The Florida Justice Association Research and Education Foundation
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 jbrazzell@myfja.org or call 850-224-9403. Your questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome! Copyright Florida Justice Association, 2017-2021. All rights reserved.
Episodes
April 9, 2021 • 35 mins
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 Lawyers Care, the national AAJ pro bono program that began for victims...
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November 20, 2020 • 43 mins
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 of the Jon Krupnick Award. It’s given for perseverance in achieving justic...
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November 6, 2020 • 38 mins
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 from his own bout with cancer.
He’s been a longtime board member of the F...
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October 23, 2020 • 38 mins
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 history.
His love of law and exploration of innovative tactics among his pe...
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October 9, 2020 • 39 mins
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 awards, including the Perry Nichols Award, our most prestigious. It hon...
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September 25, 2020 • 43 mins
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 than 50 years later, with his son in the practice, he’s now developed the m...
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September 4, 2020 • 29 mins
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 cases, limiting his practice to devote extra time and extra effort on each ca...
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August 21, 2020 • 36 mins
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 background, you’d think he would have practiced aviation law. So did he. But...
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August 7, 2020 • 42 mins
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 inventor – a process guy who has developed systems to improve trial t...
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July 23, 2020 • 38 mins
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 cases, outside of workers’ compensation courts.
Also, the discovery that...
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July 10, 2020 • 39 mins
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 found a unique opportunity to finally make the kind of lasting policy chan...
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June 5, 2020 • 43 mins
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 was but one of several cases that forced changes in consumer products, spar...
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April 23, 2020 • 35 mins
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 Association has been another common thread in his life. He’s a past presiden...
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April 10, 2020 • 28 mins
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 a champion of legal ethics, helping write the code of ethics for judges’...
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February 14, 2020 • 42 mins
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 point, the largest personal injury verdict in Florida history.
Along the ...
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December 6, 2019 • 35 mins
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 lawmaker, he shepherded expansion of the property tax Homestead Exemption ...
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November 15, 2019 • 43 mins
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 vibrant law practice from the ground up, that today has 11 lawyers with its ...
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October 18, 2019 • 41 mins
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 lent his penetrating, decisive focus to the Florida Justice Association as...
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September 6, 2019 • 69 mins
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 brought the first asbestos case involving punitive damages to trial in Flo...
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August 16, 2019 • 41 mins
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 President of the Florida Justice Association and a recipient of the Perry Nicho...
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