Jerry is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Lawyer. He has been nationally recognized as one of the Top Ten Defense Lawyers in the United States by one of the largest insurance companies in the world. He is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial honorary society composed of less than one half percent of lawyers in The United States. He has been selected as one of America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators®— this is by invitation only and is reserved to identify the nation’s most exceptional trial attorneys in high value, high stakes legal matters. Since 2018, Jerry has been recognized annually by Best Lawyers in America since, receiving their “Lawyer of the Year” honor in 2022.
He is frequently brought in as lead trial counsel in cases throughout the country, and has handled cases as trial counsel in California, Texas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, New York, and the Virgin Islands, just to name a few.
Jerry is also Board Certified in Maritime Law, has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics every year since 2006 and is named as one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” by Florida Trend. He was selected by the Dade County Bar Association as one of Miami’s top 10 trial lawyers to present in its annual Super Lawyers CLE Mock Trial and also received the Anthony G. Marshall Award as Hospitality Lawyer of the Year. He was a finalist for the Council on Litigation Management’s (CLM) Professional Outside Counsel of the Year Award and also nominated by his peers in the Dade County Bar Association as a Legal Luminary.
He has served as the Chair of the Civil Litigation Committee for the Dade County Bar Association and has been a Director for numerous years. He is AV® rated preeminent by Martindale Hubbell®. He is also a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel which limits its membership to slightly over 1400 members throughout the United States.
Currently, Jerry is a managing shareholder of the international law firm of Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel, LLP, which is consistently ranked among the top ten most diverse law firms in South Florida by the Daily Business Review. It is the largest black owned firm in the country and boasts a 80% win ratio in trials. He is the proud recipient of the Ted Klein Award from the Miami-Dade Florida Association of Women Lawyers (MDFAWL) for constantly being a proponent for advancing women’s issues in the profession.
Jerry is a certified faculty member and instructor for Council on Litigation Management. He currently serves on their Anti-Nuclear Verdict Taskforce. He frequently lectures at CLM’s Claims College and is on the faculty of the Litigation Management Institute which is designed to train lawyers and persons handling complex claims and litigation management issues. Jerry is a regular speaker for Defense Research Institute, Hospitality Law Conference, Dade County Bar Association, on such topics as “Negligent Security”, “Financial, Legal and Compliance Challenges in the Lodging, Food and Beverage Industries”, “Evaluating Additional Insured Coverage and Contractual Indemnity Issues”, “Defending Claims of Negligent Response to a Medical Emergency”, “Crisis Management”, “How CCTV Has Changed the Landscape of Hospitality and Retail Litigation”, “Avoiding and Defending Bad Faith”, and “Advanced Strategies for Success in Mediation” to name a few.
For the past 30 years, Jerry has dedicated his practice to defending his clients in complex litigation matters, including business litigation and other commercial disputes, class actions, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, product liability claims, insurance coverage and bad faith disputes, legal, medical and professional malpractice claims, maritime disputes, hospitality and transportation claims.
J.D., with special citation, University of Florida College of Law
B.A., University of Miami