{"id":19017,"date":"2016-11-01T15:33:09","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T19:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=19017"},"modified":"2019-06-18T15:41:12","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T19:41:12","slug":"ucf-prepares-alumnus-life-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-prepares-alumnus-life-law\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Prepares Alumnus for Life in Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bennett-lessman\"<\/p>\n

University of Central Florida alumnus Bennett Lessmann, ’07, is a partner at his own law firm in Boca Raton, Florida. Law Offices of Kleinman & Lessmann<\/a> focuses on personal injury and medical malpractice cases, with Lessmann using skills that he gained from UCF in every facet of his work.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy UCF degrees helped tremendously in my career in both tangible and intangible ways,\u201d Lessmann, who double majored in political science and history, said.<\/p>\n

One of those ways is having inspired him to pursue a career in law \u2013 and preparing him for the day-to-day procedures to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was fortunate to learn what I would be facing both through law school and in daily practice through my conversations with my professors,\u201d he said. \u201cThe faculty in the Department of Political Science<\/a> served as incredible inspiration and mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lessmann also credits his political science courses and internship opportunities for preparing him for law school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intangibles of learning critical thinking, organized analytical writing, and research skills through my academic course load benefited me tremendously in the practice of law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lessmann explained many people do not take personal injury lawyers like himself seriously, and that it is sometimes hard to hold his head high in the profession. It\u2019s all worth it to him, though, when he is able to help a client.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you help someone who was wronged by another\u2019s negligence, the sense of satisfaction is thrilling and energizing,\u201d Lessmann said. \u201cMy clients are always grateful to have a diligent lawyer fighting for their rights. The expressions of gratitude from those who would otherwise feel helpless is reward enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCF was near and dear to Lessmann from the very beginning \u2013 literally. He grew up in Central Florida and went to Oviedo High School. He said that the political science department<\/a> immediately drew his interest, and he ended up double majoring in political science and history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe atmosphere on campus during visits was electric and sucked me in immediately,\u201d Lessmann said.<\/p>\n

One of Lessmann\u2019s fondest memories is a mock \u201cSupreme Court\u201d argument in a class he took. He was chosen to be a judge and didn\u2019t own a suit, so he improvised.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did what any great Scotsman would do. I wore my family\u2019s kilt,\u201d Lessmann said. \u201cMy professor had a great sense of humor about it all, calling me \u2018Justice McIntosh\u2019 for the remainder of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with his memories in class, Lessmann remembers chaperoning for the Lou Frey Institute Symposium on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the pleasure of watching excellent politicians speak at that event and was fortunate to sit in a waiting room with then Governor Jeb Bush,\u201d he remembered.\u00a0 \u201cIt was an invigorating experience to be a \u2018fly on the wall\u2019 overhearing conversations with the Governor and other representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating from UCF in 2007, Lessmann went on to law school at Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center. While in law school he met his current business partner, Ian Kleinman, while clerking for a firm in Fort Lauderdale. The two remained in contact after Lessmann\u2019s graduation in 2011 and created their own practice in 2015.<\/p>\n

Lessmann\u2019s work has led him to respect and admire the judicial system. He described going to trial as being stressful and rewarding at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the training and experience to step into a courtroom to tell the \u2018big guy\u2019 that they\u2019ve done wrong and should be held accountable is the ultimate embodiment of the judicial system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lessmann doesn\u2019t intend to stop fighting on behalf of his clients any time soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Central Florida alumnus Bennett Lessmann, ’07, is a partner at his own law firm in Boca Raton, Florida. Law Offices of Kleinman & Lessmann focuses on personal injury and medical malpractice cases, with Lessmann using skills that he gained from UCF in every facet of his work. \u201cMy UCF degrees helped tremendously in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":19018,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5962,31,20,13,16,41],"tags":[412,1597,2025,3540],"class_list":["post-19017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-science-alumni","category-alumni-news","category-psaclassnotes","category-news","category-political-science-departments","category-shining-knights","tag-bennett-lessmann","tag-ian-kleinman","tag-law-offices-of-kleinman-lessmann","tag-ucf-department-of-political-science"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Prepares Alumnus for Life in Law - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-prepares-alumnus-life-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Prepares Alumnus for Life in Law - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"University of Central Florida alumnus Bennett Lessmann, ’07, is a partner at his own law firm in Boca Raton, Florida. Law Offices of Kleinman & Lessmann focuses on personal injury and medical malpractice cases, with Lessmann using skills that he gained from UCF in every facet of his work. \u201cMy UCF degrees helped tremendously in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-prepares-alumnus-life-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-01T19:33:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-18T19:41:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/11\/Bennett-Lessman.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Julia Anderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/11\/Bennett-Lessman.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Julia Anderson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-prepares-alumnus-life-law\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-prepares-alumnus-life-law\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Julia Anderson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6351d7b539198ab5410a0f11a1c6be65\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Prepares Alumnus for Life in Law\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-01T19:33:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-18T19:41:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-prepares-alumnus-life-law\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":605,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-prepares-alumnus-life-law\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Bennett-Lessman-e1478116170817.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bennett Lessmann\",\"Ian Kleinman\",\"Law Offices of Kleinman & Lessmann\",\"UCF Department of Political Science\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni - 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