Rebecca Bowen Creed
Rebecca Creed is a Florida Bar board-certified
appellate specialist who has handled many appeals before the state
and federal courts. She is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed as a " Legal Elite" in Florida by Florida Trend
magazine and as a " Super Lawyer" in the top 5% of Florida
lawyers by Law and Politics magazine for 15 years running.
Born and raised in North Carolina, Rebecca earned her
undergraduate degree in English from the University of Virginia.
She received her law degree with honors from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a staff member of the
North Carolina Law Review and was elected to the Order of the
Coif.
After law school, Rebecca joined a Greensboro, North Carolina
law firm, where she first developed an interest in civil litigation
and appeals. Following her marriage to a coastal engineer, she
moved to Florida and joined the Jacksonville law firm of Baumer,
Bradford & Walters, P.A., where she focused on commercial and
appellate litigation in the state and federal courts. She became a
shareholder of Baumer, Bradford & Walters in 1998.
In the fall of 2000, Baumer, Bradford merged with the
established Atlanta law firm of Smith, Gambrell &
Russell, LLP. While a partner with Smith Gambrell, Rebecca
handled appeals in the state and federal courts on civil and
commercial matters.
Rebecca joined the firm in January 2003 to focus exclusively on
appellate litigation. Since then, her practice has included civil,
commercial, criminal, and family law appellate matters, together
with medical malpractice and personal injury appeals. She became an
equal shareholder in the firm effective January 2007.
Rebecca has served as the chair of the appellate law section of
the Jacksonville Bar Association and is an alumnus of the Chester
Bedell Inn of Court, where she was a barrister. She served as the
chair of the Appellate Practice Guide, a publication of the Florida
Bar's Appellate Practice Section. She is a Master in both the First District
Appellate American Inn of Court and the Florida Family Law American
Inn of Court. In 2014, she received the Florida Justice
Association's S. Victor Tipton Award.
Notable Cases:
- Bennett v.
St. Vincent's Medical Center, Inc. Ms. Creed represented
parents of a severely brain-damaged infant. On appeal to the
Supreme Court of Florida, the parents successfully challenged an
overly broad statutory interpretation of Florida's Birth-Related
Neurological Injury Compensation Plan (NICA).
- Anderson v.
Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital Foundation, Inc. Ms.
Creed's clients were the parents of a brain-damaged child. The
Second District Court of Appeal enforced the parents' right to
elect and pursue their civil remedies against the hospital in
circuit court.
- Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v.
Harrell. Ms. Creed represented a privately-insured plaintiff
injured in an automobile accident by an underinsured
motorist. The First District Court of Appeal ruled that the
plaintiff had the right to present evidence to the jury of the
gross amount of her total medical bills - rather than the lesser
amount actually paid by the private health insurer.
Recent Publications:
- Overview and Analysis of Recent Changes to the Florida
Rules of Appellate Procedure, Florida Justice Association
Journal, January/February 2016.
- Discussion with the Florida Supreme Court: A Reminder of
Our Responsibilities as Florida Lawyers, The Record (Fall
2012).
- New Appellate Rule for Probate and Guardianship
Proceedings, Fla. Bar Journal, Sept.-Oct. 2012, at 58,
co-authored with Jennifer Shoaf Richardson.
Speaking Engagements:
- "Deposition Do's and Don'ts,"
Florida Justice Association Annual Convention (June 12,
2019)
- "Has the Proposal Been 'Beaten'?"
Florida Justice Association: Proposals for Settlement
Webinar (March 29,
2019)
- "Jury Selection: Case Law You
Need to Know for Great Jury Selection," Florida Justice
Association: Christian D. Searcy Voir Dire Institute (August 5,
2018)
- "An Appellate Perspective: What
Trial Lawyers Need to Know," Florida Justice Association: Advanced
Trial Skills Seminar (June 2018)
- "The Record-Perspectives on
Preservation from the Bench and Bar," Jacksonville Bar
Association's Raymond Ehrlich Trial Advocacy Seminar (Feb. 25,
2016)
- "Offers of Judgment: Proposals for
Settlement," Florida
Justice Association CLE Webinar (Oct. 30, 2015)
- "The Right and Wrong Way to Select a Jury:
Tips from an Appellate Practitioner," Florida Justice Association Jury Selection
Seminar (Sept. 19, 2013)