Michael R. Holt
PartnerMiami Office 305.995.5485 phone
786.536.3450 fax
mholt@rumberger.com
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Mike Holt is an experienced litigator with a wide-ranging, diverse practice. Since joining the firm in 2000, he’s handled numerous commercial and product liability cases throughout Florida and several states. His background includes jury trials, appellate work and appearing before arbitration tribunals.
Regardless of origin, many of Mike’s cases focus on claims brought under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) and RICO statutes. Early on, he worked with a team to obtain a reversal of a $300,000.00 judgment entered against a pest control company after a jury trial. The appellate court determined that the plaintiff could not obtain “stigma” damages under FDUTPA, but rather only “actual damages.” Since then, Mike has been involved in the successful resolution of numerous FDUTPA-based claims, many of which involve class actions.
Mike’s RICO experience also includes the prosecution of “recovery actions” on behalf of insurance companies to combat insurance fraud. These complex matters can involve numerous participants across different industries. Mike’s work in this area has helped result in numerous and significant judgments on behalf of his clients.
Mike’s commercial litigation practice also involves contract disputes, privacy litigation, manufacturer-dealer relationships, and consumer claims.
At the same time, Mike focuses significantly on products liability litigation. He works with a team serving as national counsel for a manufacturer of recreational vehicles, and has appeared in several states including Alabama, California, Tennessee, Maryland, Minnesota, New York and Texas. His work includes the management and coordination of discovery throughout several jurisdictions.
Mike also, since joining the firm, has been involved in asbestos litigation at the trial and appellate levels. He now assists with the management of thousands of cases throughout Florida. His experience includes clients manufacturing a spectrum of products including gaskets and packing, boilers, automobiles, aircraft engines, diesel engines, industrial laundry equipment, floor tiles, glues, mastics and resins.
Another of Mike’s products cases resulted in a summary judgment on behalf of a Georgia-based provider of earth retention systems used in highway abutments. The case involved an accident in the Country of Panama. Filed in the Southern District of Florida, the District Court applied Panamanian law to the plaintiff’s claims and then dismissed them. The 11th Circuit affirmed.
Mike also was part of a team responsible for obtaining a defense verdict on behalf of a shoe manufacturer. The plaintiff blamed a compound ankle fracture on his allegedly defective tennis shoes. The jury rejected his claim in 14 minutes.
Before moving to Florida in 2000, Mike clerked for state Circuit Court Judge Lawrence T. Collins in Winona, Minnesota from 1997 to 1998, and for United States Magistrate Judge John M. Mason in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 1998 to 2000.
