Carmen Dellutri is the Founder, President, and Managing Partner of the Dellutri Law Group, a Florida-based law firm that specializes in consumer bankruptcy, personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, mortgage modifications, bankruptcy litigation, and consumer fraud. He began his legal career focusing on plaintiff’s personal injury cases and expanded his practice to include consumer bankruptcy as the firm grew. He is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court and Family Law Mediator and a Qualified Arbitrator. Licensed in Florida, New Jersey, New York, and admitted to practice in several federal courts, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Tax Court, Carmen’s career reflects a commitment to providing aggressive and innovative legal representation. His firm emphasizes respect, trust, and community involvement and employs a team approach to legal representation, highlighting Carmen’s vision of creating a more adaptable and approachable law firm.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Carmen Dellutri talks about his childhood in New Jersey and his pathway into the legal industry
• Why Carmen decided to start his own firm
• What makes an effective trial attorney?
• The importance of standing up for individuals’ rights, particularly in battles against large corporations
• What makes Dellutri Law Group stand out against other law firms in Florida?
• Carmen shares what the Dellutri Law Group passion project is about
• The founding story of the Bankruptcy Law Network

In this episode…

How does a background filled with unique experiences shape a successful career in law, particularly in consumer bankruptcy and personal injury? Can community service become a cornerstone of a thriving legal practice? According to Carmen Dellutri, a seasoned attorney with a heart for community, combining personal experiences with a dedication to help is key to success in the legal field. Carmen believes that his journey, filled with lessons from an unconventional upbringing and a commitment to making a difference, has allowed him to connect with clients and the community in meaningful ways. His approach combines legal expertise with a deep-seated passion for community service, illustrating how a lawyer can be both a formidable advocate in the courtroom and a committed ally in the community. In this episode of 15 Minutes, host Chad Franzen is joined by Carmen Dellutri, Founder, President, and Managing Partner of the Dellutri Law Group. They discuss Carmen’s journey from a unique upbringing to establishing the Dellutri Law Group, the importance of technology in evolving legal practices, and how the firm’s passion project contributes to community well-being.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Chad Franzen on LinkedIn
• Gladiator Law Marketing
• Carmen Dellutri on LinkedIn
• Dellutri Law Group
• A Bronx Tale
• Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
• Bankruptcy Law Network

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Gladiator Law Marketing, where we deliver tailor-made services to help you accomplish your objectives and maximize your growth potential. To have a successful marketing campaign and make sure you’re getting the best ROI, your firm needs to have a better website and better content. At Gladiator Law Marketing, we use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and decades of experience to outperform the competition. To learn more, go to gladiatorlawmarketing.com or schedule a free marketing consultation. You can also send an email to adam@gladiatorlawmarketing.com.

Episode Transcript

Intro  0:01   You’re listening to 15 Minutes, where we feature community leaders sharing what the rest of us should know but likely don’t. Chad Franzen  0:12   Hi. Chad Franzen here, one of the hosts of Share Your Voice where we talk with top notch law firms and lawyers about what it takes to grow a successful law practice. This episode is brought to you by Gladiator Law Marketing, delivering tailor made services to help you accomplish your objectives and maximize your growth potential. To have a successful marketing campaign and make sure you’re getting the best ROI, your firm needs to have a better website and better content. Gladiator Law Marketing uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and decades of experience to outperform the competition. To learn more, go to gladiatorlawmarketing.com where you can schedule a free marketing consultation. Carmen Dellutri is the Founder and President of the Dellutri Law Group, a Florida based law firm specializing in consumer bankruptcy. Known as the godfather of law, Carmen takes on tough cases has over 500 5-star reviews and helps 10s of 1000s of clients with their legal problems. Hey, Carmen, thanks so much for joining me today. How are you? Carmen Dellutri  1:11   I’m doing great. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Chad Franzen  1:14   Hey, as we before we get into your you know, your your legal career. Tell me a little bit about growing up in New Jersey, what life was like for you? Carmen Dellutri  1:25   That’s a good one. Are you sure you want to know this? Because this is kind of sensitive material. Chad Franzen  1:30   I’m totally sure. Carmen Dellutri  1:31   Okay. Have you ever seen the movie A Bronx Tale with Chazz Palminteri about the Robert De Niro was the that was kind of my lifestyle growing up on Sunday. We didn’t go to church, we went to the bookie in the afternoons, all the guys would come to my dad’s gas station and shoot crap. And gamble. Oh, man. Yeah. So my life was not like anything you’ve ever seen in storybooks or Norman Rockwell. Totally different. Totally different. Chad Franzen  2:03   I’m guessing based on your bio that I’ve read to you, but you’ve kind of turned thing your adult life has not kind of matched your your life growing up? Carmen Dellutri  2:12   Well, it’s a little bit different, but it’s the same. And the reason why is the the consumer law practice community is a small community in Florida, believe it or not, there’s maybe a bunch of guys and women who are really good at Consumer Law. But they get together every once in a while, usually maybe once a week, and they have a little seminar and they talk about the issues, specifically facing consumer practitioners. So hope I try to get into them as much as I possibly can. But sometimes it’s kind of difficult with a schedule that you keep. So take southwest Florida, where we opened up our first office, there’s a few practitioners here, who we really bond with, we share information we get together, we share war stories, what would you do about this? What would you do about this? How do you handle this? How do you handle this? Have you heard of this attorney in Tampa? He’s a real knucklehead, you know, how do you deal with that clown? What about Orlando? So it’s really good. And the I hate to say it, but COVID was a game changer for attorneys. And anybody who says it wasn’t wasn’t paying attention. Because the technology got better. The communication got better. The everything got more efficient, because now we’re not spending our truck and our way down to court. And then coming back an hour, you got that extra two hours to get stuff done. Chad Franzen  3:28   How did you so So given your background, how and when did you know you wanted to become an attorney? Carmen Dellutri  3:34   All right, great story. My dad owned a gas station. All right. Across the street from the gas station, a little cross street to the right, was a 711. Now attached to that 711 building, one little portion of it, maybe one 1/5 of it was an attorney’s office. And when I go, you know, every once in a while my dad would say here, go get yourself a Slurpee. You worked hard for 14 hours a year go get yourself a Slurpee and you know, cool down a little bit. Anyway, I go across the street get a Slurpee, but I always noticed the people that were walking into the attorney’s office, now are you from New Jersey or the Northeast anywhere? I’m not. Okay. Anybody from the Northeast will realize this. When something bad is being said, they’ll usually lower their voice and go like, he’s got cancer. Oh, you know, everybody, they bring it down a notch and he’s got cancer. Oh, okay. So when you saw people going into the attorney’s office, there will always be dressed up nice, you know, I’m gonna go visit the attorney. And really, for for being where we were, that was the only attorney’s office around in miles. So I’d see people going and I said to my dad, that, you know, why do people dress up and they go to see the attorney. He goes watch because, you know, they’re usually having a little bit of a problem and they got up and they were their church clothes to go see the attorney because they want to look presentable and stuff. He goes, but I said, Well, what’s the difference between you know what an attorney does and what we do? He goes, there’s really no difference. It’s just, it’s like garbage man. They pick up garbage. We fix cars, we help people when they have mechanical problems, attorneys help with legal problems. But we all got two arms, two hands, eyes, you know, we help people. And that’s really what you want to do for a living, if you that’s the greatest living in the world is helping people. And I was like, wow, because we never knew a holiday, where my dad didn’t say, hey, get in the jeep, his car won’t start or the phone and ring on Christmas Day. 7am middle of opening presents, bam, we gotta go. somebody’s car won’t start. And my dad would just look at me and say get in a jeep. You got two minutes. And I had to run get, you know, gloves and stuff on knowing that I’d probably be changing a flat tire in like a half an hour in the snow up to my neck. And I loved it. I absolutely loved it. So that’s where it kind of meshes, the two. But that’s where I wanted to be that guy. And then when I got to college, I figured out that we’re going to be an attorney. But my roommate, guy named Bush, nicknamed Bush, where he’s taking the LSAT, because once you sign up, take the LSAT, just to see how you do. But I was working as a bartender in a nightclub, living a good life making good money, everything was good. I took the LSAT and I actually scored better than he did. And he took all that prep class and stuff and I didn’t. Okay, maybe this thing’s for me. I don’t know. What do you think? Chad Franzen  6:18   There’s a nice, very nice. So how did you tell me about your pathway into the legal industry? How did you What was your first job? How did you? Where’d you go to law school, things like that? Okay, I Carmen Dellutri  6:27   went to law school in Louisiana. First Law School, it took me I went to I didn’t wait for anything else that’s like it. I’ve been I’m going I’m not taking. I’m not worried about it. I’m going on. So I moved to Louisiana, New Orleans, specifically. And I went to Loyola. And that’s right on St. Charles Avenue. If you have ever been there’s obviously beautiful. While I was there, I kind of had a hankering or a belief that I wanted to be an international attorney, meaning attorney who negotiates deals from you know, maybe does arbitrations or mediations between countries that really drew me to the practice. So at the end of my third year of law school, getting ready for the bar exam. My you know, I had a long talk to my parents. And I said, you know, I think I want to take the New York and New Jersey bar, because that’s the hub of international law. You got to be in New York. And my dad just laughed at me. And he’s like, Okay, we’ll talk soon. So of course, I fly up there, I take the New York bar, I take the New Jersey bar, and I get off the Airport in New York airport, an airplane in New York airport, I look at and I look at myself, I said, What are you doing here? You know, you’re not a New York guy anymore. You’re not a jersey guy anymore. You’re a Florida guy. So I call my parents right from the airport. I said, I think I might have made a big mistake. My dad just laughed again. Because yeah, I thought you’d say that. Anyway, I take the exams, I pass them both, I fly back to Florida. But in the meantime, while I was in my third year of law school, I made a connection to Elaine. And over there, there was a professor who was going to be testifying in Congress on the NAFTA and the gap. So you remember those from early way back when NAFTA, the GATT national, NAFTA was the North American Free Trade Agreement. And the GATT was a General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. So he asked me to come to be a call a research assistant for him. And I figured while I was there, I’ll get my masters of law and international law, trade and finance, to help me in my New York career Now, which one I no longer wanted. So anyway, it was a fantastic year. I mean, I got to do some really cool stuff that not a lot of law students would get. I got my Masters of Law, came back to Florida. And I was like, okay, nobody down here in southwest Florida. Fort Myers, in particular, needs an international attorney. So I was getting kind of stonewalled by law firms. I stumbled upon a small personal injury firm. And the only reason I got the job is because they had offices in Fort Myers in Tampa. And my brother lived in Tampa. So worked out perfect. So I said, I could be in that office, I could be in this office, no big deal. I save the boss a lot of drive time. So that worked out well. And then I knew it was time to do my own thing. And that’s why I decided about about a year and a half into it. I said, you know, personal injury law is for me, I’m good at this. I’m a trial lawyer, I can do this. No problem. I have no fear. Let’s do it. But I got thrown into the bankruptcy world. And that’s where the two worlds collide. And I was like, light bulb. And I just saw the light because a lot of bankruptcy attorneys are not trial lawyers. And when you say let’s go try the case, they back down in fear, and Alice like so this is what we got to play with. All right. I’m bringing my playground to these guys. And we’re gonna have some fun and 25 years is flown by like that. Chad Franzen  9:45   Wow, very nice. So what inspired you to start the Dellutri Law Group. Carmen Dellutri  9:50   Well, I knew I was always I was always the type of person who has to be the boss. I’m not a good employee. I mean, I’m a great employee. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a hard working guy. I get that He’s done. But I have the vision to see where I want to be and how I want to get there. I’m not a nuts and bolts guy, I’m not a process and systems guy. I’m a big picture guy. So I need people on my team, who are the nuts and bolts? Who are the processes? Who are the systems to get the work done. But I am definitely I don’t know if you’re familiar with a term called Eos, the entrepreneurs operating system. I’m definitely a visionary off the charts. Chad Franzen  10:25   What, what makes you an effective trial attorney? Would you say? Carmen Dellutri  10:31   I don’t think about myself, many attorneys. And again, there’s all kinds of attorneys out there, a lot of them are afraid to walk into a courtroom. But I kind of have like this out of body experience, where I don’t like to see anybody get taken advantage of. So you kind of a warrior mentality that when you’re going into a courtroom, you’re going into battle. It’s not about me, it’s not about my ego. It’s about doing something for somebody else. And that’s why they’re relying on me. And when somebody relies on me, I will not give them anything less than 1,000% of my time, my energy. That’s my commitment. And it goes back to when I was a kid. You know, I get this from my dad, I got this burning fire inside of me to help people. And that’s what I do. Chad Franzen  11:19   Has there been a? You know, you’ve been you’ve been at it for a while, but over your career, has there been like a particularly memorable case or client experience for you? Carmen Dellutri  11:28   Yeah, it’s been quite a few, quite a few. I mean, I’ve had I’ve been very, very blessed. And I’ll never forget one time. And one of my attorneys and I, we went to the 11th circuit court of appeals. Now, I’ve been in love it’s Federal Court of Appeals is one step down from the US Supreme Court. I’ve been in a courtrooms all over the state of Florida, state courts, federal courts, never once walked in was scared of anything. When I walked into the 11th circuit court of appeals. I’m not gonna I’m not gonna lie. You know, my butt puckered a little bit, I sat up a little straighter, and I was like, this is, you know, the major leagues. And those judges came out. And literally, we’ve won. Luckily, and I’m not luckily we were right, we should have won. But those judges were on point, those judges came out firing at the other side. And I have never seen grown men cower before. And these guys were showering. I mean, those judges were extremely impressive. And they knew the issue. They knew the questions. And if you weren’t going to answer their question, they were going to drill you. So it was, I’m telling you, it was an interesting experience that I was like, and that was about probably about seven or eight years ago. So I’d been practicing like 1718 years. And you know, you think you’ve seen it all by then. No way, Jose, that was a new experience. It was excellent. And I was exhilarated and so happy to be a lawyer at that moment. Because I knew we were going to change the law. And it was going to affect the whole state of Florida. And I was like, Damn, I’m proud. So that was one experience. But I’ve had I’ve had few, I’ve got a nobody knows this. But Judge Pascal used to be the oldest bank, chief judge in the nation. And we had of in Fort Myers for a number of years passed away. I can be the I think I’m the only person who could say I actually had to try a case twice and win twice the same case in the same day in front of Judge pass gay, which is, you know, for if you’re a lawyer, you’re like, how the heck did that happen? Well, it’s a war story. But it did happen. And I have witnesses to prove it. Chad Franzen  13:35   I know that you are competent in stating that the Dellutri Law Group is the premier consumer law firm in Florida. What makes you confident and in being able to say that? Carmen Dellutri  13:46   I wouldn’t say that I say I’m one of the best. Okay, I want to, there are some excellent, excellent consumer lawyers in the state of Florida. There really are. And some are bankruptcy attorneys. Some are, you know, they do anything like FCRA, or Fair Credit Reporting Act, some do FDCPA some do F CCPA. Some have their own little niches and what they do, and really, I don’t do all of consumer law because it’s way too much. There’s no way possible, you can handle it. We have a large personal injury practice here. So I get my hands dirty in that as well. But it all comes down to one thing is helping individuals stand up for their rights. When you know, you’re going up against David and Goliath. Every time you’re suing Equifax, you’re suing insurance companies you’re stealing debt collectors you sue an attorney sometimes, you know it’s it’s never a small battle. Chad Franzen  14:40   What can you tell me about your law groups’ rate of clients completing their chapter 13 plans? Carmen Dellutri  14:46   Well, that’s one thing that you know, a lot of people don’t understand that when a person goes into a chapter 13 They’re making a three to five year commitment. And I make the same commitment to my clients that you know what I’m going to be with you everywhere down the road. Well, in three to five years, you know, people think, Oh, I might, I might keep a car every three to five years life changes, but we’re there with them through the whole fight. So nationwide, I mean, nobody would ever be able to sell a chapter 13 There’s not one bankruptcy attorney who would sell chapter 13 saying your chances of completing this plant and getting a discharge is 40%. Because that’s a nationwide average. But in our farm, we’re consistently 80% and better. And the only ones that drop out of our chapter their teams, you know, it would be sound like somebody dies, or a substantial life event happens where we have to get that client out of chapter 13. Because now it’s no longer in their best interest. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, because that’s what happens. I’m pretty, I’m pretty proud of that. Chad Franzen  15:45   Yeah, that’s great. I know, you guys have a much higher rate than average, on the nationwide average is about half of what yours is. Yep. What’s tell me about the Dellutri Law Group passion project, what is that? Carmen Dellutri  16:01   Okay, our passion project started a few years ago. And to me, it’s really important to give back to the communities that we’re in, if we’re going to do have an office in Tampa, we got to be given off that we’ve got to be doing something for the people of Tampa, we got to be given back to the people of Fort Myers, whatever. So what we do is, each of our employees is allowed to take time, and give back to the community, whether it’s volunteer one day, or they might, they might want us you know, do whatever to help their charity, something that they’re passionate about something that they want to give back. So mine is the Midwest Food Bank. Well, sorry about that. But the Midwest Food Bank is a Christian based organization that provides food to people who sometimes just don’t have it. So we go down there, and we volunteer, I take my kids, and I make them do it, and they have a blast. They love going because it’s good people helping out people who are a little bit less fortunate. And they’re able to spend the day working their butts off, but knowing they’ve made a difference. And that matters. That really matters. Chad Franzen  17:04   What so I know that I know that’s important to you. And that place is important to you. But why do you feel like it’s important for everybody in the firm to kind of be? Carmen Dellutri  17:12   That’s a great question. Everybody in the firm cares about something. So some people, we’ve got people who love pets, we’ve got people who are avid recyclers. So as a leader, it’s important for me that I know that everybody who’s working with me on a daily basis, I want to know what they’re passionate about. Because if I can help with that, then aren’t they going to be a better employee knowing I care? I mean, we have one person here who recycles everything. So we throw away very little, but everything gets recycled. And I mean, I’m totally I’m so neurotic about I’m afraid I’m gonna get caught throwing a couple away in a paper cup when it shouldn’t go into shred bin, should it go with a garbage so I make sure you know, everything’s on the up and up because I don’t want to get caught. I don’t want to be that guy who throws it away. That could have been recycled. It’s dangerous. It’s dangerous. I’m telling you. Chad Franzen  18:04   Hey, I have one last question for you. But first, tell me how people can find out more about the Dellutri Law Group. And you know if there’s anything else we should know. Carmen Dellutri  18:13   Well, you guys fortunate. I’m fortunate that I have a very rare last name. So if you Google Dellutri, you’re gonna get Marcelo Dell’Utri in Italy, who believe it or not, is a distant relative. Not such a nice guy might have a mafia tie. I don’t know if it’s ever been proven or not. But I get treated really? Well, when I go to Italy, that’s for sure. When people see my last name, I got some good stories about that. And I’m just like, No, no, no, no, no, it’s not me. It’s not me. Unless you really liked them. And then hey, I’m your guy. But now, if you Google the Dellutri Law Group, you can find out more about what we do, who we are, and how we help people. And if you know, anybody who ever needs our help, I’m usually the guy who talks to clients the first time around, because I’m here. I’m working here every day. I’m not just a name, who lives in Hawaii for 12 months. And I come back and say, Hey, let’s go to the bank and see how much money I made. I’m here every day. I’m working with the people in the trenches, and we’re just trying to make a difference for people. That’s all we’re trying to do is just trying to make a difference in the everyday guy’s life, and to get them ahead. So one day he could retire. Happy with a few bucks in the bank. Chad Franzen  19:20   Last question for you. I think you are you. You’re a founding member of the Bankruptcy Law Network. Carmen Dellutri  19:26   Yeah, yeah. Chad Franzen  19:27   Tell me about that. And what the what the mission is for that. Carmen Dellutri  19:30   Okay, a few years ago, and it started probably around 2008 2009 2010. A couple of attorneys consumer base like Guy, bankruptcy attorneys loan was a tax guy. When was this? We’re just sitting together at like a big national meeting. And we’re just sitting around talking to me like, you know what, there’s a lot of bad information on the internet about bankruptcy. You know, my cousin’s sister’s brother while he kept his car and he didn’t tell anybody that that’s garbage. So we said we got to get together and create a website, a blog, because that’s when blogs just started coming alive, giving out people good information that they can rely on in any state. And if it’s generic information about the bankruptcy code and about the bankruptcy process about the, you know, case law that’s coming out, what does this case mean to you? If it’s state specific, then we’re going to say, this applies only in the state of Florida, or this applies only in Texas. But if it’s something of national significance, that’s when it goes out. And this is the good part about what I do because I got a ruling on a social security issue in my court. One day, like on a Thursday, the federal judge issued the opinion. The next day, I get a call from a guy in California, St. Carmen. That’s a great opinion. What do you have on that? What can you send me your brief send me this. I have that same issue coming up next week, and I didn’t know what I was going to do about it. Boom, email, the tool, just like that, and help his people. That’s the community I live in. And I think it’s great. So we all share can help each other. Chad Franzen  21:04   Okay, fantastic. Hey, Carmen, it’s been great to talk to you. I really appreciate it. Thanks so much for sharing your story, and congratulations on your success. Carmen Dellutri  21:11   Thank you very much. Have a great day. And I appreciate you having me here. Take care. Chad Franzen  21:14   You too. So long, everybody. Outro  21:18   Thanks for listening to 15 Minutes. Be sure to subscribe and we’ll see you next time.