On the Pulse … A Fine View and Lots To Do in Tampa, Florida

Defense Digest, Vol. 24, No. 4, December 2018

By Michael G. Archibald, Esq.*

Marshall Dennehey opened its Tampa, Florida, office in 2000. We are located just minutes away from MacDill Air Force Base, home to United States Central Command. Panoramic views from the windows of our downtown office include the downtown-centered Lyke’s Gaslight Park, the Hillsborough River, and both the United States Middle District of Florida federal courthouse and the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough County) courthouse. Two major thoroughfares, Interstate 75 and Interstate 4, provide easy commuting and access to all of the major attractions that the Tampa Bay area provides.

Venturing away from downtown to the west are beautiful beaches that consistently rank in the Top 10 in the country. Travel to the north about ten minutes, and you will find Raymond James Stadium, affectionately known as “Ray J” by fans of the 2003 Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Other sports teams that call the Tampa Bay area home are the Tampa Rays, New York Yankees (spring training facility) and the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team. The Glazer Children’s Museum, Busch Gardens and the Hard Rock Casino are just a few of the local attractions that continue to bring people from all over the world to live in or visit the Tampa Bay area.

As managing attorney of the Tampa office, I oversee the litigation and caseloads carried by our nine experienced attorneys here. I also have the pleasure of serving as the manager of the office’s casualty practice group. For the past 18 years, casualty litigation has been my practice focus, with particular emphasis on general liability defense. I have successfully assisted numerous retail merchants, restaurants, apartment complex owners and their management companies, trucking companies, product manufacturers and individual citizens with their legal issues. Oftentimes these lawsuits involve personal injury claims from alleged negligence. I enjoy guiding clients through the legal process and the legal system here in the Tampa Bay area to insure that their legal interests are fully protected.

Shareholder, John Heilman, and associate, Samuel Higginbottom, are longtime members of our casualty team. John heads our Special Investigations Unit practice group, which handles fraud litigation and investigation into questionable billing submissions from medical care providers. John possesses foremost knowledge on the Florida statute pertaining to personal injury protection benefits. Sam Higginbottom focuses mainly on general liability defense and maritime litigation. With an undergraduate degree in Marine Engineering and as an alumnus of the Merchant Marine Academy, Sam’s educational background proves instrumental in his ability to successfully litigate maritime cases as well as product liability cases.

Terrance Bostic, senior counsel, joined us in 2014 and heads our professional liability group. Terry has extensive litigation experience handling securities and investments claims, white collar crime, commercial litigation, employment law, and insurance agents and broker liability. He also represents homeowner associations and condominium associations. Terry is rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell and, for the past four years, has been selected as a “Tampa Top Rated Lawyer” in arbitration or securities law. He is a former member of the Federal Court Practice Committee of the Florida Bar and the Executive Council of the Trial Lawyers Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association.

Associates, Lindsay McCormick and Mariela Tassone, comprise our construction defect litigation team. In the past few years, Lindsay has firmly established herself as one of the Tampa Bay area’s up-and-coming litigators in her field. To support Lindsay’s growing practice, in 2017 Mariela Tassone joined our team. Mariela is fluent in Spanish, which is instrumental to our ability to efficiently and effectively counsel those clients whose primary language is not English.

Shareholder and Board-Certified Trial Attorney, Mike Bradford, and associate, Julie Aiello, are new additions to our casualty practice group this year. They work together handling first party property claims, commercial litigation, admiralty and maritime cases, and personal injury cases. Both are hometown lawyers firmly entrenched in the Tampa Bay area with good knowledge of “who’s who” in the area’s legal community.

The Tampa office stands ready to provide our clients with skilled, professional, and talented litigation professionals to assist and guide them through the civil justice system.

*Mike is a shareholder and the managing attorney of our Tampa, Florida office. He can be reached at 813.898.1803 or mgarchibald@mdwcg.com.

 

Defense Digest, Vol. 24, No. 4, December 2018. Defense Digest is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2018 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.