ORLANDO, FL — Fifteen attorneys from RumbergerKirk have been named to Florida Super Lawyers 2009 and seven lawyers were named Florida Super Lawyers Rising Stars.

Super Lawyers is a comprehensive guide to the top 5 percent of attorneys in the state, as chosen by their peers and categorized by city and practice area. 

Through peer nominations and independent research by Law & Politics magazine, attorneys are asked to nominate the best lawyers they’ve personally observed in action. Safeguards are placed to avoid ballot manipulation, such as lawyers nominating themselves or “stacking” the ballots with only colleagues from within their own firms. Further evaluation is done based on peer recognition and professional achievement. Florida Super Lawyers is based on a survey of approximately 44,000 ballots of attorneys who have been in practice for more than five years.

The following RumbergerKirk attorneys have been named to Florida Super Lawyers: 

Miami

Scott M. Sarason – Civil Litigation Defense

Orlando

Lori J. Caldwell – Civil Litigation Defense

James A. Edwards – Personal Injury Defense: Products

Daniel J. Gerber – Business Litigation

Leon H. Handley – Civil Litigation Defense

William “Bud” Kirk – Business Litigation

J. Scott Kirk – Personal Injury Defense: General

David B. Shelton – Personal Injury Defense: General

Francis H. Sheppard – Professional Liability: Defense

David C. Willis – Business Litigation

Tallahassee

Richard A. Greenberg – Criminal Defense

E. Thom Rumberger – Environmental Litigation

Darren Schwartz – Employment & Labor

Tampa

Robert L. Blank – Personal Injury Defense: General

J. Richard Caldwell, Jr. – Civil Litigation Defense

No more than 2.5 percent are named to the Rising Stars list. The selection process for Rising Stars is the same as the Super Lawyers selection process except that a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for ten years or less, and Rising Stars candidates do not go through a peer evaluation by practice area.

The following attorneys have been named as Rising Stars

Miami

Michael R. Holt – Civil Litigation Defense

Monica C. Segura – Business Litigation

Orlando

LaShawnda  K. Jackson – Personal Injury Defense-General

Sarah Hill McDonald – Employment and Labor

Candy L. Messersmith – Insurance Coverage

Damien A. Orato – Personal Injury Defense-General

Tampa

Michael L. Forte – Personal Injury Defense – Products

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RumbergerKirk provides litigation and counseling services in a wide range of civil practice areas including products liability, commercial litigation, intellectual property, environmental, employment, insurance, professional liability, health care and administrative law. Offices are located in Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Tallahassee and Birmingham, Alabama.