Gary M. Dunkel

Born and raised in a small town in Northeast Ohio, Pete learned from an early age that hard work pays off. Never the most intelligent student or the most gifted athlete, he excelled at both because he worked harder than everyone else. His beautiful and talented Wife is a fellow trial lawyer. Together, they have 3 children and 2 Beagles. Pete attended the University of Dayton where he received his Bachelors degree in Marketing. He later moved to Florida shortly after graduation and worked a co...

JOHN (JACK) SCAROLA graduated with honors from Georgetown University in 1969 and from Georgetown Law Center in 1973. Before joining the firm in 1978, he was Chief Felony Prosecutor in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s office, where he was lead counsel in the trials of more than 50 major criminal cases, including the nation’s first gavel-to-gavel televised murder trial. Mr. Scarola is Board Certified in both Civil Trial Practice and Commercial & Business Litigation. While ...

Phillip C. Gildan is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Law. Phillip C., who practices law in West Palm Beach, Florida, has been recognized since 2017. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Phillip C. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

David M. Halpen is Principal-in-Charge of the Palm Beach office of Cummings & Lockwood. David has over twenty years of broad-based legal experience in trusts and estates planning, estate settlement, trust administration, business succession planning, and U.S. and international tax planning for a variety of high net worth clients. Prior to joining Cummings & Lockwood, he was a shareholder with Dunwody, White & Landon in their Naples and Palm Beach offices.

Linda C. Sweeting is a civil trial attorney in the firm’s West Palm Beach office. She has had a diversified practice that includes litigation and management of civil cases including catastrophic and personal injury, wrongful death, automobile negligence, premises liability, medical malpractice, negligent security, product liability, toxic tort, trucking accident litigation, general civil litigation, and alternative dispute resolution. Over the years, Ms. Sweeting has represented both de...

Justin C. Sorel is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation. Justin C., who practices law in West Palm Beach, Florida, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Justin C. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

ADAM HECHT , a veteran of more than 75 felony and misdemeanor jury trials as an Assistant State Attorney, now works with Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. handling medical malpractice, personal injury, wrongful death and products liability cases. Mr. Hecht is licensed to practice law in all jurisdictions in the State of Florida and has been admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He has served on the Young Lawyers Board of Directors ...

Patricia Lebow is Of Counsel to the law firm of Comiter, Singer, Baseman & Braun and resident counsel in its newly opened office in Palm Beach where Patricia is a long-time resident. The current focus of Patricia's practice is estate planning, trusts and related litigation. Patricia is best known for having founded the West Palm Beach Office of Broad and Cassel in 1983 which she and her partners grew into a full service law office and where she served as Managing Partner until its acquisi...

CALVIN WARRINER III (Cal) has been with the firm for 32 years and has been a Shareholder since 1991. He joined the firm as a seasoned trial attorney and is Board Certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer by both The Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy, as well as being a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. He has been nominated by his peers and received the distinction of being included in the prestigious publication The Best Lawyers in America as wel...

CHRISTIAN D. SEARCY is president and CEO of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. and writes and lectures extensively about civil trial practice, personal injury and wrongful death. For 46 years he has litigated cases primarily involving catastrophic injury and death in venues throughout Florida as well as in other states. At age 29, he had the distinction of being the youngest lawyer in the United States to achieve a verdict of $1 million for a single personal injury lawsuit. In...