John G. Crabtree

John is board-certified in appellate practice by The Florida Bar, is a member of the American Law Institute, and has argued before all of Florida’s state and federal appellate courts—including the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition to representing parties, he has represented various amici curiae (friends of the court), and wrote an amicus brief in the landmark age discrimination case Smith v. City of Jackson, presenting an entirely novel textual argument that the Supreme Court later used in its decision. His cases have been featured in the national media, including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and The National Law Journal. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in dozens of class actions over the past 25 years, and he served on the ALI’s Members Consultative Group for the class action treatise, “Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation.”

John is a former chair of The Florida Bar’s Appellate Certification Committee, which evaluates, tests, and determines those lawyers who will be board-certified as appellate specialists in Florida. By election, he chaired the Bar’s 1400-member Appellate Practice Section, and by appointment of successive presidents of The Florida Bar, he served two terms as chair of Florida’s Appellate Court Rules Committee—the committee that drafts the rules governing Florida’s appellate courts. He is the author of “The Record on Appeal – Civil Appeals,” a chapter in the Florida Appellate Practice treatise published and regularly updated by The Florida Bar. He has lectured and written on a range of appellate and class action topics, and he has served as a consultant and as an expert witness in the area of appellate practice. He has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating, and is named in the current editions of Best Lawyers in America, Florida Super Lawyers, and South Florida Legal Guide’s Top Lawyers