STFBC Law : James B. Tilghman

James B. Tilghman

Jim Tilghman graduated with honors from the University of Florida in 1972 and was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He also received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida, where he graduated with honors in 1975, was a published member of the law review, and was selected as a member of the Order of the Coif.

Upon graduation Jim joined the firm of Frates, Floyd, Pearson, Stewart, Proenza and Richman, and became a partner there in 1978. He left in 1984 to start his own firm with Larry Stewart, Gary Fox and David Bianchi, and has practiced there since. During the first 20 years of his career, Jim was a trial attorney, representing clients in cases involving everything from commercial disputes, business torts, partnership dissolutions and tax liabilities to defamation and invasion of privacy to products liability, professional malpractice and personal injury. He was Board Certified as a Civil Trial Attorney by the Florida Bar from 1986-1996.

During that time Jim became the de facto legal expert and appellate lawyer for the firm, and in 1995 started to devote his practice exclusively to appellate litigation and the legal issues inherent in the trial of cases. For both the firm and other attorneys who retain his services, Jim brings a unique trial lawyer’s perspective to his appellate practice. He was Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Appellate Practice in 1999, and has been named as one of South Florida’s Top Attorneys in the South Florida Legal Guide since 2002.

More recently he has been named one of Florida’s “Super Lawyers” and one of the “Legal Elite” by Florida Trend Magazine. Jim has handled the legal work in cases throughout Florida, both in State and Federal court, and appeals in all of the Florida District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Fourth, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court.

Representative examples of Jim Tilghman cases include:

Florida Health Sciences Center, Inc. v. Division of Admin. Servs., 974 So.2d 1076 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)
Pope v. Winter Park Healthcare Group, Ltd., 939 So.2d 185 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
Klay v. All Defendants, 389 F.3d 1191 (11th Cir.2004)
Klay v. Humana, Inc., 382 F.3d 1241 (11th Cir.2004)
Kaplan v. Daimler Chrysler, A.G., 2003 WL 22023315 (11th Cir. Aug. 1, 2003)
In re Humana Inc. Managed Care Litig., 285 F.3d 971 (11th Cir. 2002)
Van Sickle v. Zimmer, 807 So.2d 182 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
Parker v Graham & James, 715 So.2d 1047 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
G.I.C. Corp. v. United States, 121 F.3d 1447 (11th Cir. 1997)
Beiswenger Enterprises Corp. v. Carletta, 86 F.3d 1032 (11th Cir.1996)
Lifecare Int’l, Inc. v. CD Medical, Inc., 68 F.3d 429 (11th Cir.1995)
Adams v. Fidelity & Cas. Co. of New York, 591 So.2d 929 (Fla. 1992)
Weiner v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Maryland, 925 F2d 81 (4th Cir. 1991)
Korman v Iglesias, 736 F. Supp.261 (S.D. Fla 1990)
Weiner v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Md., 543 So.2d 794 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)
Weiner v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Md., 868 F.2d 1550 (11th Cir. 1989)
Trend Coin Company v. Honeywell, Inc., 487 So.2d 1029 (Fla. 1986)
Valentine v. C.B.S., Inc., 698 F.2d 480 (11th Cir.1983)
Pledger v. Burnup & Sims, Inc., 432 So.2d 1323 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)

Demonstrating that opposites do indeed attract, Jim can’t stand to hear himself lecture and comes by his aversion to Bar activities honestly, but nevertheless finds himself a member of:

The Florida Bar (Appellate Practice Section)
The American Bar Association (Torts and Insurance Practice and Litigation Sections, Appellate Advisory Committee)
The Chief Judge’s Ad Hoc Trial Committee of the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court
The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers (Diplomate)
Association of Trial Lawyers of America