Patricia H. Thompson

• JAMS, 2017-Present
• Carlton Fields, P.A. 1997-2016
• Popham Haik, Schnobrich & Kaufman 1990-1997
• Kimbrell & Hamann, P.A. 1976-1990

Patricia H. Thompson joins JAMS after a successful career as trial and appellate lawyer and arbitrator, concentrating her practice in construction, employment, surety, fidelity, financial insurance matters, and other complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts.

Her goal as an arbitrator is to meet the parties’ pre-dispute expectations of efficiency and cost reductions. In mediation, she balances facilitation, evaluation and perseverance to direct the best avenue of resolution for all parties involved.

Ms. Thompson has been regularly listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Construction and Business Lawyers, and similar Florida publications ranking attorneys in her areas of practice concentration.

Ms. Thompson has served as chair and in other senior leadership roles of major committees of the Tort and Insurance Practice and Litigation Sections of the American Bar Association.

• America College of Construction Lawyers:
• Member, Board of Governors
• Member, Nominating Committee
• Past Co-Chair, Insurance and Surety Committee
• The Florida Bar:
  Former Chair of Florida Bar Eleventh Circuit Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee “A”
  Former Chair of Florida Bar Grievance Committee “llB”
  American Bar Association:
  Foundation, Fellow
  Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section:
  Past Chair and Vice-Chair, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee
  Past Program Co-Chair, Several Annual and Mid-Winter Fidelity and Surety Programs
  Past Co-Chair Liaison subcommittee of Fidelity & Surety Law CommitteePast Program
  Past Editor, Brief
  Past Member, Professionalism Committee
• ABA Litigation Section:
  Construction Litigation Committee: Past Co-Chair
  Past Chair, Mechanics Lien Subcommittee
  Past Chair, Damages Subcommittee
  ADR Committee, Past-Chair, Membership Subcommittee
  Woman Advocacy Committee Past State Coordinator
  Member, Task Force on Model Rules of Ethics for Mediators
  Program Chair, The Ethics of the Deal, Section of Litigation Annual Meeting, 2005
  ABA Foundation, Fellow
• The Fidelity Law Association, Past Member , Board of Advisors
• Surety Claims Institute:
  Program Coordinator, Jan. 2000
  Fidelity Committee Member
• American Arbitration Association, Member, Approved Panel of Arbitrators for Complex Commercial Cases
• The Defense Research Institute, Member
• The Eugene P. Spellman American Inn of Court, Past Member
• Women�s Chamber of Commerce of South Florida, Past Officer and Director
• Beacon Council (Miami-Dade County�s official economic development organization):
  Executive Committee Member
  Board of Directors Member
  Past Treasurer
  Past Secretary
  Finance Committee, Past Chair and Member
  Audit Committee, Member
  Human Resource Committee, Past Chair
  Membership Committee, Past Member
  Professional Services Committee, Chair
• Beacon Council Economic Development Foundation
  Past Secretary:
  Board of Directors, Past Member
• Greater Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce:
  Past Chairman�s Circle of 100 Member
  Board of Directors, Member
  Board of Governors, Member
  Past Chair, Education Group
  Past Chair, Legislative Affairs and Public Policy sub-committee of Education Group
  Past Member, Nominating Committee
  Past Member, Human Resources Committee
  Past Member, Women in Business
• One Community-One Goal, Board of Directors Member
• Florida International University, College of Education Advisory Board Past Chair and Member
• University of Miami School of Law, Center for Ethics & Public Service, Board of Advisors, Member
• The Spectrum Foundation (residential drug and alcohol addiction treatment facility), Past Director
• The Brickell Avenue Literary Society, Member
• 200 Club of Greater Miami, Past Member

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION:

• AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell
• Recipient of the 2007 Key Partners Award in the Legal and Accounting Profession from Citibank and the South Florida Business Journal
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2007 and 2008 (Labor and Employment Law) editions
• Listed in Chambers USA Guide to America�s Leading Business Lawyers 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 (Construction and Employment)
• Selected for inclusion in Florida Super Lawyers 2006 and 2007
• Florida Trend�s Florida Legal elite (Business and Litigation & Business Law Category) 2004, (Construction) 2006, and 2007
• The International Who�s Who Construction Lawyers, 2005 and 2007 editions
• The International Who�s Who of Business Lawyers 2007 (Construction)
• Top Lawyers in South Florida, South Florida Legal Guide 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 (Employment and Construction categories)
• 101 Women to Watch, Miami Dade�s Most Influential Females of 2001, Miami Metro 30 (2001)

• Editor and Co-Author, Florida Real Estate and Construction Law Quarterly.
• “On Premises Coverage, Bankers and Other Financial Institution Blanket Bond” (ABA 1979).
• “Completion Options Available to a Performance Bond Surety Other Than Financing Its Principal,” XVII FORUM 1215 (1982).
• “Waiver and Estoppel,” Financial Institution Bonds (ABA, 1989).
• “The Investigation of Bond Claims by the FDIC and RTC, Financial Institutions Bonds (ABA 1992).
• Co-Author, “Annual Survey of Surety and Fidelity Law,” XXIX FORUM 412 (1994).
• “An Insured’s Guide to Effective Claims Investigation, Presentation, and Resolution, Financial Institution Bonds,” (ABA 1995).
• “The Competing and Conflicting Duties, Risks and Liabilities of a Primary Fidelity Insurer Faced with a Large Loss Claim,” II The Fidelity Law Ass’n. J. 91 (1996).
• Co-Editor and Co-Author, “State By State Survey Of The Economic Loss Doctrine In Construction Litigation,” (ABA 1996).
• Computer Generated Evidence: Considerations In Opposing Admissibility of Animations, Construct! 9, (ABA 1997).
• “An Insured’s Guide to Effective Claims Investigation, Presentation and Resolution,” Financial Institution Bonds (ABA 1998).
• “Preparing and Presenting the Complex Surety Case to a Panel of Arbitrators,” Managing And Litigating The Complex Surety Case, (ABA 1998).
• “Mandatory Dispute Resolution of Consumer or Customer Disputes with Goods or Service Providers,” The Advocates ADR Handbook (ABA 2000).
• “Unequal Judicial Treatment of Employers and Employees Under Statutory Fee Shifting Provisions,” Dade County Bar Bulletin, (September 2000).
• “EEOC v. Joe’s Stone Crab – An Employment Law Primer,” Dade County Bar Bulletin, (November 2000).
• “Rice-Lamar v. City of Ft. Lauderdale: Concerned Citizen or Insubordinate Employee?,” Dade County Bar Bulletin, (December 2000).
• “Insured’s False Claim Voids the Policy as to Truthful Claim,” Tort And Insurance Practice Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee News, (Winter 2001).
• Co-Author, “First Amendment Bars Employment Related Claims Against Religious Institutions,” The Bulletin, The Official Newspaper of the Dade County Bar Association, (May 2001).
• Co-Author, “Accessibility Litigation Under Title III of the ADA: Two Recent Decisions Addressing Attorney’s Fees and Standing,” The Bulletin, The Official Newspaper of the Dade County Bar Association, (October 2001).
• Co-Author, “Batson Challenges – Part One: What Are They And How To Make Them,” The Bulletin, The Official Newspaper of the Dade County Bar Association, (May 2002).
• Co-Author, “Batson Challenges – Part Two: Supporting The Peremptory Strike,” The Bulletin, The Official Newspaper of the Dade County Bar Association, (June 2002).
• Co-Author, Batson Challenges – Part Three: Plausible Challenge Or Pretext For Discrimination?,” The Bulletin, The Official Newspaper of the Dade County Bar Association, (July 2002).
• Co-Author, “Arbitration of Employment Claims: More Favored Than Ever,” The Bulletin, The Official Newspaper of the Miami Dade County Bar Association, (2003).
• Editor, VIII The Fidelity Law Association Journal, (2002). “On Premises,” Financial Institution Bond Annotated, (ABA 2002).
• Editor, Form IX The Fidelity Law Association Journal, (2003). “Florida,” State-By-State Guide To Architect, Engineer & Contractor Licensing (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Cumulative Supplements).
• “The Surety’s Assertion of Construction Claims Against Obligee,” paper delivered and distributed at ABA, Forum on Construction Mid Winter Meeting, 2003.
• Co-Author, “Loss Resulting Directly From _” Causation Under the Financial Institution Bond and Similar Insurance Forms, IX The Fidelity Law Association Journal 25 (2003).
• Co-Author, “What’s the Worst that Could Happen? Ethical Risks Inherent in Joint Representation of the Surety Client and its Principal,” 13 Construct! 1 (2004).
• Co-Author, “Recent Developments in Fidelity and Surety Law,” 40 Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal 447 (2005).
• “Message from the Co-chairs,” 15 Construct! 2 (Spring, 2006).
• “A Practitioner’s Introduction to Prompt Payment Statutes,” 15 Construct! – The newsletter of the Construction Litigation Committee, Litigation Section, ABA (Summer, 2006).
• “Introduction to Construction Bonds and Insurance,” Basic Construction Law 2006, Fla. Bar (2006).
• “Recent Developments in Fidelity and Surety Law,” 41 Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal 429, (ABA, 2006).
• “Disability Discrimination – Litigation Update: Association for Disabled Americans v. Key Largo Bay Beach,” The Bulletin: The Official Newspaper of the Miami Dade County Bar Association (April, 2006).
• “To Pay or Not to Pay; To or Not to Stay: Contractual and Statutory Analysis of an Owner’s Right to Withhold Payment for Work Performed,” ABA program materials for Forum on the Construction Industry’s 2006 Fall Meeting.
• “Methods for Adding Clarity and Persuasiveness to the Trial of Complex Surety Cases,” ABA program materials for the 2007 Complex Surety Trial program.
• “Use of Experts in Discovery and Preparation for Trial,” ABA program materials for Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Midwinter 2007 program.

Speeches, Panel Discussions, Seminars:

• “Overview and Introduction to the New 1986 Form 24 Financial Institution Bond,” ABA Fidelity & Surety Meeting, (January, 1987)
• “The History and Development of the Unfair Claims Practices Act,” paper given and delivered at the National Bond Claims Association, 1989.
• “From Fiduciary to Watchdog: The Duty of Attorneys and Accountants to be Their Client Financial Institutions’ Keeper,” paper given and delivered at the ABA Litigation Section Mid-Year Meeting, 1991.
• “Arbitration: Between a Rock and a Hard Place – A Surety’s Concerns,” paper given and delivered at the ABA Litigation Section Annual Meeting, 1991.
• “Deep Pocket Perspectives: An Analysis of Environmental Clean up Liability from the Vantage Points of the Lender, the Surety, and the General Liability Insurer,” paper given and delivered at the ABA Construction Litigation Program, (August 1993).
• “Politically Correct Lending – The Equal Opportunity Act,” paper given and delivered at the Progressive Casualty Insurance Company’s Fourth Annual Banking Law Seminar, 1994.
• “Insured’s Bad Faith and Fraud – What’s a Fidelity Insurer to Do?” >paper delivered and distributed at the Surety Claims Institute Annual Meeting, (June 1998).
• Professional Misconduct Issues in the Lustig Cases: Judicial Recusal, Sanctions, Fraud on the Court, and Other Bad Acts,” paper given and delivered at the ABA/TIPS Fidelity & Surety Law Committee Midwinter Meeting, 2000.
• “The Surety’s Assertion of Construction Claims Against Obligee,” paper delivered and distributed at ABA, Forum on Construction Mid Winter Meeting, 2003.
• “Real Estate Related Discrimination Claims,” paper presented and distributed at the 16th Annual Institute on Real Property Law, University of Miami, 2003.
• Representing the Surety in Construction Arbitration,” topic presented as panelist at the AAA Second Annual National Forum on Conflict Management in the Construction Industry, 2004.
• “It’s New Era, Its not Just Ethics Any More,” panelist, (Florida Bar 2004).
• “The Role of the Economic Loss Doctrine in Construction Contracting,” paper presented and distributed at ABA, Forum on the Construction Industry, Annual Meeting, 2005.
• Speaker, “Rainmaking Made Simple: What Every Lawyer Should Know,” ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section Joint Spring Meeting 2005.
• “Rainmaking Made Simple: What Every Young Lawyer Should Know,” Dade County Bar Association/Young Lawyers Section Professionalism Workshop (March 10, 2006).
• “Use of Expert Witnesses in Mediation,” ABA, ADR Section Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA (April 7, 2006).
• “Bonds and Insurance,” Florida Bar Basic Construction Law CLE, Miami, FL (November 17, 2005, and again on August 24, 2006).
• “How to Avoid Overtime Lawsuits,” Daily Business Review Labor & Employment Roundtable, Miami, FL (September 14, 2006).
• “To Pay or Not to Pay, to Stay or Not to Stay: An owner’s perspective on how to best draft construction contracts to insure the owner’s right to withhold payments otherwise due the contractor,” 2006 Fall Annual Meeting of ABA Forum on Construction Industry, Scottsdale, AZ.
• “Use of Experts in Discovery and Preparation for Trial,” ABA program for Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Midwinter 2007 program.

• Florida (1976)
• United States District Courts for the Southern District of Florida (1977) and Middle District of Florida (1985)
• Trial Bar for the Southern District of Florida (1982)
• United States Eleventh and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeal (1981)