Mr. Russell J. Frank is a Senior Litigation Attorney in the Orlando office of Cordell & Cordell. and focuses his practice on Marital/Family Law and Juvenile Dependency. Mr. Frank has expanded his practice to include Collaborative Family Law matters and serves as a Guardian Ad Litem in high conflict child custody and dependency matters. Mr. Frank has been Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Marital and Family Law, a distinction held by less than 5% of attorneys in their areas of practice, and has been certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Family Law Mediator.
Mr. Frank began his legal career in Washington, D.C., where he worked for a large international law firm representing corporate clients in regulatory and compliance matters. Following his relocation back home to Orlando in 2006, Mr. Frank worked as an Assistant Public Defender for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, where he was lead counsel in over thirty criminal jury trials, ranging in offenses from Drug Possession to Attempted Murder. Following his time at the Public Defender's Office, Mr. Frank joined a large civil firm where he continued working on criminal matters, while also joining the firm's Family Law Department. After strengthening his knowledge of family law issues, Mr. Frank left to manage his own law practice for several years where he continued to focus primarily on family law matters.
Mr. Frank handles a wide variety of family law cases, including dissolution of marriage, prenuptial agreements, paternity, close family and stepparent adoptions, contempt and enforcement matters, child support and timesharing modifications. Mr. Frank has extensive experience in high asset divorce cases and has successfully represented the interests of businesses and closely-held corporations when they are joined as parties into divorce cases. Mr. Frank is well versed in business-related matters as they intertwine into family law cases and has represented numerous business owners during their divorce cases.
Mr. Frank works as a Guardian Ad Litem, in both pro bono and private cases, where he represents the interests of the children during family and dependency cases. Mr. Frank has been recognized by the Orange County Bar Association's Legal Aid Society for his pro bono efforts in representing these children who have entered into the dependency system. Outside of his law practice, Mr. Frank serves on the Board of Directors at IMPOWER, Inc., a leading non-profit mental health, child well-being and drug treatment organization located in Seminole County, Florida.
Mr. Frank is happily married to his wife, Carly, also an attorney and a former prosecutor whom he met in Court while working as an Assistant Public Defender. Mr. Frank remains active in various community activities and organizations, helping to actively raise funds and awareness for causes near to his heart, including Progressive Supra Nuclear Palsy and Multiple Sclerosis, and is a life-long Orlando Magic fan.