Dale M. Swope - Tampa, FL

Awards and Honors

Super Lawyers® Selectees

Super Lawyers® is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. The number provided represents the number of attorneys at the firm that have been selected to the Super Lawyers or Rising Stars lists.

Dale M. Swope included in a Super Lawyers® list

Education

• Legal Education

  • University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville, Florida, 1978
    Juris Doctor

• Non Legal Education

  • University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, 1975
    B.A.

Current Employment Position(s)

• Managing Partner

Classes and Seminars

• Civil Remedy Notice Webinar, Florida Justice Association, (October 2019)
  
• “Closing Argument,” Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division 2018 Basic Trial Practice Seminar (December 2018)
  
• “Bad Faith in the Courts: What Will “Work” in 2019,” Jacksonville Justice Association 2018 Seminar (November 2018)
  
• Presentation at Florida Bar Seminar: “Basic Personal Injury Law” (April 2018)
  
• “Closing Argument,” Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division 2017 HCBA State Court Trial Seminar (June 2017)
  
• “Special Evidence Issues that Arise in Personal Injury Cases,” 2305 Hot Topics in Evidence, Florida Bar (June 2017)
  
• “Purposefully Packaging Your Case,” 2017 FJA Workhorse Seminar (February 2017)
  
• “X’s and O’s of the FJA Plan for Tallahassee,” TBTLA CLE Seminar (January, 2017)“Irony of Preparing for Trials,” Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division 2016 Basic Trial Practice (December, 2016)
  
• “CRN Missteps That Kill Bad Faith Cases,” Florida Justice Association 2016 Drafting Civil Remedies Webinar (October, 2016)
  
• “How the Courts have Turned the Keys to the Courthouse into a Massive Malpractice Exposure,” Florida Justice Association 2016 Proposals for Settlement Webinar (October, 2016)
  
• “Closing Statements from the Plaintiff’s Perspective,” Hillsborough County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division 2016 State Court Trial Seminar (June, 2016)
  
• “Voir Dire from a Civil Perspective,” Hillsborough County Bar Association 2016 Jury Selection CLE (March, 2016)
  
• “Preparing for Trial – The Final Countdown,” Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division 2015 Basic Trial Practice Trial Prep Seminar (November, 2015) “Zen and the Art of Section 768.79, 14 Years Later,” Florida Justice Association 2015 Proposals for Settlement Webinar (October, 2015)
  
• “Insurance Bad Faith Actions from Medical Malpractice Cases,” Florida Justice Association Titans of Trial Medical Mal Practice Seminar (October, 2015)
  
• Al J. Cone Trial Seminar for the Florida Justice Association (August, 2015)
  
• “Insurance Bad Faith” Florida Justice Association 2015 Annual Convention (June, 2015)
  
• “Closing Argument,” Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division 2015 Basic Trial Practice Seminar (February, 2015)
  
• “Discovery in a Dawning Digital Age,” Florida Justice Association 2015 Workhorse Seminar (February, 2015)
  
• “Uninsured Motorist Bad Faith,” Honey Badger Presentation on Bad Faith 2015 (January, 2015)
  
• “Uninsured Motorist Bad Faith,” Florida Justice Association 2014 Workhorse Seminar (February, 2014)
  
• “Closing Arguments,” Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division 2013 Basic Trial Practice Seminar (October, 2013)
  
• “The Current Standard for Bad Faith Failure to Settle Under Florida Law as Applied in State versus Federal Court,” Florida Justice Association 2013 Masters of Justice Seminar (September, 2013)
  
• “Closing Statements from the Plaintiff’s Perspective,” Hillsborough County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division 2013 State Court Trial Seminar (June, 2013)
  
• “Living with the New De Facto Changes for Bad Faith in Federal Court,” Florida Justice Association’s Annual Convention Advanced Trial Skills Seminar (June, 2012)
  
• “Opening Statements,” Hillsborough County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division 2011 State Court Trial Seminar (June, 2011)
  
• “The Strategies, Techniques and Pitfalls of Cases Involving a Liability Carrier’s Bad Faith Claims Handling,” Florida Justice Association 2009 Insurance Seminar (November, 2009)
  
• “Strategies to Beat Insurance Company Conduct of Deny, Delay and Don’t Pay: A Review of Recent Caselaw,” Florida Justice Association 2009 Automobile Negligence Seminar (September, 2009)
  
• “The X Files: What Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know about Bad Faith,” Florida Justice Association 2008 Masters of Justice Seminar (December, 2008)
  
• “More than a Slingshot: First and Third Party Bad Faith – Taking Aim at Goliath: Conquering the Insurance Giants,” Florida Justice Association 2008 Insurance Seminar (October, 2008)
  
• “Identifying and Preserving the Third Party Bad Faith Claim,” Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (September, 2008)
  
• “Automotive Law Legislative Changes and Case Law Update” Seminar, Speaker at the Florida Justice Association Conference (June, 2007)
  
• “Nuts and Bolts of a Bad Faith Case,” Speaker at Insurance Bad Faith Seminar for Florida Justice Association (March, 2007)
  
• “New Approached to Damages,” Speaker at Association of Trial Lawyers of America Conference (February, 2007)
  
• “Bad Faith: Getting to the Heart of the Matter at Mediation” Speaker at Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers Seminar (December, 2006)
  
• “Tips for Proving the Bad Faith Case,” Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers Seminar Presentation (September, 2006)
  
• Al J. Cone Trial Seminar for the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers (August, 2006)
  
• Hillsborough County Bar Association State Court Trial Seminar (June, 2006)
  
• FDLA Conference Seminar Presentation (June, 2006)
  
• Medical Malpractice Seminar for Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers Conference (April, 2006)
  
• “The Seven Cardinal Sins Committed by Trial Lawyers” Speaker at Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers Seminar (February, 2006)
  
• “The Beginning of an Insurance Bad Faith Case,” 2005 Annual Education Seminar sponsored by Tampa Bay Paralegal Association (September, 2005)
  
• “Keeping Faith in Bad Faith – Berges v. Infinity Insurance Co.,” 2005 Annual Convention – General Session: Advanced Trial Skills Seminar (June, 2005)

Pro Bono Activities

• Hillsborough High School Football Trust (Chair, 2008-Present)
• Ybor City Museum Society (President, 2007-2008)
• Save Tampa History LLC (President and Founder, 2005-Present)
• Tre Amici @ The Bunker (Owner, 2004-Present)

Published Works

Articles

• Author of “Tips for the Auto Practitioner,” a monthly column Journal of the Florida Justice Association, 1999-2021.
  
• Co-author with Daniel Greene and Dennis Dore “Unfair Claims Practices and Bad Faith,” Florida Automobile Insurance Law, published by The Florida Bar (2022).
  
• Co-author with Shea Moxon and Celene Humphries, “Bad Faith Claims,” the Florida Medical Malpractice Handbook (2nd Edition), Florida Bar CLE Manual (2009)
  
• Co-author with Shea Moxon and Celene Humphries, “Bad Faith Claims,” The Florida Medical Malpractice Handbook (1st Edition), Florida Bar CLE Manual (2006)
  
• Co-author with Shea Moxon and Celene Humphries, “Practice and Procedure in Handling an Automobile Case,” Florida Automobile Insurance Law (6th Edition), Florida Bar CLE Manual (2005)
  

Bar Admissions

• Florida, 1978
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida

Specialties and Certifications

• Civil Trial Law, Florida Bar, 1992

Other Affiliations

• The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 1988 - Present
• The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, 1987 - Present
• American Bar Association, 1983 - Present
• Hillsborough County Bar Association, 1979 - Present
• Member, Federal Bar Association, 2012
• Member, American Law Institute, 2010-Present
• President, Florida Justice Association, 2017-2018
• Founder and initial Chairman of the Hillsborough County Solo Practitioners Committee, 1991-1992
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Hillsborough County Young Lawyers Section, 1988-1989