Best Lawyers in Florida, United States for Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
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Cities
Kelly R. High is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Health Care Law, Insurance Law, Litigation - Health Care, Litigation - Insurance and Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants. Kelly R., who practices law in Tampa, Florida, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Kelly R. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
William E. Crabill is a partner in the Miami office of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A. Mr. Crabill focuses on the defense, litigation and trial of personal injury (including catastrophic injury and wrongful death) matters and premises/products liability cases in the state/territorial and federal courts of Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to representing self-insured individual and corporate defendants directly, Mr. Crabill and his experienced team of associates are routinely r...
Sherry Schwartz is a partner in the firm’s West Palm Beach Office. She received her Bachelors of Science, with Highest Honors from the University of Florida, followed by her Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Miami in 2001. Both in law school and in her early years as an attorney, Ms. Schwartz has successfully tried cases for her clients in criminal, civil, family, and probate matters. She joined Cole, Scott, and Kissane with experience in more than 30 jury trials, following her...
Michael McCoy is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants. Michael, who practices law in Jacksonville, Florida, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Michael is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Howard Scholl is a partner based in our firm’s Tampa office and an experienced trial lawyer. He handles cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, nursing home neglect, trucking defense, hospitality industry defense, medical malpractice, contract disputes including insurance claims, construction defect claims, SIU fraud investigations as well as other general liability issues and claims for professional malpractice. Mr. Scholl is a native Floridian and graduated from the Universit...
Michelle Bartels is a partner in Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A.’s Tampa office and a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney. Ms. Bartels' practice focuses in the areas of catastrophic and personal injury, general civil litigation, premises liability, trucking defense, professional malpractice, security negligence, vehicle negligence, significant wrongful death, defective products, foster care lead agency and community based care defense. Ms. Bartels earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, magn...
Dale Hightower was born and raised in Lakeland, Florida, a town between Tampa and Orlando. He grew up loving adventures on the water, paddling a canoe and fishing alone in nearby lakes. His leadership skills became apparent in his youth as he was an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts, Senior Class President at Lakeland High School, and Student Body President at Florida Southern College. He also was elected Student Body President at Cumberland Law School in Alabama. After law school, he began worki...
Benjamin S. Jilek is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insurance Law, Litigation - Insurance and Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants. Benjamin S., who practices law in Tampa, Florida, has been recognized since 2018. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Benjamin S. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
John W. Bocchino is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insurance Law, Litigation - Insurance, Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants. John W., who practices law in Maitland, Florida, has been recognized since 2012. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John W. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Robert Schrader is a shareholder in the firm and has over 25 years of state and federal litigation experience. He concentrates his practice in the areas of general litigation and trial advocacy. He serves a diverse client base and maintains an active caseload throughout Florida in matters involving premises liability, general liability, automobile personal injury defense, trucking liability, negligent security, wrongful death, and products liability. Mr. Schrader has tried numerous jury and n...
Antwon M. Emery is a partner in the Fort Lauderdale West office of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A. Mr. Emery practices in the areas of hospitality defense, first party insurance litigation, property damage claims, wrongful death, negligent security, trucking accident defense and personal injury litigation. Mr. Emery is a native of Flint, Michigan and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law in 2006 and his Bachelor of Science from Southern Illinois University in 2002...
Chris Barkas is a shareholder in Carr Allison’s Tallahassee (FL) office where his practice focuses primarily on the defense of commercial vehicle claims, products liability claims and retail/premises liability claims. An AV Preeminent® rated attorney through Martindale-Hubbell®, Chris has practiced law in the North Florida area for more than 20 years and has conducted jury trials in many of the counties in the area. In the early part of his career, Chris was an assistant state a...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.