Jesse R. Butler

Jesse is a well-recognized leader in the legal profession, and frequent lecturer on topics involving legal malpractice and attorney ethics. Prior to co-founding Butler Legacy & Litigation, Jesse was a shareholder at one of the most prestigious litigation firms in Sarasota, where he spent nearly 15 years representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation matters, and chaired the firm’s professional liability and appellate practices. He has represented countless clients harmed as a result of attorney malpractice, accounting malpractice, fiduciary liability, consumer fraud, unfair trade practices, and other civil and business matters. He has represented individuals, trustees, personal representatives, businesses, cities, insurance companies, and associations in all manner of professional liability claims, recovering tens of millions of dollars on behalf of his clients. He has also defended fortune 500-companies, small businesses, and individuals alike in everything from small claims disputes to multi-million dollar litigation.

Jesse serves on The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors where he represents the Twelfth Judicial Circuit (Sarasota, Manatee, and Desoto Counties). He serves on the Disciplinary Review Committee of The Florida Bar, which oversees the prosecution and appeals for disciplinary violations by Florida lawyers, recommends policy on lawyer regulation and discipline matters, and reviews and makes recommendations on disciplinary actions that require review of the Board of Governors.

Jesse is the current Vice Chair of The Board Review Committee on Professional Ethics, which performs preliminary review of advisory ethics opinions appealed to the Board of Governors from the Professional Ethics Committee and advisory advertising opinions appealed to the Board from the Standing Committee on Advertising. He also serves on The Florida Bar Disciplinary Procedure Committee, which studies, formulates, and oversees the rules of substance and proper procedures used in the handling of disciplinary matters. The committee reviews all proposed changes to the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar relating to attorney discipline.

He also serves on The Board Certification Plan Appeals Committee, which hears and rules on appeals relating to the certification plan, basic skills course requirement, and the continuing legal education requirements. A request for review of this committee’s decisions may be filed with the Board of Governors and the Supreme Court of Florida.

Prior to being elected to the Board of Governors, Jesse served for six years on the Board of Governors for the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar, where he served on and chaired various committees.

Jesse is one of the select attorneys to hold dual board certifications in both Business Litigation and Appellate Practice, a distinction held by less than 5 attorneys out of the more than 110,000 members of The Florida Bar. As a business litigation specialist, Mr. Butler is an expert in dealing with legal problems that arise from commercial and business relationships including litigation of controversies and evaluating, handling, and resolving these controversies, whether through negotiation, trial, or arbitration, such as cases involving legal malpractice, fee disputes, professional liability, contract disputes, consumer protection law, and a broad spectrum of complex civil disputes. Moreover, as an appellate specialist, Mr. Butler is an expert at the type of legal research, analysis, and advocacy that is foundational to effective appellate representation, as well as recognizing and evaluating potential issues and remedies that may arise in the context of litigation, prior to the initiation of the appellate process.In his appellate practice, Jesse has handled appeals throughout Florida and in Federal court. His cases involve a wide-range of substantive areas of the law, including appeals involving final judgments, non-final orders, and petitions seeking extraordinary writs.