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:
- 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)
Speaking Engagements:
- "Medicaid Liens: How We Got to
Gallardo v. Marstiller and Where Do We Go From Here?,"
American Association for Justice Webinar (June 24,
2022)
- "Appellate Attorney's Fees," The
Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section, Practicing Before the
Florida First District Court of Appeal (April 8, 2022)
- "U.S. Supreme Court and Appellate
Advocacy," University of Florida, Levin College of Law (March 22,
2022)
- "Gallardo v.
Marstiller," American Constitution Society, Florida Chapters
(March 1, 2022)
- Florida's Intrest on Trust
Accounts (IOTA) Program," Jacksonville Bar Association, 2021
Presentation of Pins Pro Bono Celebration (June 5,
2021)
- "2021 Annual Review &
Legislative Case Law Update," Florida Justice Association Annual
Convention, Orlando, FL (June 11, 2021)
- "Supreme Court Preview: The
2020-21 Term," The Federalist Society Jacksonville Chapter Webinar
(October 5, 2020)
- "How to Argue To A Textualist
Judge," Florida Justice Association Appellate Practice Seminar
(June 25, 2020)
- "Constitutional Limits on the
Emergency Powers of the Political Branches of Government - The
COVID-19 Executive Orders," The Federalist Society Jacksonville
Chapter Webinar (May 12, 2020)
- "Practical Tips for Telephonic and Zoom Oral Arguments,"
Appellate Practice Section Webinar CLE (May 11, 2020)
- "A Course
in Legal Writing," Appeals for the Pro Bono Practitioner,
Orlando, FL (February 5, 2020)
- "57.105 Motions and Defense: Motions for Fraud on the Court,"
Florida Justice Association Webinar CLE (August 27, 2019)
- "Then and Now: Graham v. State of
Florida," Catholic Lawyers Guild Luncheon, Jacksonville, FL (May
14, 2019)
- "Medical Malpractice Arbitration, Florida Justice Association,"
Masters of Justice Seminar (October 15, 2018)
- "Getting You and Your Client Paid without having to Prove Bad
Faith," Jacksonville Justice Association Annual Seminar (December
1, 2017)