Mark P. Rankin - Tampa, FL

Overview

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.

Mark P. Rankin included in a Super Lawyers® list

Education

• Legal Education

  • University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1999
    J.D.

• Non Legal Education

  • Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 1996
    B.S.
    Honors: magna cum laude
    Major: Criminal Justice

Current Employment Position(s)

• Owner

Past Positions

• Federal Public Defender's Office, Tampa, Florida, Assistant Federal Public Defender, 2003 - 2006
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, L.L.P., Wilmington, Delaware, Corporate Litigation Associate, 2001 - 2003
• United States District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp, Southern District of Florida, Law Clerk, 2000 - 2001
• United States Magistrate Judge Ann Vitunac, Southern District of Florida, Law Clerk, 1999 - 2000
• University of Tampa, Adjunct Professor, 2004 - Present
• Stetson University College of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law, 2004 - 2009
• ABA Criminal Litigation Newsletter, Editor-in-Chief, 2007 - 2009
• Carlton Fields, Partner, 2006 - 2010
• Shutts & Bowen LLP, Partner, 2010 - 2019

Languages

• English (Primary)

Classes and Seminars

• Panelist, "Federal Sentencing Guidelines and Civil and Criminal Damages," ABA 20th Annual National Institute on Health Care Fraud, Miami, FL, May 14, 2010 - Present
  
• Panelist, “Orange Jumpsuits Aren’t Flattering: The Expanding Threat of Criminal Liability for Lawyers,” 2009 Aon Large Law Firm Symposium, San Francisco, CA, October 15, 2009 - Present
  
• Moderator, “Chapter Three Adjustments,” 18th Annual Federal Sentencing Guidelines Seminar, Tampa, FL, May 21, 2009
  
• Panelist, “Avoiding Jail, Disbarment and Other Bad Consequences: What You Need to Know About Real Estate Collateral,” ABA Real Estate Financing Subcommittee, ABA Business Law Section Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX, 2008 - Present
  
• Panelist, “Grouping and Firearms Offenses,” National Seminar on Federal Sentencing Guidelines, 2004 - Present
  
• Panelist, “Grouping and Firearms Offenses,” National Seminar on Federal Sentencing Guidelines, 2006 - Present
  
• Moderator, “Privileged Communications: What’s Protected Under Federal and Florida Rules of Evidence,” CLE, Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers and Federal Bar Association, Tampa, FL, February 28, 2019 - Present
  
• Instructor, White Collar Criminal Defense College at Stetson College of Law, 2012 - Present
  
• Trial Advocacy, Stetson College of Law, 2006 - 2010
  
• Sixth Amendment Constitutional Law, University of Tampa, 2006

Pro Bono Activities

• Best Buddies Tampa Bay, Advisory Board, 2019 - Present
• 2014 Class of Leadership St. Pete
• Northeast Park Neighborhood Association, Board of Directors (2009-2011) Chair, Safe Streets Committee
• Board of Directors, PARC (Pinellas Association for Retarded Children), 2009 - 2011
• St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Society’s SunScreen Film Festival, Board of Directors, 2006 - Present

Published Works

Articles

• Surprise, Surprise: Is Proper Notice Still Required for an Above-Guidelines Sentence in Federal Court?, The Champion, 2007
  
• Something Funny Happened On The Way To Discretionary Sentencing: Why A Presumption Of Reasonableness Violates The Holding of Booker, Committee on Criminal Litigation, Section of Litigation, American Bar Association, Winter 2007
  
• Traps for the Unwary: Cross References and Guideline Sentencing, The Champion, September/October, 2006
  
• Substantial Assistance - The Key to Freedom: Representing a Cooperating Defendant in Federal Court, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2007
  
• Evidence Law Trumps the Fifth Amendment - Florida Rule of Evidence 806, HCBA Lawyer, 2008
  
• Co-Author, "Nobody Looks Good in Orange: Keeping Your Client and Yourself Out of Prison", Business Law Today, at 43, November/December, 2008
• "Informal Opinion: The Post-Booker World: Does the Ex Post Facto Clause Still Apply at Sentencing?", The Champion (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) at 59, October, 2008
• "Informal Opinion: Irizarry v. United States", The Champion (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) at 55, September, 2008
• "Informal Opinion: Watson v. United States The Supreme Court Limits the "Use", Prong Of Section 924(c)", The Champion (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) at 51, March, 2008
• "Evidence Law Trumps the Fifth Amendment - Florida Rule of Evidence 806, HCBA Lawyer at 20, February, 2008
• Co-Author with Rachel R. May, "Substantial Assistance - The Key to Freedom: Representing a Cooperating Defendant in Federal Court", The Champion (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) at 12, July, 2007
• "Surprise, Surprise: Is Proper Notice Still Required for an Above-Guidelines Sentence in Federal Court?", The Champion (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), March, 2007
• Co-Author with Laura Whitmore Paquin, "Something Funny Happened On The Way To Discretionary Sentencing: Why A Presumption Of Reasonableness Violates The Holding of Booker", Committee on Criminal Litigation, Section of Litigation, American Bar Association, Vol. 6, No. 2, Winter, 2007
• Co-Author with Rachel R. May, "Traps for the Unwary: Cross References and Guideline Sentencing", The Champion (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) at 52, September/October, 2006
• Co-Author, "Parole’s Essential Role in Bailing out Our Nation’s Criminal Justice Systems", The Champion, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, January, 2009
• Rule 35(b) Meets Section 3553(a) – What Can a Federal Court Consider?, The Champion, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers at 61, September/October, 2009
• Pardon Me: Jury Nullification in Florida and the Eleventh Circuit, HCBA Lawyer at 22, September, 2009
• Crawford Extended: United States and Supreme Courts Expand Confrontation Clause Protections, St. Petersburg Bar Association, 2009
• Padilla: Supreme Court Requires Defense Counsel to Advise on Deportation, HCBA Lawyer, June, 2010
• Supreme Court Examines Effect of Invocation of Counsel, HCBA Lawyer at 22, December, 2009
• E Original: The Best Evidence Rule in Florida, HCBA Lawyer at 20, October, 2009
• Co-Author, “Grid & Bear It. Let the Seller Beware: Sentencing Entrapment and Manipulation in Federal Court”, The Champion, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers at 41, August, 2010
• It’s Time to Rethink America’s Rate of Incarceration, The Tampa Tribune, April, 2013
• U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Important Traffic Stop Case, HCBA Lawyer Magazine, December, 2013

Bar Admissions

• Florida, 1999
• Colorado, 2023
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida
• U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas
• Supreme Court of the United States of America

Other Affiliations

• National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, 2012 - 2015 (Chair)
• Criminal Justice Act Panel, Middle District of Florida, 2006 - Present (Member)
• The Florida Bar Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee, 2006 - 2009 (Member)
• Herbert G. Goldburg-Ronald K. Cacciatore Criminal Law American Inn of Court, 2003 - 2016 (Member)
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2003 - Present (Member)
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2007 - 2009 (Board of Directors)
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (White Collar Crime Committee)
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2009 - 2013 (Co-Chair, Sentencing Committee)
• Federal Bar Association, 2003 - Present (Member)
• Federal Bar Association, 2006 - 2009 (Board of Directors)
• Federal Bar Association, 2017 - Present (Board of Directors)
• Hillsborough County Bar Association, 2007 - Present (Chair of Criminal Law Section)
• Champion magazine, 2007 - Present (Advisory Board)
• Federal Bar Association, 2011 - 2015 (Board of Directors)
• Federal Bar Association, 2017 - Present (Chair, Criminal and Government Investigations Practice Committee)
• Federal Bar Association, 2016 - Present (Qui Tam Section)
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2004 - Present (Member and Board Member)
• Federal Bar Association, 2004 - Present (Member and Board Member)
• Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2022 - Present (Member)