President, Mary Ann Stiles, P. A.
Getting my law degree consumed my life from 1969 to 1978. I saw becoming an attorney as a way to move beyond the typewriter—as more than just a secretary—and to be respected as a woman with a brain. I worked several jobs to pay my way through Hillsborough Community College, Florida State University, and Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C.
I come from a large family, and to say we lived below the poverty line would be an understatement. While at Florida State, I worked for the Florida House of Representatives drafting workers’ compensation laws. I also interned in Congress for United States Senator Lawton Chiles.
After graduating from law school, my former nemesis from my days at the Florida Legislature, Jon Shebel, offered me a job as Vice President and General Counsel of Associated Industries of Florida. He taught me how to lobby. I became the first woman to work full-time lobbying on behalf of the business community. I vividly remember testifying before legislative committees while women stood in the back of the room, silently encouraging me. It was a tough world—one run and controlled by men.
I learned my craft and became known as the “Queen of Workers’ Compensation.” In the late ’70s and throughout the ’80s, surviving as a woman meant being tough, knowing your business, and being on your game 100% of the time. I was proud to become the first woman inducted into the Florida Workers’ Compensation Hall of Fame.
Over the years, I’ve received many awards and recognitions, but the most meaningful came recently—on April 11, 2025—when I received the inaugural “Frances Perkins Trailblazer Award” from The Florida Bar Forum: Women in Workers’ Compensation. It was an incredible honor to be recognized as a pioneer on behalf of women in law.
Women have come a long way, but there’s still so much more to accomplish—for the good of our profession, and for the generations of women yet to come.
6250 Kipps Colony Court, Unit 106, Gulfport, FL 33707 | 727-916-2785 | maryannstiles.law20@gmail.com
