ORLANDO, Fla. – Three years ago, Jose Baez’s name was barely a blip in the legal community.

This was a lawyer who made his way to the profession after dropping out of high school, getting a GED and going into the Navy. He tried several failed businesses, including two bikini companies, before he eventually enrolled at Florida State University and St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami. It took another eight years for him to be admitted to the bar.