Bio

Tom is Board Certified by the Florida Bar as an Appellate Specialist and is the head of Heise Suarez Melville, P.A.'s Appellate Practice. He is an experienced appellate advocate who has authored briefs filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the Florida Supreme Court, and each of Florida’s District Courts of Appeal.

Tom has been appointed as Vice Chair, twice, to Florida Bar’s Appellate Court Rules Committee, where he assisted in the process of creating the rules of procedure that must be followed in every appellate court throughout Florida. Tom has also served on the board of the Third District Court of Appeal Historical Society and was elected as its thirteenth President. Prior to entering private practice, Tom interned at the Florida Supreme Court for the Honorable R. Fred Lewis.

Unlike many appellate practitioners who practice in their “ivory towers,” Tom also has extensive, hands-on experience in the trenches as a trial lawyer. Named as one of “America’s Top 100 Bet-The-Company Litigators,” Tom has successfully first-chaired trials, cross-examined hostile witnesses during trials and arbitrations, argued dispositive motions (evidentiary and otherwise), taken countless depositions, and negotiated complex settlements to contentious disputes.

Despite managing a busy practice, Tom has made it a point throughout his career to take on pro bono work. Whether through Jacksonville Area Legal Aid or the Guardian ad Litem Program’s Defending Best Interests Project, the combined number of pro bono appeals throughout Florida that Tom has handled are in the double digits.

Tom is licensed to practice law in Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia.

Thomas S. Ward

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