Charles D. Bavol

Chuck was a litigation partner in the Detroit, Michigan, law firm of Clark, Klein & Beaumont until 1989 when he moved to Florida and joined the international firm Holland & Knight as a litigation partner in its Tampa office. In 1992, he formed Bavol & Associates, P.A., a predecessor firm to Bavol Judge, P.A, and continued in various iterations of that practice until joining firms with Bob Bleakley to form The Bleakley Bavol Law Firm in March of 2011.

Chuck has extensive national jury trial experience defending major corporations in both personal injury and commercial related fields. For more than twenty five consecutive years he has been rated "AV" (Preeminent) by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, this well-established national lawyer service's highest rating.

In the medical area, Chuck has successfully defended lawsuits, both individual and class action, involving a variety of implants, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. A significant portion of Chuck's trial practice has been in defense of medical malpractice claims against doctors and hospitals. In the commercial area, Chuck has handled cases involving UCC sales, insurance contracts, trademark counterfeiting, environmental pollution, fraud proceedings, employment disputes, as well as private and public contract issues.

In the construction litigation area, Chuck has handled the gamut of construction related cases from defending general contractors in litigation involving public projects, wastewater treatment plants, and the like, to defending luxury home builders involved in construction defect/mold claims involving oceanfront property. Chuck also serves as both Florida and national Trial Counsel for Masco Corporation and its subsidiaries in all manner of construction related litigation matters.

Chuck has served as National Trial Counsel for Dow Corning Corporation in its defense of silicone implant product liability cases involving its many and varied non-mammary implants. In that capacity he has tried silicone mass tort cases across the country, as well as serving on the National Litigation Team managing local counsel throughout the United States and Canada. Chuck continued to serve Dow Corning Corporation during its Chapter 11 reorganization brought about by the silicone mass tort cases. In this capacity he assisted the company's efforts to develop its generic trial strategies and defenses for cases expected to be defended in the Litigation Trust formed through the plan of reorganization. Thereafter he has continued to represent both the company and the Litigation Trust Facility in the defense of the company's products.

Chuck also serves as Florida Trial Counsel to manufacturers supplying parts and products to the automobile industry, including Robert Bosch Corporation and Bendix in air bag and seat belt automotive product liability litigation. Chuck also serves as Florida (and U.S. Virgin Islands) Trial Counsel for Robert Bosch Corporation's power hand tool division.

Chuck is product liability defense counsel for a number of manufacturers specializing in medical devices, and has been honored to have held a position since 1989 as panel counsel for Medmarc Insurance Group, the largest insurer of medical device manufacturers in the U.S. In 2006, Chuck was named Medmarc's Attorney of the Year in recognition of superior legal representation of Medmarc member companies as evaluated by Medmarc's management, claim staff, and clients.

Chuck was been appointed to the 2010 faculty of the esteemed Trial Academy of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), the preeminent trial advocacy training program for defense lawyers seeking to improve trial skills and techniques. The Trial Academy provides a week of faculty demonstrations by lawyers recognized as the best civil defense litigators in the country. Chuck was honored to serve on the IADC Trial Academy faculty for 2010.