Florida Justice Association offentlig
[search 0]
Mer
Download the App!
show episodes
 
Artwork

1
The Florida Justice Association Research and Education Foundation

The Florida Justice Association Research and Education Foundation

Unsubscribe
Unsubscribe
En gång i månaden
 
The Titans of Trial features Florida’s legendary trial attorneys revealing their keys to success – in law practice and in personal life – in their own words. Sometimes whimsical, often inspirational, but always with practical advice and lessons, Titans of Trial shares the personal stories of the men and women who’ve made a demonstrated difference to the practice of trial law in Florida. On the web at www.fjaref.org For further information, please contact John Brazzell, Executive Director, at ...
  continue reading
 
Loading …
show series
 
Larry Stewart became a personal injury lawyer in Miami in the early 1960’s. It was a time when the longevity of the then-fledgling profession was in doubt. He took “show & tell” presentations before a jury to a whole new level, in one of the first automobile crashworthiness cases in the country. But he’s perhaps best known as the founder of Trial L…
  continue reading
 
It was losing a personal injury case in mid-career that almost made Jimmy Gustafson give up the practice of trial law. In a few minutes, you’ll hear about the inspirational story that changed him - and his career - and the lesson he learned about true success. He is a past president of the Florida Justice Association, an Eagle Founder, and winner o…
  continue reading
 
All Sean Domnick ever wanted to be while growing up was a lawyer. Today, he represents some of the most catastrophically injured people in the country – many from medical malpractice – and has won among the largest verdicts. As you’ll hear, he credits case preparation, but also a keen sense of empathy for his clients. He got an extra dose of that f…
  continue reading
 
Rich Newsome of Orlando has been at the center of some of the biggest personal injury cases involving automobiles in this century. He played a key role in convincing Congress to pass the “Tread Act.” He also identified a quiet trend of settlements and seized on it – resulting in the recall of more than 100 million airbags – the largest recall in hi…
  continue reading
 
Fred Cunningham of West Palm Beach has made a definitive impact on bad faith law in Florida, enforcing the duty of good faith that insurance companies owe their insureds. To date, he’s won more than $600 million in verdicts and settlements. He’s also a former president of the Florida Justice Association, a long-time board member, and winner of many…
  continue reading
 
When Phil Freidin opened his own practice in Miami at the age of 29, he quickly became a legal trend-setter. His success in a product liability case in the mid-1970’s and a bad faith case a decade later, both established significant case law. He’s also credited with starting many legal careers in the specialty practice fields that resulted. More th…
  continue reading
 
It was a chance encounter with trial lawyers Fred Levin and Chris Searcy when he was just a few years out of law school that taught Don Hinkle a big lesson: To be a successful trial lawyer, you just have to be yourself. It’s that and good old-fashioned hard work that he credits for much of his success. He focuses on catastrophic personal injury cas…
  continue reading
 
Jeff Liggio approaches law practice as a human being first, rather than acting like a lawyer. It’s advice he passes along to younger lawyers and is one of his keys to trial success. As you’ll learn, he brings “honor” to an honorable profession. For the first 17 years he was a lawyer, Jeff Liggio was also a military pilot. Given his military backgro…
  continue reading
 
His parents were school teachers, so it’s no surprise that part of Keith Mitnik’s practice at Morgan & Morgan in Orlando is to counsel other lawyers. He has a reputation as the “go-to guy” who helps turn seeming problems into solutions. He’s going to share some of those lessons with us today, so grab a pen and pad of paper. He prides himself as an …
  continue reading
 
It was helping a friend of a friend in a practice area outside of his usual cases that led Ted Leopold to find – and win – a new kind of case, one that would change his career. It was the first managed care case of its kind in the country and would lead to a flood of others. Most recently, he’s expanded into a novel way to try workers’ compensation…
  continue reading
 
Having a father who was a well-known and successful trial lawyer didn’t mean that Mike Haggard was on easy street. His interest in practicing law first came from his dad Andy, but Mike had to work hard. He had no success in repeated testimony before the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission on swimming pool safety. But he didn’t give up. He fo…
  continue reading
 
David Fonvielle went from running a concessions business on Fort Lauderdale Beach to eventually starting a personal injury law firm in Tallahassee. He gladly shares how he did it and why, including overcoming concern about advertising to become the first firm in the region to actively mass market. His work on Florida’s lawsuit against Big Tobacco w…
  continue reading
 
Richard Slawson’s guiding principal in life has been to stay determined and never give up. He credits it to his success in personal injury cases and to becoming one of Florida’s preeminent insurance bad faith lawyers. He’s now focusing that tenacity on fighting human trafficking, having transitioned to an “of counsel” role. The Florida Justice Asso…
  continue reading
 
Florida’s large percentage of folks over the age of 65 has highlighted a too common problem: elder abuse in nursing homes and other facilities. Originally a defense lawyer, Tom Edwards of Jacksonville changed sides to help this needy and helpless population. Along the way, he’s built a niche personal injury practice, with many victories. He’s also …
  continue reading
 
Greg Barnhart refers to trials as “the ultimate game.” While certainly a competition between two sides, he insists that juries expect to be entertained. To be a successful trial lawyer, as you’ll hear, you have to be entertaining and tell a story. He’s won more than $90 million to date in verdicts and settlements for his clients, including at one p…
  continue reading
 
On today’s program, something different. We feature someone who is as well known for his political life as his distinguished trial career. Steve Pajcic served Jacksonville in the Florida House of Representatives for six terms in the 1970’s and 80’s, nominated by the St. Petersburg Times as the Most Valuable House Member seven years in a row. As a l…
  continue reading
 
Dale Swope jokes that he’ll pay a thousand dollars to anyone that can prove they’ve been more broke than he’s been. He had to take losing cases no one else would touch and find a way to win them. He did, including his first personal injury case, a case that he never dreamt he would face. Along the way, he not only made a living, but has built a vib…
  continue reading
 
He really wanted to be a doctor. But a bad automobile accident in his teens that almost killed him – twice – landed Neal Roth in a courtroom as a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit. It was that early legal experience that convinced him to marry his desire for medicine with law, and pursue a career as a medical malpractice trial lawyer. He has l…
  continue reading
 
As one of the nine Florida trial lawyers hired by the state to fight Big Tobacco in the 1990’s, Wayne Hogan became part of the glue that held the elite team together. He worked to smooth the disparate legal approaches and personalities to help shepherd an eventual $13+ billion judgment against the tobacco industry, the largest of its time. He also …
  continue reading
 
His first boss and mentor was Al J. Cone, the founder of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, the predecessor of the Florida Justice Association. As such, our conversation with John Romano of Lake Worth is as much the story and lessons of the legendary Al Cone as it is of John’s career. He learned well, as you’ll hear. John Romano is a Past Presid…
  continue reading
 
As a young man growing up in Coral Gables, Stuart Grossman was upset at the social injustices shown on television news every night and wanted to change that if he could. He could and did. His victories include the largest verdict of its time for the death of a child and a more than one billion dollar settlement in a bank overdraft class action. His…
  continue reading
 
It was his older sister’s mispronunciation of the word “beauty” that, as just an infant, gave James Nance the nickname that would stick with him for life: “Booty”. With a name like that, he had to be a good trial lawyer – and he was – and still is today as he goes into the office at nearly 88 years old. Booty Nance, of Melbourne, was one of the nin…
  continue reading
 
His mother was a smoker who died of lung cancer at the age of 54. So when W.C. Gentry of Jacksonville got the call to join a team of lawyers fighting Big Tobacco to recover state Medicaid dollars spent on those smokers’ care, his was an easy answer. Their $13 billion plus settlement, the largest recovery in the history of jurisprudence at the time,…
  continue reading
 
Chris Searcy grew up in trial practice in Miami, hanging around legendary lawyers such as Bill Frates, Larry Stewart, Bill Coleson, Bill Hicks, and J.B Spence, to name but a few. As a young law student at Stetson University in 1972, he became involved with the predecessor of the Florida Justice Association, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, at …
  continue reading
 
Working in a sausage factory while attending college taught Troy Rafferty the value of hard work and sacrifice. Which helped him become what he is today: one of the top trial lawyers nationally who police the pharmaceutical industry by trying and winning complex mass tort cases. But as the old adage goes about sausages and laws – that you should ne…
  continue reading
 
He describes himself as a trial lawyer, cowboy, hog hunter, and red fisherman. And not always in that order. But then Bruce Kaster is not your typical trial lawyer. His niche practice of suing tire manufacturers over tread defects is an esoteric and technical field of law. He’s folksy and full of funny stories, as you’ll soon hear – but dead seriou…
  continue reading
 
The Coral Gables firm of Colson, Hicks, Eidson was instrumental in the development of personal injury law in Florida, with its roots in firms with legendary founders such as Perry Nichols, Bill Colson, Bill Hicks, J.B. Spence, and others. So it should come as no surprise that Mike Eidson has had the success he’s had and continued the momentum of th…
  continue reading
 
Growing up as a kid, one of Mike Papantonio’s favorite books was To Kill a Mockingbird, with its sympathetic lawyer hero Atticus Finch. Today, he’s a champion of the abused and victimized. Mike has become known as the “King of Mass Torts” for his innovative approach to maximizing his cases and client recoveries. It’s earned him the Defender of Just…
  continue reading
 
Imagine working on a big case with your team and then leaving town – without them – to try to settle the case before the trial starts. Well that’s the situation that Mike Maher of Orlando found himself in back in 1997. As Chairman of the so-called “Group of Nine” Dream Team of Florida trial lawyers, Mike negotiated the $13 plus billion settlement f…
  continue reading
 
Admittedly, his practice of law seems like one disaster after another. But that’s okay for Bob Spohrer of Jacksonville who specializes in aviation and maritime law. Disaster has become his specialty. He and the firm he founded have recovered more than $1 billion for victims and their families, and achieved safety improvements that benefit all of us…
  continue reading
 
Bill Wagner hasn’t tried a case since 2008. But he’s very engaged in – and concerned about – the practice of trial law. At age 84, he still goes into the office on most days and is actively involved in helping fellow lawyers recover from mistakes in their careers. If you’re a lawyer and not particularly happy about being one, Bill says you’re not a…
  continue reading
 
Bob Kerrigan is as irrepressible as the sunrise over the Pensacola Bay that his law office has overlooked for the past 45 years. Bob is one of the nine trial lawyers who brought – and settled – the famous Big Tobacco lawsuit by the state of Florida back in the mid 1990’s. At $13 billion, it was the largest civil judgment at the time in the nation. …
  continue reading
 
There’s an old saying that “Lawyers change the world one case at a time.” Dianne Weaver of Jacksonville is certainly proof of that. She’s earned a reputation both in the courtroom representing her injured clients, but also on the boards of state and national brain injury associations as a compassionate expert. Dianne Weaver is not only a top trial …
  continue reading
 
Barely in his 40’s at the time, Steve Yerrid was the youngest member of the so-called “Dream Team” of Florida lawyers who took on Big Tobacco in the mid-1990’s - and won. The idea to add racketeering and conspiracy charges – tripling the potential damages that could be awarded – contributed to the tobacco companies’ $13 billion settlement to reimbu…
  continue reading
 
Howard Coker of Jacksonville is a trial lawyer with a teacher’s heart. From that one morning in fourth grade he woke-up and declared he wanted to be at trial lawyer, he also very much wanted to be an athletic coach. In his law career, he’s created the perfect blend of his two huge talents. He’s been recognized with the Mickey Smiley Award, given by…
  continue reading
 
Every trial lawyer in Florida – and their clients – owe a debt of gratitude to Sammy Cacciatore of Melbourne. It was back in the early 1970’s, fresh out of law school, that he made his most successful argument before the Florida Supreme Court: that damage awards should not be disallowed simply because the victim bore some fault; but rather, awarded…
  continue reading
 
You may know Fred Levin as the father of the Florida tobacco lawsuits. He rewrote the Florida Medicaid Third Party Recovery Act in 1993 to allow the state of Florida to sue the tobacco industry, eventually settling for $13 billion and forever changing the face of tobacco litigation in the United States. But if not for a stubborn client who refused …
  continue reading
 
Florida’s most prominent trial lawyers in the past half century have a new designation – and a podcast to go with it: Titans of Trial. In this new podcast series by the Florida Justice Association, we’ll meet the men and women who’ve not only won the big cases, but created positive social change by the rulings they’ve secured. Along the way, they’v…
  continue reading
 
Loading …

Snabbguide