The Attorneys Who Will Handle Your Case

Before you make the call, you deserve to know who picks up. Our attorneys bring more than 150 years of combined legal experience to workers' compensation, personal injury, labor and employment, Social Security disability, and estate planning claims. No anonymous team pages. No case managers posing as counsel. These are the people who will handle your case.

Stephen M. Barbas

Founding Partner | Board Certified in Workers' Compensation Law | Bilingual — Spanish & English

Stephen Barbas has practiced workers' compensation law in Florida since 1979. He co-founded Barbas Nunez Sanders Butler & Hovsepian in 1982 and has spent more than 45 years handling workers' compensation claims across every industry in Florida — representing both employers and claimants, and bringing that full-spectrum experience to every case he takes.

Florida Bar Board Certification in Workers' Compensation is held by fewer than 200 attorneys in the state. Stephen is one of them. He is also a Fellow in the College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers — an honor held by only approximately 20 Florida attorneys. It is among the most distinguished recognitions in the field, reserved for attorneys who have demonstrated exceptional contributions to workers' compensation law over the course of their careers.

He meets personally with clients. When you retain him, you are retaining the attorney who will evaluate your case, develop your strategy, and represent your interests. His approach is shaped by 45 years of watching how carriers and employers approach claims — and by the specific knowledge that comes from having been on both sides of the table. When a carrier sends a low settlement offer, he knows whether it reflects the case's actual value or an opening position. When a defense-retained physician submits an IME report, he knows what that physician was asked to find.

He is fully bilingual in Spanish and English. For Spanish-speaking clients, that means no translation layer between you and your counsel — what you say is what your attorney hears. Hablamos con usted — no por usted.

Background & Credentials

Stephen attended Stetson University, where he was elected to membership in the Phi Society founded by Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from Florida State University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science in Business, and earned his Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans in 1979, graduating in the top 10% of his class and serving as a published member of the Loyola Law Review.

His early career included defense-side workers' compensation work, representing employers and carriers. That experience — understanding how the defense evaluates claims, builds strategy, and decides when to fight — became the foundation for how he approaches representation today. He founded the firm in 1982 and has practiced workers' compensation law in Florida continuously since his admission to the bar.



• Florida Bar Board Certified — Workers' Compensation Law
• Admitted: Florida Bar
• Education: Stetson University | Florida State University, B.S. in Business 1976 | Loyola University New Orleans, J.D. 1979 — top 10%, Loyola Law Review
• Practice since: 1979
• Firm founding: 1982
• Languages: English, Spanish

Recognition, Admissions, & Professional Memberships

Recognition, Admissions, and Professional Memberships

Court Admissions

• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals — Fifth and Eleventh Circuits
• United States District Court — Middle District of Florida

Recognition

• AV Preeminent — Martindale-Hubbell's highest peer-review rating; listed on the Martindale-Hubbell Preeminent Lawyers list
• Fellow, College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers — one of approximately 20 Florida attorneys to receive this distinction
• Leadership and Professionalism Award — Tampa Bay Workers' Compensation and Disability Inn of Court
• Master, Tampa Bay Workers' Compensation and Disability Inn of Court
• Florida Legal Elite — Florida Trend Magazine
• Tampa Bay's Top Lawyer — Tampa Bay Magazine
• Florida Super Lawyers — New York Times publication
• Leading American Lawyers — listed
• Marquis Who's Who in American Law — listed
• Florida State Certified Circuit Court Mediator

Bar Memberships and Professional Organizations

• Florida Bar — Workers' Compensation and Trial Lawyers Sections
• Hillsborough County Bar Association — served as Secretary/Treasurer, Young Lawyers Section, 1985–86 and 1987–88
• American Bar Association — Litigation Section; Urban, State and Local Government Law Section
• Fellow, American Bar Association College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers
• Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity
• Phi Society — Phi Beta Kappa sponsored, Stetson University
• Sigma Nu Social Fraternity