Peggy Smith Bush

Peggy is a shareholder in the Casualty Department. She is an experienced litigator, advocate and counselor.  She joins the firm with has almost 18 years' experience defending corporations, large self-insureds, and public entities against claims of premises liability and product liability.  Born and raised in North Alabama, Peggy is proud of her reputation for balancing strategic thinking and results-oriented litigation skills with professionalism and civility.

Peggy routinely defends claims involving premises liability, product liability, negligent security, food contamination and adulteration, amusement and theme park litigation, and general liability.

Peggy brings experience handling commercial matters (breach of contract, breach of warranty, contract review and interpretation, indemnification), code compliance and enforcement, defamation, environmental toxic tort, crisis management and damage control, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, negligent hiring and retention, non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in premises and complex website claims. She also has over ten years experience in public entity defense, including: Florida’s Public Records Act (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes); Florida’s Sunshine Law (Chapter 286, Florida Statutes); sovereign immunity in tort actions, statutory damage limitations, attorney fee issues, statutes of limitations, protections and exclusions under Florida Statute §768.28; reviewing and advising on compliance with policies and procedures, enforcement of performance contracts; and working with risk management in investigation of claims, litigation and risk avoidance.

Peggy began her legal career at  a well respected Orlando defense litigation firm where she earned valuable trial experience.  In 2010 she became a founding shareholder of Southern Trial Counsel | PLC where she served as managing partner for several years.  She worked her way through law school, including law clerk to in-house general counsel of an international restaurant company headquartered in Orlando.  Rounding out her over 30-year career of working with and for businesses, she began in television, radio and then stock brokerage (carrying Series 7, Series 6, and Series 63 licenses). She holds Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating 5.0/5.0 Preeminent©, is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator, and a Certified Claims and Litigation Management Professional. 

Peggy has been married to her husband, Stephen, since 1985. Stephen is a software engineer and at the moment a stay at home parent to their 3-year old twins, Jack and Finnian.  They live in Orlando with their calico cat, Harlie.  Peggy treasures time with her children exploring their backyard and eating snacks out of dump trucks, and enjoys music, cooking, reading, and spending time with family and friends.  She dedicates her professional volunteer activities to mentorship of younger professionals, and her personal free time is dedicated to activities which benefit children and animal welfare.