Legal Experience

Mr. Hill's legal career began at a large business-oriented law firm in Orlando, Florida. For the first ten years, he worked mainly for insurance carriers and businesses. In 1982, he was among the first lawyers in Florida to earn The Florida Bar Association's designation of Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer.

By the early 1980s, Mr. Hill had established a reputation as a lawyer for the injured and their families. He won a significant verdict against Grove Manufacturing Co., the largest mobile-crane manufacturer in the world. The case involved injuries to a worker who received electrical burns when a crane came into contact with an overhead power line. Mr. Hill's verdict was one of the first obtained against Grove from this type of injury.

This verdict was followed by a products-liability claim Mr. Hill made for an injured worker against Industrial Electric of Jacksonville. It was a hotly contested trial where the defendant blamed the injured worker's injuries on his negligence. The jury disagreed and returned a large monetary award to Mr. Hill's client.

Mr. Hill then brought a claim on behalf of a severely brain-damaged boy who had been injured by a Daisy air rifle. Lawyers from Pensacola to Miami had refused the case before the boy's desperate mother came to Mr. Hill. The boy had been accidentally shot in the head by a playmate, and the projectile lodged in the boy's brain. Mr. Hill sued Daisy, arguing that Daisy should not have marketed a deadly weapon under the same logo it used to sell its "toy" BB guns. The case was settled for a significant sum of money, and the boy now has an annuity, which will pay for his care for the rest of his life.

In the mid 1980s, Mr. Hill was retained by Associated Aviation Underwriters, one of the major aviation-insurance carriers in the country at the time, as outside litigation counsel. He became involved in a number of the most significant aviation cases in the Southeast.

These cases included the Payne Stewart litigation, lawsuits involving an airline crash in Charlotte, North Carolina, and numerous cases involving general-aviation aircraft.

Through AAU, Mr. Hill was named litigation counsel for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and represented it through the 1990s. He also represented the Hillsborough Aviation Authority, which included work for Tampa International Airport.

Mr. Hill has worked as counsel for injured pilots and families of people who were killed in aviation accidents. These cases involved all areas of aviation, including general aviation and airline accidents.

Mr. Hill has received the highest rating for quality and ethics from Martindale-Hubbell, the premier lawyer rating organization. He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocate Forum and has been named a “Super Lawyer” in Florida.

For Mr. Hill's complete resume, please click here.

Highlights