Bernard Walsh

Education

Bernard F. Walsh graduated from the University of South Florida before receiving his law degree from Cumberland School of Law in 1978. During law school, he was selected to serve as a research clerk and intern for a Federal Judge and the U.S. Attorney's Office. He was awarded The National Book Awards for Constitutional Law and Professional Responsibility during law school.
Experience

Bernard Walsh devoted the next three years to trial work for the State of Florida. This provided him with the opportunity to concentrate on his trial abilities, with numerous high profile trials concerning serious felony crimes. Since 1982, he has exclusively practiced personal injury law and helped accident victims in and beyond Sarasota and Manatee Counties in Florida.

Mr. Walsh is an AV Preeminent rated attorney in Martindale-Hubbell. AV means the highest possible rating in both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards. Mr. Walsh is also listed in AVVO as Superb, which is the highest rating for attorneys in AVVO. Mr. Walsh was appointed to the National Trial Lawyers Association as an Executive Committee Top 100 Trial Lawyers (2013 onward). Florida has only 12 lawyers appointed to the National Trial Lawyers Executive Committee. The executive committee is selected nationwide for excellence, professionalism and being and demonstrating they are an active and a driving force in the legal community. He is also listed in the National Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, and has been inducted into Southern Trial Lawyers Association, as well as the Melvin M. Belli Society. He has also won the largest playground recovery (2008), one of the top three motorcycle recoveries (2006), and the second largest daycare center recovery (2010), in the State of Florida. He is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. The Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum is a group of attorneys who have achieved career case successes that include multi-million dollar recoveries,
settlements and /or verdicts.
Activities, Associations and Awards

Bernard Walsh is firmly committed to community service. He is an active member of the Manatee and Sarasota Sheriff's Advisory Board, the Florida Highway Patrol Advisory Council and the One Hundred Club for Law Enforcement. His volunteer efforts to help all levels of law enforcement have benefited both private citizens and law enforcement personnel.

The National Trial Lawyers Association has appointed Mr. Walsh as an Executive Committee - Top 100 Trial Lawyer.
Florida has only 12 lawyers appointed to the NTL Executive Committee and this honor was bestowed on him by a vote of the Executive Committee.


As an experienced Florida motorcycle injury lawyer, Bernard Walsh won a $6 Million settlement - one of Florida's three largest motorcycle accident case settlements. A time-tested and highly respected member of the legal and law enforcement community, Mr. Walsh's membership brings additional knowledge and prestige to the Motorcycle Injury Trial Lawyers association (MITLA) and benefits the mission of The Motorcycle Injury Trial Lawyers Association to promote excellence in the legal profession through training, networking and education of trial lawyers. Additionally The Motorcycle Injury Trial Lawyers Association promotes and endorses some of the country's premier educational CLE seminars. These conferences offer the most current information regarding important topics facing today's trial lawyer.

Bradenton Attorney Bernard F. Walsh Speaks At Florida Justice Association of Trial Lawyer

Attorney Bernard Walsh lectures to Florida Trial Lawyers
on use of automobile crash reports in February 2011

Mr. Walsh was honored by the North Carolina Trial Lawyers for Justice by being invited to give a talk on National Trucking Litigation.

Bernard F. Walsh is a board member of the Florida Justice Association, a statewide organization of trial lawyers; the founder and president of the Manasota Trial Lawyers Board, a 'by invitation' group of trial lawyers; and The National Advisory Board of APITLA.

APITLA is the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America and is a national association of committed lawyers who have joined together to help eliminate unsafe and illegal interstate trucking practices. Through the combined efforts in learning, litigation and legislation, they are working today to make America's highways a safer place.

Mr. Walsh lectures on the law and has been asked to make presentations for the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, Stetson School of Law, American Inns of Court and the State College of Florida. He has also presented at Southern Trial Lawyers Association, Florida Justice Association, the Melvin M. Belli Society, the North Carolina Lawyers for Justice, and the Ft. Myers Trial Lawyers Association. These lectures include presentations on how to present evidence to both a jury and insurance companies.

David L Goldman

Education

David L. Goldman graduated from Hamilton College in 1983 and the Tulane University School of Law in 1987. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in the same year.
Experience

Since his admission to the Florida Bar, Goldman has practiced exclusively in the area of personal injury and wrongful death. Attorney David Goldman was the managing partner of a busy, successful personal injury law practice with offices throughout the West Coast of Florida before he joined our injury law firm. He has also served as the managing attorney for various law offices since 1989. Upon direct appointment of the Governor of Florida, he has also served on the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit for Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto Counties.
Activities, Associations and Awards

Mr. Goldman is a member of the American Association of Justice, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the Southern Trial Lawyers Association. Goldman is an Eagle Member of the Florida Justice Association and The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, and received the prestigious Legislative Leadership Award by that organization in 1997.

David Goldman has a long-standing commitment to the community and has served as a board member of many civic organizations. He has worked extensively with the Gulf Coast Latin Chamber of Commerce, the Sarasota African-American Chamber of Commerce, Second Chance Last Opportunity and the Westcoast Center for Human Development. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Community Center and has been a director and member of the Endowment Fund of his local synagogue.

Goldman has also served as spokesperson of Floridians for Fair Elections, which helped enact a state constitutional amendment to reform election laws within the state. He has been active in independent politics, was State Chairman of the Reform Party of Florida and was General Counsel for the Reform Party of the United States of America.

Goldman has been a regular guest columnist for The Bradenton Herald, and was co-publisher of the Sarasota County Watchdog, a consumer newsletter that promoted accountability in government. Goldman has also written numerous guest columns for newspapers and magazines across Florida, including the Miami Herald, Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, Orlando Sentinel and Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Michael Babboni

Education

Attorney Michael J. Babboni graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1984 with a Bachelor of the Arts in Political Science. In 1987, he graduated from Stetson University College of Law with a Juris Doctor degree.
Experience

Since October of 1987, Babboni has practiced civil and criminal litigation in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has been lead counsel in jury trials from Pasco County to Sarasota County on the West Coast of Florida, and from Sanford south to Sebring in Central Florida. Michael J. Babboni has also litigated extensively before the Second District of Appeals, winning reversals on several important appellate decisions.

Michael J. Babboni has successfully argued before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, in the case of Louis Elam vs. Railroad Retirement Board. This case established new guidelines for how the Federal Government determines a permanent disability for a federal employee.
Activities, Associations and Awards

Michael J. Babboni was selected by the St. Petersburg City Council as a charter member of the city's Nuisance Abatement Board, which has served as a model for other large municipalities throughout the state of Florida. Michael J. Babboni also served on the City of St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Committee, which helped attract a major league baseball team to the city. In 1997, Michael J. Babboni was certified by the Supreme Court of Florida as a Circuit Court Mediator. He is also a registered National Football League Player Representative, and recruits and/or represents football players throughout Florida.

Stephen Fernandez

Education
Stephen M. Fernandez received his law degree, with honors, from the University of Florida College of Law. While in law school he focused on courses relevant to the field of personal injury and trial practice. Mr. Fernandez was also an active member of the University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy. Prior to studying law, he graduated with high honors from the University of Florida with a degree in Political Science. He also earned minors in Business Administration and Environmental Studies.

Professional Experience
Mr. Fernandez has focused his career on representing accident victims and their families in personal injury and wrongful death claims. He also represents the victims of wrongful insurance denials.

Mr. Fernandez is licensed to practice law in both Florida and Georgia. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. His experience includes handling automobile accidents, uninsured/underinsured motorist claims, motorcycle accidents, commercial trucking cases, premises liability, negligent security, watercraft accidents, assault/battery, and insurance denials under both state law and ERISA.
Activities, Associations and Awards

Mr. Fernandez has quickly built a reputation as a skilled litigator and zealous advocate for his clients. He has been named a "Rising Star" by Florida Super Lawyers magazine in 2010 and 2011. This distinction is awarded to no more than 2.5% of attorneys and is based on factors such as academic achievement, peer recognition and professional accomplishments.

In 2011 he was also named one of the "Top 40 Under 40" by The National Trial Lawyers organization. He maintains a "Superb" rating by Avvo.

Mr. Fernandez is a member of the American Association of Justice, the Florida Justice Association, the Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association, the Manasota Trial Lawyers Association Board of Directors, the Sarasota Bar Association, and the Association of Plaintiff's Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America. He is also on the Board of Sarasota Bay Watch, a non-profit organization committed to preserving and restoring Sarasota Bay.

Mr. Fernandez has written various publications on subjects ranging from the handling of insurance claims to fly-fishing. In 2003 his article "Captive-bred Exceptions: An Unconventional Approach to Conservation Under the ESA" won the Barbara W. Maker award and was published in the UF Journal of Law and Public Policy. He has also published fishing and conservation articles in Fisheries Magazine, Florida Sportsman and Salt Water Fly Fishing. When not representing his clients, Mr. Fernandez can most often be found fly fishing the inshore waters off Florida's west coast.