JOSHUA A. WHITMAN is a Partner and Shareholder in the Firm. 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. He has
also been Board Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy since 1991.
Mr. Whitman 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 roadway design and commercial transportation, particularly interstate trucking. Mr. Whitman
received his Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Florida College of Business
Administration in 1980. In 1984, he graduated with honors from the Florida State University College of
Law, where he taught Legal Research and Writing, and was a member of the Moot Court Team. He
began his service on the Alumni Board of the College of Law in 1988, and is a member emeritus.
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 has served by appointment on The
Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law, the Fourth Judicial Circuit
Grievance Committee, and the Fourth Judicial Circuit Fee Arbitration Committee. He is a past member,
and two term 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 civility and
professionalism, and the promotion and preservation of the civil jury trial system. He has served on the
organization’s National Board of Directors since 2007, was appointed to serve on the National Executive
Committee in 2010, and was elected National Treasurer for the years 2012 and 2013. He is a past Chair
of the organization’s Long Range Planning Committee, Chapter Relations Committee and Judicial
Relations Committee. Mr. Whitman has served as the Jacksonville ABOTA Chapter Treasurer (2002),
Vice-President (2003) and President (2004). At the conclusion of his term as ABOTA Chapter President in
2004, the Jacksonville Chapter was recognized as the National ABOTA Chapter of the Year. In 2008, Mr.
Whitman was honored as ABOTA Chapter Trial Lawyer of the Year and, in 2015 and 2022, he received
the Chapter’s President’s Award recognizing his commitment to the preservation of the Seventh
Amendment. Mr. Whitman also serves on the Board of Directors of the Florida Chapters of the American
Board of Trial Advocates (FLABOTA), an organization made up of the Florida Chapters of ABOTA, and has
served as its Treasurer (2005), President-Elect (2006) and President (2007 – 2008). Mr. Whitman chaired
FLABOTA’s 2008 Regional Jury Summit in Palm Coast, Florida, and ABOTA’s 2009 National Jury Summit in
San Francisco, California. He went on to Chair ABOTA’s 2011 National Leadership Conference in New
Orleans, Louisiana, and ABOTA’s 2022 Preservation of the Rule of Law Program in Chicago, Illinois. Mr.
Whitman is a Legacy Fellow of the Foundation of ABOTA, the organization’s educational arm, has
participated in and chaired numerous ABOTA educational programs and, in 2023, was the recipient of
the ABOTA Foundation Founders’ Award.
Mr. Whitman also became a member of the invitation-only International Society of Barristers in 2009,
serving as its Florida Membership Chair since 2019 and a member of the Board of Directors of the ISOB
Foundation since 2022. In 2024, he will begin a three year term on the ISOB Board of Directors.
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 a member of the Florida
Justice Association, where he has been an Eagle participant since 1989, and is a past recipient of the
Talon Award. He was elected to the organization’s Board of Directors in 2003, serving for two terms and
chairing various fund-raising efforts. Mr. Whitman was also a founding member, and the Charter
President, of the Jacksonville Justice Association. He is also a member of the American Association for
Justice. As a Barrister member of the Chester Bedell Inn of Court, Mr. Whitman has served on the faculty
of the Inn’s Trial Academy. He is also an invited member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
In 2006, Mr. Whitman was named as a Super Lawyer of Florida in the first edition of that publication,
and has continuously held that distinction. Every year since 2009, Jacksonville Magazine has included
Mr. Whitman as one of Northeast Florida’s “Top Lawyers”. Also active in his local community, Mr.
Whitman was selected to the Leadership Jacksonville Class of 2003.
Josh and his wife Elyse live in the Southside area of Jacksonville and have three adult children.