James W. Middleton

James W. Middleton is a Partner in the Jacksonville Litigation Practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP.

Mr. Middleton's practice includes complex commercial litigation, professional liability, products liability, intellectual property, class actions, bank failure FDIC litigation, business torts, wills and trust litigation and land use litigation. He has significant trial experience, including jury and nonjury trials in state and federal courts, appeals and arbitrations, including AAA. Mr. Middleton's business litigation experience includes officer/ director and shareholder derivative suits, antitrust, patent, trademark and Lanham Act litigation, fraud, products liability, contract, defamation and punitive damage claims.

Mr. Middleton recently received a defense settlement concerning real estate after the jury returned a verdict in an eleven day jury trial during 2010 involving punitive damages against his four clients, prevailed in a AAA arbitration involving a long term lease for an FBO and was first chair in a five week federal court jury trial involving a nine figure claim brought by the FDIC for alleged professional malpractice against the general counsel of the failed bank he defended. He has received numerous summary judgments for defendants sued in products liability cases and prevailed in every appeal since losing his first appeal in 1986.

Mr. Middleton is a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rated attorney, a Florida Super Lawyers designee (2006-2007), a Jacksonville Legal Eagle (2010, 2011), American Lawyer magazine Top Rated Lawyer in Business and Commercial Litigation (2012), a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, and a member of Order of the Coif and Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of The Florida Bar Trial Lawyers Section, The Florida Bar Civil Procedure Rules Committee (1997- 2003, 2007-Present), a past member of The Florida Bar Appellate Rules Committee (2003-2006) and past legal advisor for the Ponte Vedra Beach Rotary Club (2000- 2004, 2007-2008).

Mr. Middleton is a member of the State Bars of Florida and North Carolina and the Jacksonville Beach Bar Association. He is admitted to the U.S. District Courts, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Florida; U.S. District Courts, Western, Eastern and Middle Districts of North Carolina; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Middleton received his B.S.B.A from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1978 and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Florida State University College of Law in 1985.

Mr. Middleton has lectured on the subject of civil trial law, including cross examination. He also participated in the oral argument (pro bono) before the Supreme Court of Florida regarding its adoption of the revised Uniform Guidelines for Taxation of Costs (adopted 2005).