid Fraud Settlement
• Breaking Barriers and Winning Justice: The Trailblazing Career of Sia Baker-Barnes