News & Updates

Over the last six decades, our firm has changed. Today, our office makes the most of modern technology to expedite the research and litigation process and enable us to respond more quickly to our clients’ needs. But what sets us apart from other firms has not changed — it is and always has been our team. This group of seasoned professionals offers diverse strengths, but what differentiates us from others in our profession are the qualities we share — experience, expertise and energy to spare. Moreover, the members of our team share a sense of loyalty and dedication that is rarely found in today’s business world.

Some recent news and updates about our firm are listed below:

On July 21, 2025, Wilbert Vancol presented risk management lecture at the Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly for the National Medical Association in Chicago, Illinois. The National Medical Association is the largest and oldest national organization representing African-American physicians.

Dhillon Ramkhelawan gave the lecture at Barry University School of Law’s annual “Medical Malpractice Day” on March 17, 2025. Mr. Ramkhelawan’s lecture focused on the elements of a medical malpractice claim and why medical malpractice litigation is colloquially known as the “Battle of the Experts”. Mr. Ramkhelawan provided real-world scenario’s regarding the specific elements that need to be satisfied to support a medical malpractice claim. He also lectured on the different categories of experts in medical malpractice cases and what they each can testify about. Mr. Ramkhelawan’s lecture concluded with a primer on how medical malpractice cases are specifically litigated in Florida under Chapter 766 followed by a question and answer session with the law students. This was Mr. Ramkhelawan’s second consecutive year hosting the event. The link to Mr. Ramkhelawan’s PowerPoint presentation for the lecture can be found below:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1slzhE6aYxsYOuncew8hTWoPTeET8iIbrzcA4b9Vg0fc/edit?usp=sharing

Tom Dukes gave the prosecution opening statement in the mock St. Valentine’s Day murder trial of Al Capone for the American College of Trial Lawyers Young Lawyers Boot Camp on Friday, June 2, 2023.

In May, 2022, Ralph Martinez was awarded the 2022 FLABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year.

This award is given to a member who has shown excellence in advocacy, high ethics, a distinguished career, and is committed to service to ABOTA. This award alternates between plaintiff and defense attorneys and in addition to the above, the candidate has a superb reputation of high ethics and fair play. This is a very high honor to Mr. Martinez, the Central Florida Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and for our Firm.

Mary Jaye Hall has been admitted to the American College of Trial Lawyers. The recent induction ceremony in which Mary Jaye became a Fellow took place in Chicago, Il before an audience of more than 700 at the 2021 annual meeting of the College. The College was founded in 1950 and is composed of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada. Fellowship is extended by invitation only and only after careful investigation, to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality.

Binger v. King Pest Control, 401 So.2d 1310 (Fla. 1981) and its progeny establish the analysis for unfair surprise testimony, particularly with experts, but with any witness, under Florida law. In trial the Binger line of cases can create substantial issues. Defining what is truly new or surprise testimony from previously disclosed witnesses is frequently a judgment call. Unprepared or unscrupulous opposing lawyers may raise objections claiming unfair surprise sometimes to gain a tactical advantage. On the other hand as trial lawyers we need to know when a witness provides truly surprise testimony. These challenges represent areas of Binger battles.

There are three ways to win Binger battles. First, in direct examination of a witness who has been previously deposed each point to be covered should be referenced in your notes by page and line. That way if there is an objection from the other side that the offered testimony is new or surprise or different, a reference can be easily provided to the court. A command of the specific location of deposition testimony is invaluable in getting through your direct examination without protracted sidebar conferences to address Binger objections. If you can demonstrate to the court and opposing counsel a couple of times early on that you have command of the deposition and the specific references of points the witness testified to previously, this should eliminate further objections.

The second way that a Binger battle may occur is if your witness tries to testify at trial about an area not covered by opposing counsel during a deposition. This is a judgment call to be made at the deposition, but the better practice is to alert opposing counsel on the record of the areas that an expert witness will cover. If opposing counsel has missed an important point and you expect it to be a prominent feature of trial testimony then you have a judgment call to make. If you do not alert counsel to the point you run the risk that if you try to get into the area at trial the trial court may sustain a Binger objection. On the other hand opposing counsel has an obligation to take a thorough deposition. While this is a judgment call, our litigation process is ultimately a search for the truth, and I have found that it’s better to alert counsel on the record of any significant area that you anticipate getting into which has been unexplored. This does not mean that you have to develop an extensive examination on each point, simply reasonable notice is appropriate.

This can be done either at the beginning or the end of the deposition. I will commonly, on the record, at the beginning of an expert deposition scheduled by opposing counsel, ask the lawyer if she wants to know the general areas the witness will be asked to address at trial. If the answer is yes I will provide a summary of the general areas. This is not done during an actual examination of the witness, it’s typically done by me on the record at the beginning of the deposition.

Another reasonable way to address this potential problem is to alert counsel at the end of the deposition if there is a significant area which has not been covered. Again, this does not necessarily require an extensive examination by you of your own witness, rather just notice to counsel of the topic, or a general question or two of the witness should suffice. Counsel can then follow up at her discretion, but at least the issue has been raised and the Binger objection therefore hopefully eliminated. Again, part of this is a judgment call about what opposing counsel should or should not cover and reasonable minds can differ. However, if the area is disclosed this should eliminate a potentially problematic Binger objection.

The final way that a Binger battle may present is if the opposing witness truly gets into a new and different area. This can be hard to prove to the judge at sidebar in a lengthy deposition on many complex topics. Accordingly, particularly with an opposing expert it’s a good practice at the end of the deposition to sum up succinctly, accurately, and all in one place the expert’s opinions.

This is not a retaking of the deposition or an attempt at argument. You should present the opinions to the witness in a straightforward fashion so the witness agrees with them. You should do it all in one place so that the general areas that the witness is going to testify about are easily located. Thus if something is truly new it’s easy to point this out to the judge when the witness gets into the new area. Also, you should try to be disciplined about putting at one place what the witness have reviewed, thus if there is something that’s new at trial this can be addressed by you with the court.

Binger and its progeny are important because they address fundamental fairness. Both Plaintiff and defense deserve a fair trial, one on the merits, and one absent unfair surprise. A good trial lawyer tries to minimize the Binger battles and be prepared to win them when they inevitably come. When it comes to Binger battles, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Thomas E. Dukes, III as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer. He practices in Orlando, Florida.

Tom Dukes lectured on “Admissibility of Package Inserts and Black Box Warnings” at the Florida Bar’s Advanced Medical Practice 2020 program in Tampa on January 31, 2020.

His experience comes in part from two recent trials in which product literature was a central issue.

In April 2019, Ralph Martinez, Tom Dukes and Mary Jaye Hall were named to the 2019 Orlando’s Best Lawyers for Medical Malpractice Defense.

Mary Jaye Hall and Tom Dukes were on the teaching faculty for The Florida Bar’s Trial Lawyers Section, Advanced Trial Advocacy Seminar in Gainesville, Florida from Tuesday, May 15th through Thursday May 17, 2018.

Tom Dukes gave a Medical Malpractice Case Law Update at the Florida Liability Claims Conference on Thursday, June 7, 2018. This conference was presented at Walt Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The case law update discussed important developments in Florida Medical Malpractice and Trial Law over the last year.

On February 15, 2018, Zack Trapp presented on the topic of “Admissibility of Presuit Expert Affidavits” to members and attendees at the quarterly meeting of the Central Florida Medical Malpractice Claims Council, Inc. (CFMMCCI) in Orlando. The organizations’ membership is comprised of the area’s senior Med-Mal defense lawyers and risk professionals as well as claims representatives of Florida Hospital and Orlando Health. The presentation provided examples and case law of why and how presuit affidavits are used, and discussed proposed methods for overcoming hurdles to their admissibility in litigation.

Tom Dukes and Ralph Martinez were selected by Orlando Magazine to Orlando’s Best Lawyers in Medical Malpractice Law for Defendants in the April, 2016 Edition.

Philip Moring, Jennifer White and Tom Dukes did a Case Law Update at the Florida Defense Lawyers Association Advanced Litigation Bootcamp in Longwood, Florida, on Friday, October 30, 2015. The Case Law Update surveyed important legal developments in Florida Law over the last year.