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The great-granddaughter of slaves, Jane Carey recognizes that both her life story and her practice are unusual. But the result has been a persistent, passionate, smart and honest advocate for her clients. With deep roots in northern Florida and raised by a single mother working two jobs, Mrs. Carey had a hard work ethic instilled into her early on in life. After a full day in the classroom, Jane’s mother, Mary Carey, led three hours of night school, teaching typing to high school students. Jane, who was in elementary school at the time, sat in the back of the room, soaking up her mother’s instruction. By the end of her third-grade year, she was a competent typist. Mary well understood that
her responsibility to her children meant more than providing food and shelter. It also meant making sure they were well educated, infused with a strong work ethic, and buoyed by an abiding sense of faith. Jane grew up believing in self- sufficiency, coupled with a service to others. Propelled by her resolute mother and nurturing maternal grandfather, Jane attended Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee, eventually graduating and securing a scholarship at the University of Florida College of Law. From the onset of her career, Carey had a passion for being an advocate for children. Attorney Carey was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1983 and became the first black woman to ever work for the Orange County Public Defender, eventually leaving to start a private practice in 1984. In 1985 she joined forces with her Husband, Harry Morall II, and founded Morall & Carey which served the Central Florida community for over 20 years, while also raising two children. Now in solo practice, Attorney Carey is still committed to being an advocate for families and children. As a veteran attorney in Central Florida, Jane has focused on family and probate law - “cradle to the grave” - as she puts it. The pain of her father’s abandonment and her mother’s subsequent struggles fuel her commitment to securing justice for children and their caregivers. Her cases have sometimes made national headlines. Jane famously represented the mother of a teenage boy seeking independence from his parents. “Gregory K” won emancipation initially, but after years of fighting, an appellate court agreed with Jane that a child could not decide who his or her parents should be. Another one of Jane’s cases, Finley v. Scott, helped reset child support guidelines for wealth parents. In Finley, Jane represented the mother of a wealthy athlete’s child who, she successfully argued, deserved to share in her father’s “good fortune.” Jane Carey has been able to sustain her practice for over 30 years with little to no advertising. Simply a solid reputation and word of mouth has kept her doors open. She is dedicated to every client like they are family, and that’s warm and welcoming attitude keeps her clients coming back and recommending others to her services. She has been a local servant of this community and a guiding hand for younger lawyers trying to navigate the industry. |