Philip Padovano

Practice Areas

Phil Padovano is a shareholder in the firm’s Tallahassee office. Phil handles all types of appeals—civil and criminal—and has provided trial support in complex cases. Phil also practices as a mediator and arbitrator, and he is a commercial arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.

Before joining the firm, Phil was a longtime member of Florida’s judiciary—first as a trial judge on Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit, and then as an appellate judge on Florida’s First District Court of Appeal. Phil is the author of “Florida Appellate Practice,” the preeminent treatise on appellate law in Florida, which has been updated and published annually since 1988. He also authored another seminal treatise, “Florida Civil Practice,” which has been in publication since 1998. In 2015, he received the Adkins Award, the Appellate Section’s highest award for contributions to appellate practice in Florida. He has also received the Florida Bar’s Outstanding Jurist Award, and the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award.

Professional Memberships

• American Academy of Appellate Lawyers

• Florida Supreme Court Committees

o Former Chair of the District Court of Appeal Workload and Jurisdiction Assessment Committee

o Former Chair of the Select Committee on Minimum Standards for Lawyers in Capital Cases

o Former Chair of the Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases

o Criminal Court Steering Committee

o Select Committee on Postconviction Procedures in Capital Cases (“Morris Committee”)

o Search Committee for New State Courts Administrator,

o Court Technology Users Committee

• Florida Supreme Court Historical Society

• Second District Court of Appeal Historical Society

• Florida Conference of District Court of Appeal Judges (Former Member)

• Florida Conference of Circuit Judges (Former Member)

Publications

• “Florida Appellate Practice,” West’s Florida Practice Series, 2020 Ed. – A textbook for lawyers and judges, updated and published annually since 1988

• “Florida Civil Practice,” West’s Florida Practice Series, 2020 Ed. – A textbook for lawyers and judges, updated and published annually since 1998

• “Handling Capital Cases,” Chapter 5, National Judicial College, 1992

Education

Awards