Carrollwood Lawyers

Dereck G. Capaz, Esq., is an AV® Preeminent™ rated attorney. The AV® Preeminent™ designation is Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer review rating of a legal professional’s skills and ethics. He focuses his practice in the areas of plaintiff’s Tampa personal injury, insurance claims and civil litigation. Dereck is a third generation Tampa native and graduate of Jesuit High School. He is active in numerous community organizations and lives in Tampa with his wife Laura and three kids. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida. He received a Master of Business Administration degree and Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University College...

Brent Steinberg is a Florida Bar board-certified appellate specialist – a distinction achieved by only 217 of the more than 100,000 members of the Florida Bar. He handles catastrophic injury, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice and insurance coverage cases throughout Florida and Georgia, at both the trial and appellate levels. Mr. Steinberg began his employment with Swope, Rodante P.A. as a law clerk in 2009, joined the firm full time after graduating law school in 2010, and became a partner in 2018. He has served as lead appellate counsel in cases at the Florida Supreme Court, all six of Florida’s District Courts...

Taylor McKnight is a highly accomplished attorney who brings his extensive experience in personal injury law to Swope, Rodante P.A. With a remarkable career as a defense lawyer, Mr. McKnight leverages his expertise to passionately advocate for victims who have suffered catastrophic injuries and those who have lost loved ones as a result of the negligence of others. Mr. McKnight has extensive experience handling cases involving trucking, bus, and commercial vehicle crashes, particularly those resulting in catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. He also has substantial experience handling a diverse array of cases, including premises liability, medical malpractice, and products liability. His...

Attorney Arthur Jones, born in Connecticut I was raised around a lot of immigrants who became my friends and family as time went on. Although, we were born in different areas we have a lot of similar likes, interests, and hardships in life. Our obstacles made different families within our community grow stronger and transition from friends to family. After some time I have learned the trials and tribulations that immigrants have to go through just to come to America. I saw first hand how these families worked so hard to provide a better life for their loved ones. Their...

Diligent - Distinguished - Established

Marc Matthews spent several years working in the trial departments of some of the largest and most prestigious law firms in the U.S., including Holland & Knight, LLP and DLA Piper US LLP, representing large companies and truck drivers in trucking accidents, catastrophic injury and product liability cases, and commercial disputes. Relying on that experience, he joined forces with one of the preeminent plaintiffs' firms in the State of Florida, prosecuting catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims through verdict. In 2013 alone, he obtained two verdicts* in excess of ten million dollars. Always striving to passionately represent his...

TJ Grimaldi graduated from the University of Florida in 1999, earning his degree in Economics with minors in History and Speech. While at the University of Florida he was inducted into Omicron Delta Espsilon, an honors society, for his excellence in his major field of study. Throughout, he worked in many different positions at Columbia Bank in Ybor City, owned and operated by the Grimaldi family for nearly a century. Mr. Grimaldi was an active member of the Sigma Chi fraternity during his years at the University of Florida. After graduation from the University of Florida, Grimaldi worked as...

Dustin D. Deese graduated from the University of South Florida, earning a B.S. in accounting and finance. In 2002, Mr. Deese received his J.D., summa cum laude, from Stetson University College of Law. While at Stetson, Dustin served on the Stetson Law Review and was a recipient of the Dana Foundation Merit Scholarship. After earning his J.D., Mr. Deese clerked for the Honorable Patricia C. Fawsett, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 2003. Mr. Deese then began his legal career as an associate with Trenam Kempker. In 2006, Mr. Deese...

S. David Anton, Esquire is a third generation Tampa attorney with his office located in Tampa’s historic Ybor City. After graduation from Jesuit High School (class of 1977) in Tampa, Mr. Anton attended the University of Florida where he received a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration in 1981 with a major in Economics and Accounting. Thereafter, Mr. Anton attended the University Florida College of Law where he was bestowed a Juris Doctorate Degree in 1984. Now in practice for 29 years, S. David Anton is an active member of the Florida Bar Association and the Hillsborough County...

Richard J. McIntyre is a litigation and bankruptcy attorney. He began his practice in Tampa, Florida in 1992 after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh’s Dual Degree program, where he received his Master’s of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University and his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Allegheny College in 1988. Mr. McIntyre’s litigation practice includes business, real estate, and consumer litigation. Mr. McIntyre began his practice with the Kass, Hodges law firm in Tampa, Florida, practicing business and bankruptcy litigation. In 1994, he moved...

Christina Casadonte-Apostolou joined McIntyre Thanasides Bringgold Elliott Grimaldi & Guito P.A. as an associate in the complex litigation division in 2012. Her practice focuses on civil and commercial litigation and immigration law. Christina attended Stetson University College of Law and received her juris doctor in 2012, graduating with honors. While in law school, Christina served as a research assistant in Health Law, a teaching assistant for Federal Civil Procedure and competed with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board’s negotiation and client counseling teams. She also interned for the Honorable David A. Demers of Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit and the Honorable...

Christopher Fauntleroy is a partner with Property Insurance Advocates of Florida, P.A. Christopher received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Tampa and his Juris Doctorate from Barry Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law. Prior to staring Property Insurance Advocates of Florida, P.A., Christopher worked as a Corporate Attorney for a well-known insurance company in the Tampa area handling first party property claims on behalf of the insurance company. Subsequently, Christopher then worked for a Plaintiffs firm primary dealing in First Party property claims and uses that experience in understand what both sides are thinking when it comes...

Aaron Bedy was raised in the Tampa Bay Area by his parents Joseph and Nancy Bedy and graduated from Seminole High School. Aaron joined the Navy Reserve just after high school in June of 1994. After completing boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois, Aaron returned to Florida and attended the University of Florida where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations with a Minor in Business. After graduating from the University of Florida, Aaron moved to Princeton, New Jersey, accepting a job in communications with Dow Jones and Company, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. During his tenure with Dow...

Paul chairs the firm’s complex litigation division. The firm’s complex litigation division is well-known for skillfully handling the most complicated, heavily-litigated commercial matters and what are sometimes referred to as “bet-the-company” cases. In addition to Paul, the complex litigation division includes attorneys Richard McIntyre, Jennifer Jones, John Hightower, Margaret Kramer, Christina Casadonte-Apostolou, Shawn Simon, and Mary Thanasides, along with paralegal Stacey Graham. Paul received his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of South Florida in Tampa and his Juris Doctorate from Columbia Law School in New York City. Paul began his career at Trenam Kemker in 1996. At Trenam,...