Dimitri Peteves

Dimitrios A. Peteves

Dimitri joined the firm in 2020 after completing three judicial clerkships and working in private practice for an international law firm. He first served as a law clerk to the Honorable Allen C. Winsor of the Florida First District Court of Appeal for one year. He then clerked for the Honorable Mark E. Walker of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida for two years. Finally, he clerked for the Honorable Robert J. Luck of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for ten months. In between his federal clerkships, Dimitri worked as an associate attorney in the corporate and litigation practice groups at Holland & Knight, LLP in Tallahassee, Florida.

Dimitri was born and raised in the Netherlands and moved to Florida in 2009 to complete his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Florida. In 2016, he graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law with high honors in the top of his class.

 Notable Cases:

• Brooks v. Miller. Dimitri represented a plaintiff in a § 1983 appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The plaintiff sued a police officer for false arrest, illegal search and seizure, excessive force, and deliberate indifference to medical needs. The district court granted summary judgment against the plaintiff on all claims. On appeal, Dimitri persuaded the Eleventh Circuit to reverse the summary judgment on the excessive-force claim.
• Bayless v. Coloplast Corp.   Dimitri represented a plaintiff in a products-liability appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The case concerned a pelvic mesh manufactured by Coloplast Corp., which a jury found to be defectively designed. Coloplast appealed the $500,000 jury verdict for the plaintiff, and Dimitri successfully defended the verdict on appeal.
• HFC Collection Center, Inc. v. Alexander. Dimitri represented a plaintiff in a fee dispute in the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Florida. The case involved an approximate $300,000 fee order stemming from a county court action. Dimitri successfully persuaded the Fifth District that the trial court exceeded the scope of its mandate in awarding attorney's fees to the defendant. Dimitri also persuaded the Supreme Court of Florida not to accept review of the Fifth District's decision.

Publications:

• The New Co-Chair's Message: Goodbye, Hello Part 2 , The Hillsborough County Bar Association Lawyer, Vol. 35, No. 2 (November/December 2024)
• Jurisdictional Questions in Federal Appeals , The Florida Justice Association Journal, No. 635 (September/October 2023)
• Keeping Briefs Clean: Cutting Unnecessary Bluebooking , The Hillsborough County Bar Association Lawyer, Vol. 33, No. 4 (March/April 2023)

Speaking Engagements:

• Presenter, "Section 768.0427 Applies. Now What Do We Do?," Florida Justice Association, Webinar (October 29, 2024)
• Co-presenter, " Handle with Care: Motions to Disqualify and Related Appellate Proceedings," Appellate Practice Section of The Florida Bar, Webinar (October 15, 2024)
• Speaker, "Appellate Practice," Appellate Advocacy (Civil) course at Stetson University College of Law (April 17, 2024)
• Speaker, "Federal Appellate Practice," Appellate Advocacy (Civil) course at Stetson University College of Law (April 24, 2023)
• Co-presenter, "Common Errors in Preservation: The (former) Appellate Law Clerks' Point of View," Jacksonville Justice Association Third Quarterly Meeting (August 25, 2022)
• Presenter, "Special Writs: What are they? When to use them? How to use them?," Florida Justice Association Annual Convention (June 16, 2022)
• Panelist, "Summary Judgments Under the New Rule: Offensive & Defensive Strategies," Jacksonville Justice Association Annual Seminar (November 12, 2021)