Bryan Gowdy

Bryan Gowdy

Bryan Gowdy is a board-certified appellate lawyer.  His practice is limited to handling appeals, post-conviction motions, and trial support for matters likely to be appealed.  His practice encompasses all substantive areas of the law, including plaintiff's injury and products liability, commercial cases, criminal law, and family law. He has briefed and orally argued appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, several U.S. Courts of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Florida, and all five of Florida's district courts of appeal.  He is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been selected as a Top 100 in Florida Super Lawyer, Top 25 in Jacksonville Super Lawyer, and a "Legal Elite" by Florida Trend Magazine.   In 2019, Mr. Gowdy began serving as the Chair for the Florida Justice Association Amicus Curiae Committee.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Gowdy was with the national law firm of McGuireWoods LLP, where he primarily handled commercial litigation at the trial and appellate level.  Mr. Gowdy began his legal career as a law clerk for federal judges at the trial and appellate level.  Mr. Gowdy attended the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he was first in his class, a member of the Order of the Coif, and the management editor of the Florida Law Review. 

Before law school, Mr. Gowdy was an active-duty surface warfare officer in the United States Navy, and he graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Notable Cases:

• Graham v. Florida.  Mr. Gowdy represented a teenager sentenced to life without parole for an armed burglary.  For the first time in its history, the U.S. Supreme Court categorically applied the Eighth Amendment's cruel and unusual punishment clause to a non-capital punishment, and it declared unconstitutional all life-without-parole sentences imposed on juveniles for non-homicides.  The ruling invalidated in part the juvenile sentencing laws of thirty-seven states, the federal government, and the District of Columbia.
• Charles v. S. Baptist Hosp. of Fla., Inc.  Mr. Gowdy represented a patient who exercised her right under a state constitutional amendment, commonly known as Amendment 7, to request access to a hospital's adverse incident reports. The Supreme Court of Florida reversed a lower appellate court's holding that Amendment 7 was preempted by the federal Patient Safety Quality Improvement Act.
• Adinolfe v. United Technologies Corp.  Mr. Gowdy represented hundreds of homeowners claiming damages for diminution of property value due to contamination from nearby industrial facility. The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal with prejudice by holding, among other things, that Florida law did not require homeowners to plead or prove actual contamination of their properties to seek damages for the diminution in their property values caused by the nearby contamination.
• G.S. v. T.B.  Mr. Gowdy represented maternal grandparents who were seeking to adopt their orphaned grandchildren.  The Supreme Court of Florida answered a question of great public importance and ruled that a court may not deny an adoption petition simply to preserve the orphaned children's relationship with non-parental relatives who have not filed a petition for adoption.

Recent Publications:

• Susan Harrell Black: Mentee, Mentor, and Trailblazer, 11th Circuit Historical News (Winter 2025)
• What does your Amicus Committee do (and not do)?, Florida Justice Association Journal (September/October 2020)
  
• Amendment 7 Lives Again But Be Prepared for More Attempts to Kill It, Florida Justice Association Journal (March/April 2017)
• Get Your Client's Treating Physician Paid Reasonable Fees for Deposition and Trial Testimony, Florida Justice Association Journal (September 2014) (co-author: Jennifer Shoaf Richardson)
• Dealing with the Media in a U.S. Supreme Court Case, The Defender (Summer 2014)
• Four Years Later: Terrance Graham's Attorney on Issues Created by the Landmark Decision, The Defender (Winter 2013/2014)

Recent Speaking Engagements:

• "Supreme Court Preview: The 2024-25 Term," The Federalist Society Jacksonville Chapter Webinar (September 16, 2024)
• "Appellate Practice for Trial Lawyers Seminar," Florida Justice Association (June 14, 2024)
• "Florida Supreme Court 2023 Year in Review," American Constitution Society (December 7, 2023)
• "Formulating Effective Appellate and Trial Strategies," Jacksonville Federal Court Bar Association (October 19, 2023)
• "Amendment 7," Florida Justice Association, Masters of Justice Medical Malpractice Seminar (September 28, 2023)
• "Supreme Court Preview: The 2023-24 Term," The Federalist Society Jacksonville Chapter Webinar (September 27, 2023)
• "Gallardo v. Marstillar, The Supreme Court's New Approach to Medicaid Liens," Palm Beach County Justice Association (August 25, 2023)
• "The Florida Bar's Annual Review of U.S. Supreme Court First Amendment Cases, October 2022 Term," Florida Bar Convention (June 23, 2023)
• "Summary Judgment Rule," South Palm Beach County Bar Association (April 21, 2023)
• "Florida Supreme Court 2022 Year in Review and A Look Ahead to 2023," American Constitution Society, Florida Chapters (January 12, 2023)