JOSEPH P. MILTON is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by The Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a Board Certified Admiralty & Maritime Lawyer by The Florida Bar and has 37 years experience in civil trial litigation. He is a proctor in Admiralty certified by the Maritime Law Association and a member of the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute. Mr. Milton founded the firm in 1990 after having been a senior partner at Howell, Liles and Milton.
Mr. Milton concentrates on representation of both plaintiffs and defendants and is well recognized for his expertise in handling heavy exposure cases. He is a past president of the Jacksonville Bar Association, past president of the Florida Council of Bar Presidents, past president of the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, past chair of the Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar and a member of the National Board and Diplomat of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is a past president of the Jacksonville Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates(ABOTA), which was recognized as the best chapter in the country during his tenure. He is also past president of FLABOTA, the Florida ABOTA organization for the eleven chapters in Florida. Mr. Milton is a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers and the American Bar Foundation. He is a past member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors and the Fourth Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission; and past chairman of the Admiralty & Maritime Law Board Certification Committee of The Florida Bar. He is a Master Emeritus in the Chester Bedell Inn of Court. He is the immediate Past President of the National Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates (2006 & 2007).
His jury trials have occurred in state and federal courts throughout Florida, as well as in other states. He has defended his verdicts in appellate courts up to the Supreme Court of Florida and the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits. Mr. Milton has written and lectured for The Florida Bar, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel.
Mr. Milton has been a pioneer in mandating that professionalism be a driving force in the legal community. He worked on the Code of Professionalism as chairman of the Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar. He served on the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar when Ideals and Goals of Professionalism was adopted. He has served on both the Maritime Law Association and American Board of Trial Advocates Professionalism Code Committees. Mr. Milton was named by the Chief Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit as Chairman of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Committee on Professionalism, which was established at the direction of the Florida Supreme Court. During his chairmanship, The Florida Bar Award for Outstanding Professionalism Program was presented to the Fourth Judicial Circuit. In addition, during his chairmanship, the American Bar Association Award for the most outstanding professionalism program nationwide was presented to the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
During the past decade, Mr. Milton has been one of The Florida Bar's most honored lawyers having received the Daily Record / Jacksonville Bar Association Lawyer of the Year Award for 1999, the Jacksonville Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for 2000, the FLABOTA Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for the State of Florida in 2000, and the Outstanding Past Volunteer Bar President Award from the Florida Council of Bar Presidents in 2001. In 2004 he received the National Master in Trial Award from the National American Board of Trial Advocates. In 2006 he was named as a Super Lawyer of Florida in the 1st edition of that publication, and continues to hold that distinction to the present. Less than 5% of all attorneys in Florida are included. Also in 2006, he received the prestigious President's Award from FLABOTA.
In July 2002, Mr. Milton was reappointed by Governor Jeb Bush and The Florida Bar to a second four year term on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission. The commission is responsible for interviewing nominees and making recommendations to the Governor for appointments to the Florida Supreme Court. In 2005 Mr. Milton was elected Chair of the Florida Supreme Court Nominating Commission. In 2006 he was selected by The Florida Bar to serve on a special committee to report on recommended changes to rules regulating The Florida Bar.
On July 26, 2008 at the FLABOTA Convention, Mr. Milton became the first recipient of the Fran Peacock Coker FLABOTA Community Service Award for his outstanding leadership as FLABOTA Foundation President in 2006 and 2007. He was also recently appointed by Chief Justice Fred Lewis of the Florida Supreme Court, to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners Testing Commission. Mr. Milton was also recently elected as Second Vice President of the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society.
He and his wife, Cela, live in Jacksonville. Mr. Milton has three adult children.
Email: jmilton@miltonleach.com
ERIC L. LEACH is a 1987 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law. He was admitted to The Florida Bar and U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 1988 and the Georgia Bar in 1996. He achieved board-certification as a civil trial lawyer by The Florida Bar in 2001.
Mr. Leach is a partner in the firm and is experienced in trying cases before juries involving personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, and commercial issues. Mr. Leach has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict throughout the State of Florida and has presented oral arguments in the First, Third, and Fifth District Courts of Appeal. Mr. Leach has lectured locally and nationally to safety organizations and trial attorneys on various civil trial practice and medical subjects. Mr. Leach serves on The Florida Bar, Rules of Civil Procedure Committee.
Mr. Leach is a Barrister in the Chester Bedell Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to improving ethics and professionalism among trial lawyers. Mr. Leach is a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association, American Bar Association, Florida Defense Lawyers Association, and National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel. In 2006 he was named as a Super Lawyer of Florida in the 1st edition of that publication, and continues to hold that distinction for 2007.
He and his wife, Jodie, have two children and live in Mandarin.
Email: eleach@miltonleach.com
JOSHUA A. WHITMAN is a partner and shareholder in the firm and, as he has since 1986, limits his practice to personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, products liability, and insurance cases. He has extensive experience in medical malpractice cases, and in cases involving commercial transportation, particularly interstate trucking.
Mr. Whitman is a 1980 graduate of the University of Florida College of Business Administration, and a 1983 honors graduate of the Florida State University College of Law. While in law school, he competed as a member of the Moot Court team, and served as a student member of the legal research and writing faculty. Mr. Whitman serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida State University College of Law Alumni Association, and is currently on the Alumni Outreach Committee. He is a President’s Club contributor to the University.
Mr. Whitman was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1984, and is authorized to practice in the United States District Court for the Middle and Northern Districts of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. From 1984 through 1985, Mr. Whitman served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Harvey E. Schlesinger, then-United States Magistrate, now United States District Court Judge, for the Middle District of Florida. Mr. Whitman entered private practice in 1986 and, by 1990, had already tried a sufficient number of civil jury trials to distinguish himself as a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education and the National Board of Trial Advocacy.
Mr. Whitman has continuously qualified as a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer since 1990 and, in 1998, he was appointed to serve on The Florida Bar's Civil Trial Certification Committee. This Committee is charged with screening applicants for certification, and with authoring, administering and grading the examination required to become a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer. Mr. Whitman served as Vice-Chair of the Committee in 2001.
Mr. Whitman has also served by appointment on The Florida Bar's Standing Committee on Unlicensed Practice of Law, the Fourth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee, and the Fourth Judicial Circuit Fee-Arbitration Committee. He is also a past member and Chairman of the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, where he served from 1998 through 2002. The Judicial Nominating Commission is responsible for screening and nominating lawyer applicants for the local trial bench.
In 1999, Mr. Whitman was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), a national organization comprised of an equal number of plaintiff and defense attorneys dedicated to professionalism in the promotion and preservation of the jury trial system. He currently serves on the organization's National Board of Directors, and is on the faculty of the annual ABOTA National Leadership Conference. Mr. Whitman has served as the Jacksonville ABOTA Chapter Treasurer (2002), Vice-President (2003) and President (2004), and currently seves as the Chapter Historian. At the conclusion of his term as ABOTA Chapter President in 2004, the Jacksonville Chapter was recognized as the National Chapter of the Year. Mr. Whitman also serves on the Board of Directors of FLABOTA, an organization made up of the eleven Florida Chapters of ABOTA. He has served as FLABOTA Treasurer (2005) and President-Elect (2006) and, President of the Florida Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates (FLABOTA) 2007 - 2008. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Foundation of ABOTA.
Mr. Whitman has also served the Jacksonville Bar Association, where he was Plaintiff Co-Chair of the Personal Injury Litigation Section from 1996 through 1998. Mr. Whitman is also an active member of the Florida Justice Association; he has been an Eagle participant since 1989, is a past recipient of the Talon award, and was elected to the organization's Board of Directors in June, 2003, where he has chaired various fund-raising efforts. Mr. Whitman was also a founding member, and the Charter President, of the Jacksonville Trial Lawyers Association. He is also a member of the Chester Bedell Inn of Court, the American Association for Justice , and the American Bar Association. In 2006 he was named as a Super Lawyer of Florida in the first edition of that publication, and continues to hold that distinction for 2007.
Married for over 25 years to Elyse, an adjunct Professor at the University of North Florida, the Whitmans reside in Jacksonville's Southside. They have three sons: Alex is an honors graduate of the University of Florida and now attends Emory Law School; Ben attends the University of Florida; and Sam attends High School at St. Johns Country Day School.
Email: jwhitman@miltonleach.com
JAMES L. D'ANDREA graduated from Miami University, Oxford Ohio in 1982, then worked as a journalist and public relations executive before graduating from the University of Florida College of Law in 1991. Mr. D'Andrea was admitted to The Florida Bar and the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida in 1992, and to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 1995. He is a partner in the firm and devotes his practice to personal injury, railroad and maritime litigation and has argued appeals to the First District Court of Appeals and the U. S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal.
He has served on the Fouth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee and chaired the Fourth Judicial Circuit section of the Florida Bar Grievance Mediation and Fee Arbitration Program, which he currently serves as a certified arbitrator/mediator
Mr. D'Andrea is a member and proctor of the Maritime Law Association and the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute. He served as chair of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Committee on Professionalism's Mentor Program and is a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association, The Florida Bar, the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, the Catholic Lawyers Guild, American Trial Lawyers Association. He also serves as chair of the Morningstar School's Board of Directors. He has lectured to trial and claims organizations around the state and country.
Mr. D'Andrea and his wife, Kate, have three children.
Email: jdandrea@miltonleach.com
MICHAEL P. MILTON is a partner in the firm who devotes his practice to litigating in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, maritime/admiralty, products liability, and transportation cases.
Mr. Milton was born and raised in Jacksonville. After graduating from Mercer University School of Law, he was admitted to The Florida Bar, the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 1998. Effective November 4, 2002, he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in all areas and has successfully handled and argued cases in both state and federal trial and appellate courts.
Mr. Milton is a member of the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute (Port Director, 2003-present), the Maritime Law Association and the Jacksonville Bar Association. In 2001, Mr. Milton was selected as an associate in the Chester Bedell Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to improving ethics and professionalism among trial lawyers. Mr. Milton is also actively involved in numerous civic and charitable organizations within the community.
Mr. Milton and his wife, Julie Anna, have two children.
Email: mmilton@miltonleach.com
SEAN L. MULHALL is a 1993 graduate of Flagler College in St. Augustine, Floirda and obtained his Juris Doctorate in 1998 from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, Florida. While in law school, Mr. Mulhall was Moot Court Vice-President (1997-1998) and argued before the Third District Court of Appeals while a member of the Appellate Litigation Clinic.
Mr. Mulhall is a member of The Florida Bar, the Jacksonville Bar Association, and the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, the Propeller Club of the United States, Port of Jacksonville and the American Bar Association. He has been admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States (2002), the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (2001), the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida (1999), and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (2001).
Mr. Mulhall practiced criminal trial law as an Assistant Public Defender in the Fourth Judicial Circuit prior to joining Milton, Leach, Whitman, D'Andrea, & Milton, P.A. He concentrates his practice on civil litigation, railroad law and maritime law.
Mr. Mulhall and his wife, Joanna, have two children.
Email: smulhall@miltonleach.com
C. RYAN ESLINGER, is a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine in Orono, Maine. He obtained his Juris Doctorate with High Honors in 2002 from Florida Coastal School of Law, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Florida Coastal Law Journal and the Moot Court Vice-President.
Mr. Eslinger is licensed to practice in Florida (2003), Maine (2004), the United States Supreme Court (2006), the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (2005) and the U.S. Districts Courts for the Middle and Northern Districts of Florida (2005, 2006). He is a member of The Florida Bar, The Maine Bar, the American Bar Association, the Jacksonville Bar Association, the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, the Maritime Law Association and the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute.
Mr. Eslinger joined the firm after serving as a judicial law clerk for the Circuit Court, Seventh Judicial Circuit, working primarily in Putnam County. His practice now involves all aspects of general civil litigation for both plaintiffs and defense, including railroad and maritime litigation, personal injury, and probate litigation. Additionally, he has appellate experience in the First, Second, and Fourth District Courts of Appeals.
He and his wife, Erica live in Saint Augustine with their two sons.
Email: reslinger@miltonleach.com
ANDREW P. "DREW" COLLINS, II, is a 2000 graduate of Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. Mr. Collins obtained his Juris Doctorate in 2004 from Florida Coastal School of Law, where he was a member of the Mock Trial Team and Vice President of the Moot Court Honor Board. He is licensed to practice in both Florida (2005) and South Carolina (2006).
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Collins was an Assistant State Attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, prosecuting cases in Daytona Beach.
Email: dcollins@miltonleach.com
J. HAYS MATHIS JR., is a 2002 graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. He obtained his Juris Doctorate in 2006 from Florida Coastal School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Mathis worked as a clerk for a firm located in New Orleans specializing in maritime law.
Mr. Mathis is licensed to practice law in Florida (2007). He is a member of the Florida Bar and the Jacksonville Bar Association. His practice involves all aspects of general civil litigation.
Mr. Mathis lives in Jacksonville, Florida.
Email: hmathis@miltonleach.com