Tallahassee, FL Lawyers

Civil Litigation

122 S Calhoun St, Tallahassee, FL 32301, USA

Listed amongst the Most Influential People of 2021 by TIME100, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, and the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, Attorney Ben Crump is referred to as Black America’s Attorney General. Through a steadfast dedication to justice and service, renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Benjamin Crump has established himself as one of the nation’s foremost lawyers and advocates for social justice. His legal acumen has ensured that those marginalized in American society are protected by their nation’s contract with its constituency. He is the founder and principal owner of Ben Crump Law. Crump’s tireless advocacy has led to legislation preventing excessive force and developing implicit bias training and policies. He has represented families in several high-profile civil rights cases including Trayvon Martin, who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, in 2012; Michael Brown, who was killed by a law enforcement officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014; and Stephon Clark, who was killed by police officers in Sacramento, California, in 2018. Crump represented 9 of the 13 black women who were victims in the Holtzclaw Oklahoma City Police rape case in 2015 and worked on the precedent-setting U.S. Supreme Court case involving excessive police force against Robbie Tolan in 2008. Most recently, Attorney Crump has represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by the poisoned water of the Flint River, as well as the family of Henrietta Lacks in a landmark reparations case. Crump has helped reach historic settlements and verdicts for families that have faced injustices. Crump won a $411 million verdict for Duane Washington who was horribly injured in a truck accident, he helped reach a $641 million settlement for the children of Flint, Michigan, he reached a $27 million settlement for the family of George Floyd, a $12 million settlement for the family of Breonna Taylor, and over $200 million in settlements in banking while Black cases, among others. Crump is the President of the National Civil Rights Trial Lawyers Association and previously served as President of the National Bar Association. He was the first African-American to chair the Florida State University College of Law Board of Directors and is the founder and director of the Benjamin Crump Social Justice Institute. In 2021, St. Thomas University College of Law, one of the most diverse law schools in the nation, announced the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice in his honor, which will open doors for minority students pursuing law degrees. Among dozens of accomplishments, Attorney Crump has been recognized with the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award, the SCLC Martin Luther King Servant Leader Award, the American Association for Justice Johnnie Cochran Award, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion for Service. He hosted the critically acclaimed legal docudramas “Evidence of Innocence” on TVOne and “Who Killed Tupac: The Search For Justice” on A&E, and served as executive producer and writer for the documentary, “Woman in Motion,” about Nichelle Nichols, one of the first African-American TV actresses. He is a frequent contributor to MSNBC, CNN, and USA Today. Crump’s book, published in October 2019, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People, reflects on the landmark cases he has battled, and how discrimination in the courthouse devastates real families and communities. Crump graduated from Florida State University and received his law degree from FSU College of Law. He is married to Dr. Genae Angelique Crump.

Personal Injury Law

3360 Capital Cir NE, Tallahassee, FL 32308, USA

Dana Cooper, also identified as Dana Brooks Cooper and professionally as Dana Brooks, is a personal injury attorney with Fasig Brooks in Tallahassee, Florida. The Florida Bar lists her as Dana Nelson Brooks, a partner/shareholder eligible to practice in Florida. Her professional background includes work on both the legal and social-services sides of disputes. Before becoming an attorney, she worked as a paralegal, law firm administrator and mental health counselor, and served as a Florida Supreme Court certified family law mediator. Her paralegal experience included medical malpractice defense. Brooks studied at Pensacola Junior College and Tallahassee Community College before completing a Bachelor of Science in Social Work at Florida State University, graduating cum laude. She earned a master’s degree in social work there in 2003. In December 2007, she completed her Florida State law degree magna cum laude; she is also a member of the Order of the Coif. Her educational activities have included coaching Florida State’s law school mock trial team and returning to its torts classroom as a guest lecturer in 2013, 2014 and 2015. She delivered the College of Social Work’s commencement address in December 2018. Beyond the university, Brooks has served as president of the Capital City Justice Association and on the board of America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend. Her speaking engagements included a January 2019 presentation to the Government Bar Association on gender issues in the workplace.

Administrative Law

111 West Madison Street, Tallahassee, FL 32303

Danelle Bernten-Garine is a Tallahassee attorney listed with the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee in the Florida Bar directory. The directory also gives her name as Danelle Bernten and lists her as eligible to practice law in Florida, with membership in good standing. Her listed office is in the Pepper Building at 111 West Madison Street. Bernten-Garine was addressed as the committee’s senior attorney in an April 7, 2026 letter from the Florida Department of Corrections. The correspondence concerned proposed rules 33-404.106, 201, and 2095-2098. It described committee comments received on February 9, after the department published its notice of proposed rule on January 26. The department reported that the matters raised had been resolved. It also stated that no public hearing had been requested or held and that no substantive changes had been made after publication. A separate rule, 33-404.210, was expressly excluded from the statement. The letter asked Bernten-Garine to provide the Department of State with certification that the rulemaking requirements had been met; the department hoped to file for adoption on April 14. This correspondence sits within the committee’s stated remit: oversight of executive-branch actions taken under powers delegated by the legislature. The committee checks those actions for statutory authority and procedural compliance, with a mandate to prevent illegal rules from being imposed on Florida residents.

Civil Litigation

1300 Thomaswood Dr, Tallahassee, FL 32308, USA

Mr. Bigham is a shareholder of the firm. He has about 15 years of experience practicing in the areas of environmental law, land use zoning, entitlements, boundaries and permitting, property rights and boundaries, water rights, eminent domain/condemnation, professional licensure, public procurements and bid disputes, administrative law, and general civil litigation and related appeals. Mr. Bigham has represented a variety of public and private clients in civil cases involving contract disputes, business torts. environmental permitting, remediation, and regulatory enforcement proceedings, agency rulemaking, and public procurements. Prior to joining the firm he was a partner at Berger Singerman from 2021-2024, and a litigation attorney for Oertel, Fernandez, Bryant & Atkinson, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and Ausley McMullen. Mr. Bigham is a graduate of Tulane University with majors in both English and Philosophy, and graduated from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, in 2009.

Labor Law

1330 Thomasville Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32303-5608

Tom Thompson grew up in Tampa.??After graduating with honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida, Tom was hired as a legal assistant with the Tampa law firm of Haas, Boehm, Brown, Rigdon, Seacrest, and Fisher. While employed by the firm, Mr. Thompson worked in the field of insurance defense with an emphasis on property and commercial liability claims. Mr. Thompson later joined the construction litigation department of Johnson, Blakley, and Pope in Clearwater before he entered law school.???Mr. Thompson attended the Florida State University College of Law, where he was an active member of the Law Review, a published author, and a member of the Law Review’s editorial board. In his third year, Tom was elected Executive Editor and directed a special volume devoted to issues then pending before the Florida Legislature. Upon graduating with honors, Mr. Thompson accepted an attorney associate position with the Tallahassee firm of Callahan and Dobbins. While there, his practice consisted primarily of insurance defense. Since the establishment of Thompson, Crawford, Brown, and Smiley, Mr. Thompson’s primary practice had remained in the litigation field, both as plaintiff and defense counsel. In addition to serving many local clients, he has served as counsel for various agencies in the state of Florida, Superior Insurance Company, Philadelphia Insurance Company, 21st Century Insurance and Nova Casualty and self-insured companies including Budget Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc., Prestige Home Centers, Inc., and Westinghouse Electric Company. In addition to defending tort, contract, and insurance coverage claims, Tom has extensive experience litigating employment discrimination, whistleblower, and retaliation actions on behalf of the employer. Mr. Thompson is Board Certified in Civil Trial and is a member of both the Florida and Georgia Bars and is admitted to the Federal Bars for the Northern and Middle Districts of Florida, the Middle District of Georgia, and the Eleventh Circuit. He is a member of the Tallahassee Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Florida Defense Lawyers Association, and was a Chair for the Florida New Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board, commonly known as the “lemon law board.” Tom has received recognition from the Florida Bar for his expertise in civil trial law and has been “Board Certified” in that field for 15 years as a result of his decades of trial experience combined with dozens of trials and superior ethical reputation throughout the legal community.

Personal Injury Law

842 E Park Ave, Tallahassee, FL 32301, USA

Attorney Thomas graduated from Florida A&M University's School of Business & Industry in 2004. In 2007, he went on to graduate from Florida A&M University College of Law. After graduating Attorney Thomas went on to handle litigation for Parks & Crump, LLC from 2007-2017. With a wealth of experience, Attorney Thomas started his own practice while serving as the City Attorney for the City of Midway in North, Florida. ? The Thomas Thomas Law Firm was established in 2017. The firm deals primarily in Personal injury law which encompasses Slip and Fall injuries, wrongful death cases, and automobile accidents.