Due to Hurricane Ian, the Jacksonville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society will postpone the Supreme Court Preview virtual webinar from Thursday, September 29, 2022 to Wednesday, October 5, 2022 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Those who are already registered for this webinar will be able to use the originate zoom link given upon registration.

Nick McNamara and Dimitri Peteves had the honor of presenting at the Jacksonville Justice Association's third quarterly meeting about common errors in preservation. Their presentation was designed to help trial attorneys preserve issues for appeal, and it was made from the perspective of two former appellate law clerks. Nick and Dimitri addressed preservation requirements that arise throughout the duration of a case-from the pleadings to post-trial motions.

Dimitri Peteves and Bryan Gowdy successfully defended a jury verdict in a products-liability case that awarded the plaintiff $1,050,000 in compensatory damages and $2,500,000 in punitive damages. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion for a new trial and defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law on the issue of punitive damages. The case concerned a metal-on-metal hip-replacement device, which the jury determined was defectively designed.

To read the opinion, click here. 

The 29th edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has been released, and three Creed & Gowdy, P.A. attorneys have been named. 

Rebecca Creed and Bryan Gowdy were named for the Appellate Practice category, while D. Gray Thomas, of counsel, was named for Appellate Practice, Criminal Defense: General Practice and Criminal Defense: White-Collar.

Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based on a rigorous peer-review survey comprising more than 12.2 million confidential evaluations by top attorneys.   Only the top 5.3% of all practicing lawyers in the U.S. were selected by their peers for inclusion.

On appeal from the trial court's verbatim adoption of Former Husband's proposed judgment, Rebecca Creed secured a victory for our client, Former Wife. The trial court misclassified and misvalued the parties' assets and liabilities in favor of Former Husband, unequally distributed those assets and liabilities again in favor of Former Husband, and then denied Former Wife's requests for alimony and attorney's fees.

While counsel for Former Husband argued that the lopsided distribution was within the trial court's power to do equity, the First District Court of Appeal disagreed. The Court ruled that the trial court should have considered and correctly applied "the steps outlined in the dissolution statute" before deciding  to unequally divide assets and liabilities. The case was reversed on every issue and remanded to the trial court.

To read the opinion, click here.