Thomas S Harmon

As one of the youngest Florida Bar board-certified civil trial lawyers and members of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), partner Tom Harmon focuses his attention primarily on personal injury, wrongful death, and professional liability cases with an emphasis on nursing home/assisted living facility negligence and traumatic brain injury litigation.

He has earned certification from the National Board of Trial Advocacy in Civil Trial Law and has been awarded the highest rating of AV® from Martindale-Hubbell®.

Mr. Harmon served on the board of directors of the Florida Justice Association from 2001 to 2004 and is a certified member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, having obtained 17 verdicts or settlements in excess of $1 million and four verdicts or settlements in excess of $5 million.

He was named one of the top 40 lawyers in the Tampa Bay area under the age of 40 by the Tampa Bay Review and one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” (top 1.7% of lawyers in the state named by their peers) by Florida Trend magazine. Mr. Harmon began his career with the law firm of Fowler White, P.A. in Tampa, Florida.

Mr. Harmon and his wife, DeAnna, have four children: Kendall, Thomas, Chandler, and Lucas.

Admitted to Practice

• Florida State Courts
• Washington, D.C.

Education

• Auburn University, B.A., magna cum laude, December 1991 Dean’s List Scholar
• Honor Graduate Army ROTC
• AUSA Award Recipient, Decorated by General Colin Powell
• Stetson University College of Law, J.D., cum laude, May 1995 Stetson Trial Team, Stetson Law Review

Clerkships

• Judicial Internship – Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida
• Litigation Internship – United States Attorney’s Office Civil Division – Tampa, Florida

Publications

• Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities – the Telltale Signs, Correct – The Pinellas County Guardianship Association Newsletter, April 1998;
• The St. Petersburg Times, August 10, 1998; The Tampa Tribune, May 15, 1999; The Lakeland Ledger, September 14, 2000
• The Frye Hearing in Florida: An Attempt to Exclude Scientific Evidence, Journal of Forensic Sciences, July 2000
• New Case Protects Mayors and City Commissioners: The United States Supreme Court Unanimously Extends Absolute Immunity to Local Legislators, The Agenda – Newsletter of the City, County and Local Government Law Section of the Florida Bar, Vol. XXII, No. 1 (July 1998)
  Practical Considerations in Handling Expert Witnesses, FDLA, Trial Advocate Quarterly, October 1995
• Recent Developments, Governmental Tort and Contract Liability in Florida, 24 Stetson L. Rev. 569 (Spring 1995)

Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, Truck Accident Litigation, National Business Institute Seminar, March 2012
• Speaker, Defensive Driving 101: Taking an Effective and Commanding Deposition of the Defendant Driver, Florida Justice Association Seminar, September 19, 2008
• Speaker, Prosecuting and Defending Catastrophic Injury Cases, National Business Institute, Seminar February 2008
• Speaker, Prosecuting Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Cases, Physicians Group Seminar, June 2007
• Speaker, ATLA Seminar, Litigating Nursing Home Cases, March 2003
• Speaker, ATLA 2001 Annual Convention, Nursing Home Trial Demonstration, July 2001
• Speaker, Nursing Home Litigation, Professional Education Systems, Inc., February 2000
• Speaker, Nursing Home Litigation 1999, Andrews Publications, November 1999
• Speaker, Bed Sores to Broken Bones: When to Sue a Nursing Home, Florida Guardianship Association Seminar, September 1996
• Speaker, Junk Science in the Courtroom, Westcoast Claims Convention, Tampa, FL – 1995
• Instructor, Trial Advocacy, Stetson University College of Law, Spring and Summer Semester, 1995
• First Place and Best Advocate – 1995 Florida Bar Trial Competition
  Second Place – 1995 American Bar Association National Trial Competition
• First Place and Best Advocate – 1994 National Invitational Trial Competition

Membership & Practice

• The Florida Justice Association, Eagle Patron 2002; Nursing Home Task Force
• American Association for Justice
• The American Bar Association Litigation Section; Tort and Insurance Section
• The Florida Bar, Trial Lawyers’ Section
• Hillsborough County Bar Association, Trial Lawyers Section
• Interbay Family YMCA, Board of Directors (1997-2000)
• Children’s Cancer Center, Board of Directors (1998-2000)