20 under 40: Jane Muir

Lawyer focusing on entrepreneurs also assists the poor.

Age: 31

Occupation: Lawyer, partner at Gersten Muir

Family status: Engaged

Lives in: Coconut Grove

Jane Muir’s father is a lawyer, and her mother is a judge. There are lawyers in her family going back six generations. Her great-great-great grandfather on her father’s side was a lawyer.

So, it was only natural, almost preordained, that Muir would become a lawyer. It’s a good thing she likes the profession and was good at it from an early age.

“I won my first mock trial in seventh-grade civics class, and I just was hooked,” she says. The University of Miami School of Law grad went on to found Gersten Muir with fellow lawyer Adam J. Gersten; it’s a boutique law firm that bills itself as “serving South Florida entrepreneurs.” Toward that end, Muir practices commercial litigation and business transactions, with clients that range from a national wireless carrier to local start-ups in medical software and even a company that makes rolling papers.

In addition to her caseload, Muir makes it a practice to give back by supporting those organizations that provide free legal aid to the poor. She is immediate past president of the Coral Gables Bar Association and serves on the board of the Dade County Bar Association, which honored her pro bono work in 2012. That year, she helped raise $10,000 by creating a “Battle of the Bands” that featured local lawyers who rocked out once they hung up their suits.

From Muir: “I would say my business philosophy is enthusiasm and passion and care. I’m a sixth-generation attorney, so I grew up around the legal profession.”

About Muir: “I would not only refer her to friends and family, but I would use her again if I had to.” — Amanda Patterson, a client involved in a foreclosure suit

This story was originally published November 9, 2014 at 6:00 PM with the headline "20 under 40: Jane Muir."