About Karina Perez
Karina Perez Ilic took a winding path into law. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Management at Tulane University in 2007, studying business law and taking a minor in French. Three years later she earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2010 under the common law curriculum. Those two degrees set a practical tone; she combined business training and legal study early on.
Her entry into practice began before law school ended. In 2008 she worked as a law clerk at Shapiro & Daigrepont, gaining hands-on experience in file preparation and courtroom support. Earlier still, in 2005, she held a position as a human resources assistant at Universal Personnel. After law school she joined Kubicki Draper as a shareholder in 2010, a role that put her in the middle of firm operations as well as casework. In 2017 she moved into a leadership role as managing lawyer at Vanguard Lawyers LLC. That progression tracks a steady increase in responsibility, from clerkship to firm leadership.
Perez Ilic is admitted to practice in Florida and in the U.S. District Courts for the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida. She maintains active memberships in several professional organizations, including the Florida State Bar, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, the Florida Justice Association, and the Florida Bar Association. Those affiliations reflect ongoing engagement with the legal community in Florida and with peers across different practice settings.
Colleagues describe her work as methodical and grounded in courtroom procedure. She has experience managing case files, coordinating with opposing counsel, and guiding motions through state and federal dockets. Her background in business law from Tulane supplements case strategy when matters touch contractual or corporate elements. The mix of firm roles and bar association activity has given her a practical perspective on both litigation and firm management.
Outside of formal roles, Perez Ilic has balanced client-facing responsibilities and internal leadership tasks. Early human resources work introduced administrative and personnel management skills that later proved useful when supervising staff and delegating work at the firm level. Her time as a shareholder and later as a managing lawyer exposed her to billing, client relations, and mentorship of junior attorneys.
She currently practices in Florida and appears in the U.S. District Courts for the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida. Her current practice centers on matters filed in Florida state courts and in those federal districts.
