Michael J. Winer
Law Office of Michael J. Winer P.A. 110 North 11th Street 1st Floor Tampa, FL 33602 Practice Area(s): Personal Injury, Workers' Compensation call (813) 224-0000 fax (813) 224-0088 email Mike@mikewinerlaw.com visit website
Biographical Information
For 20 years, Michael J. Winer, Esq. has practiced in the areas of plaintiff’s workers’ compensation and appeals, personal injury, insurance disputes, and business litigation. He employs a qualified support staff of certified paralegals to provide the best possible representation of his clients. Since 2002, Attorney Winer has been Board Certified in Workers’ Compensation Law, having been re-certified in 2007 and 2012. For three years, he served as the editor of the case law section for the Florida Workers’ Compensation Section of the Florida Bar News & 440 Report, and his responsibilities included keeping members of the Florida Workers’ Compensation Section of the Florida Bar abreast on the latest case law developments and their potential impact. From 2007 to 2013, Mr. Winer served as the Editor -in-Chief of the News & 440 Report.
Attorney Winer has also holds the distinction of having been elected by his peers to the Executive Council for the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Florida Bar and his duties include lobbying in Tallahassee on behalf of the Section. For the year 2014, he has been elected by his peers to serve as Chair/President of Executive Council for the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Florida Bar. He also has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the Florida Worker’s Advocates (FWA). From 2012 to 2013, he has served as Vice President of FWA and has been elected to serve as President for 2014-2015. He has likewise been elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the Florida Justice Association (FJA’s governing board). He also is the author of the Workers’ Compensation Column in the FJA Journal, a bi-monthly publication providing case law and other updates to the more than 3,800 members of the Florida Justice Association. He is the current Chair of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association.
In addition, Attorney Winer has handled well over sixty appeals in various appellate courts throughout the State of Florida, to include the Florida Supreme Court. Some of these cases have been landmark decisions in the workers’ compensation arena, establishing and expanding the rights on injured workers on significant issues such as psychiatric treatment, advances of compensation, fraud, attorney’s fees and changes of doctors. He also has appellate experience in non workers’ compensation appellate matters including a published decision in Aetna Commercial Ins. Co. v. American Sign Co., 687 So.2d 834 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), and successful defending of that victorious appeal before the Supreme Court of Florida in American Sign Co. v. Aetna Commercial Ins. Co., 698 So.2d 543 (Fla. 1997). His appellate experience also includes the distinction of being asked by his peers in FWA and FJA to appear as Amicus (“friend of the court’) on behalf of those organizations in a number of significant cases involving constitutional rights.
Admission Dates & Jurisdictions
November 1995, Florida
Education
Mr. Winer is an honors graduate of the University of Florida and received his juris doctor from Stetson College of Law.
Honors & Awards
He is AV rated by Matindale Hubble (An AV® certification mark is a significant rating accomplishment – a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence. A lawyer must be admitted to the bar for 10 years or more to receive an AV® rating. An AV rating by Martindale Hubbell is a status only awarded to 2% of attorneys.) His professional memberships also include the Florida Workers Advocates, Florida Justice Academy and Hillsborough County Bar Association. The Law Office of Michael J. Winer, P.A. also is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau. From 2010 to present, Mr. Winer received the distinct honor of being elected to Super Lawyers for the state of Florida (Super Lawyers magazine names the top 5% of attorneys in each state who received the highest point totals, as chosen by their peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics.) From August of 2010 to the present, Mr. Winer has been designated by Tampa Bay Magazine as one of “Tampa Bay’s Top Lawyers.”
From 2012 to present, Mr. Winer has been selected by his peers as a “Florida Legal Elite” (the process begins with an invitation to all members of the Florida Bar to provide the names of Florida lawyers they hold in highest regard- the votes are tallied by an independent research firm and a “Blue Ribbon Panel of prominent lawyers reviewed the list which represent the top 2% of attorneys in the state of Florida as judged by their peers.) The list of attorneys who received the prestigious distinction of “Legal Elite is published each year in Florida Trend Magazine.
In the August 2012 issues of Corporate Counsel, and The National Law Journal, Mr. Winer was given the honor of “2012 Top Rated – AV Preeminent Lawyers Appellate Law.” He is rated 10/10- “Superb,” the highest possible rating, by AVVO and has earned the prestigious AVVO “Client’s Choice Award.”
In April of 2014, Mr. Winer was recognized in the “2014 Edition of Tampa’s Top Rated Lawyers” be distributed with The Tampa Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, as well as with three national publications: The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel and The National Law Journal.
In 2014, The Million Dollar Advocates Forum recognized attorney Michael J Winer as a member. The Million Dollar Advocates Forum is recognized as one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar jury verdicts, awards and settlements. The organization was founded in 1993 and there are approximately 4000 members located throughout the country. Fewer than 1 % of U.S. lawyers are members. Also, in 2014, Martindale-Hubbell ™ selected Mr. Winer as a Top Rated Lawyer in Appellate Law. ALM as published in the July 28, 2014 issue of the Daily Business Review. In 2015, the National Association of Distinguished Counsel selected Mr. Winer as Member of the “Nation’s Top One Percent.” NADC is an organization dedicated to promoting the highest standards of legal excellence. Its mission is to objectively recognize the attorneys who elevate the standards of the Bar and provide a benchmark for other lawyers to emulate. Members are vetted by a research team, a blue ribbon panel of attorneys, and a judicial review board. By virtue of the incredible selectivity of their appointment process, only the top one percent of attorneys in the United States are awarded membership in the NADC.
Professional Associations
Workers’ Compensation Section of the Florida Bar.
Florida Worker’s Advocates (FWA President for 2014-2015)
Florida Justice Association (FJA)
Verdicts & Settlements
In 2014, The Million Dollar Advocates Forum recognized attorney Michael J Winer as a member. The Million Dollar Advocates Forum is recognized as one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar jury verdicts, awards and settlements
Speaking Engagements
He is frequently asked to lecture at seminars throughout the state of Florida and has done so on a variety of different topics, including the following:
April, 2014: 2014 Annual Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Forum- Speaker) Attorneys Fees; Settlements
June, 2013: Florida Workers’ Advocates 23th Annual Educational Conference- (panelist) – Westphal and its constitutional impact
April, 2013: 2013 Annual Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Forum- (Speaker)
Attorneys Fees; Settlements
April, 2012: 2012 Annual Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Forum- (panelist) Trial Practice: Use of Vocational Experts
April, 2012: 2012 Annual Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Forum- (Speaker) Attorneys Fees; Settlements
August, 2011: FWCI 66th Annual WC Educational Conference- (panelist)- Strategy Session: Hot Topics
June, 2011: Florida Workers’ Advocates 21th Annual Educational Conference- (panelist) – Prosecuting Attorney’s Fees from Start to Finish
April, 2011: 2011 Annual Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Forum- (panelist) Trial Practice: Use of Vocational Experts
April, 2011: 2011 Annual Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Forum- (Speaker) Attorneys Fees; Settlements
August, 2010: FWCI 65th Annual WC Educational Conference- (panelist)- Fraud, Omission and Misrepresentation
April, 2010: 2010 Annual Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Forum- (panelist) Trial Practice: Use of Vocational Experts
October, 2009: The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Committee and the Appellate Practice Section- The Art of Appellate Advocacy in Workers’ Compensation – (moderator) Attorney’s Fees Panel Discussion
August, 2009: FWCI 64th Annual WC Educational Conference- (panelist) PEO, Construction and Undocumented Wage Earners
June, 2009: Florida Workers’ Advocates 19th Annual Educational Conference- (panelist) – Attorney’s Fees in the work comp system
June, 2008: Florida Workers’ Advocates 18th Annual Educational Conference- (panelist) – The Use of Technology for a More Efficient Practice
June, 2007: Florida Workers’ Advocates 17th Annual Educational Conference- (panelist) – Attorney’s Fees in the work comp system