Dick Caldwell has been a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer since 1983. He is engaged in civil trial and appellate practice, concentrating in the defense of product liability, insurance, professional liability, and commercial litigation.  Dick was resident in the Orlando office until the opening of the firm's Tampa office in 1991, where he now practices.

Dick is currently a member of the Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions.  He has served on The Florida Bar Civil Procedure Rules Committee, and the Appellate Rules Committee, which drafted the current Florida Appellate Rules.  He has lectured on appellate practice and product liability in Florida Bar CLE seminars, and is the author of the chapter on “Defenses” in the Florida Bar CLE handbook on product liability, as well as the chapter on “Florida Law” in the DRI Product Liability Handbook.

In addition, he is a member of the Committee on Product Liability Litigation of the Section of Litigation and the Product, General Liability, and Consumer Law Committee of the Tort and Insurance Practice Section, both of the American Bar Association.  Dick is also an emeritus member of the Product Liability Advisory Council.

Dick maintains membership in the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC), Florida Defense Lawyers Association, the Defense Research Institute, and the Federal Bar Association.  He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Courts of Florida, Alabama, and Texas, the United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Florida, the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Alabama, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. He received his B.A. from the University of Florida in 1965, and then served as a captain in the United States Army from 1965 to 1968.  Dick completed his J.D. at the University of Florida College of Law in 1970.  He served as Editor of the University of Florida Law Review and published a Case Comment and a Note in the University of Florida Law Review.

In 1971, Dick served as law clerk for Judge Spencer C. Cross, Fourth District Court of Appeals.  He also served as City Attorney and Prosecutor for Ocoee, Florida, from 1973 to 1975. 

• Education

  University of Florida, College of Law - J.D., 1970
  University of Florida - B.A., 1965
  

• Honors

  • Listed in Florida Super Lawyers 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

• Bar Admissions

  • Florida (1971)
  • Alabama (1995)
  • Texas (1996)

• Court Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th, 6th and 11th Circuits
  • U.S. District Courts of Florida (Northern, Middle, Southern)
  • U.S. District Courts of Alabama (Middle)

• Notable Cases

  • Mason v. Peabody & Arnold, LLP >>

• Professional & Civic Activities

  • The Florida Bar
    • Supreme Court Standard Jury Instructions Committee (Civil) (2000-2009)
    • Civil Procedure Rules Committee (1989-1997)
    • Appellate Rules Committee (1975-1978)
  • American Bar Association
    • Torts and Insurance Practice Section
    • Products, General Liability and Consumer Law Section
    • Section of Litigation
    • Co-Chair, Pre-Trial Discovery Subcommittee
  • Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel
    • Chair, Trial Tactics Section (2005-2008)
  • Hillsborough County Bar Association
  • Florida Defense Lawyers Association
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Federal Bar Association
  • Products Liability Advisory Council
  • Florida Department of Financial Services, Approved Instructor

• Articles & Presentations

  • "Case Comment,", Author
    University of Florida Law Review (Vol. 80, No. 470)
  • Note, 23 U. Fla. L. Rev. 157 (1971)
  • Florida Bar, CLE Products Liability, Ch. 5, “Defenses”
  • Defense Research Institute, Product Liability Handbook, “Florida Law”
  • Journal, McMaster School for Advancing Humanity, Vol. 3 (Spring 2009), “The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia – A ‘Magic Tree’?”
  • Sales & Marketing Magazine, “Are Salespeople Responsible for Their Customers’ Injuries?” (June 2009) (Co-Author)
  • FDCC Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Winter 2009), “Motions for Sanctions – Riding the Storm” (Co-Author)
  • The Briefs, Vol. 78, No. 1 (December 2009/January 2010), “Jury Service in the Electronic Age: New Solutions for New Challenges”
  • Presentation: Florida Bar CLE Civil Trial Certification Review, “Products Liability”, Miami 1998
  • Presentation: “Don’t Get Shifted in the Courtroom – Experts and Electronic Discovery Pitfalls”, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Boca Raton, FL, March 2002
  • Presentation: “Pretrial Motion Practice – Addressing Punitive Damages Claims”, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, La Malbaie, Quebec, July 2003
  • Presentation: “Tailoring Case Presentation to Fit Geographic Venue,” Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Chesapeake Bay, MD, July 2004
  • Presentation: “How to Get the Bad Case Settled at Mediation (Mediating the Bad Case – Trial Counsel Perspective), Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Bermuda, July 2006
  • Presentation: “Death of the Trial Lawyer? – Keeping the Craft Alive” – Products Liability Advisory Council, Chicago, April 2007
  • Presentation: “Faces of Evil – Cambodian War Crimes Trials,” McMaster School for Advancing Humanity, Defiance College (Ohio), April 2008,
  • Presentation: “Motions for Sanctions – Riding the Storm,” Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, Banff, Alberta, August 2008
  • • Presentation: “Overhaul of Florida Standard Jury Instructions,” Product Liability Advisory Council, San Antonio, TX, May 2010
  • • Presentation: “Motions for Sanctions,” Florida Defense Lawyers Association, Orlando, FL June 2010
  • • Presentation: “An Appeal to Reason – Proposed Rule 26.1,” Lawyers for Civil Justice, Washington, D.C., May 2011
  • • Presentation: “Damages-Only Trials: Preliminary Considerations,” Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, Phoenix AZ, March 2012

• Community Involvement

  • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Suncoast Chapter (2003-2008), Board Member
  • President, Board Member, St. Petersburg Opera, St. Petersburg, Florida
  • Florida International Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida, Docent 2007-2011
  • Board Member, The Florida Orchestra

• Ratings and Certifications

  • AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer