DAVID J. SALES is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in French and served as a graduate teaching fellow. He obtained his law degree from the University of Chicago, where he was the Articles Editor of the Legal Forum. After law school, David served as a clerk to Judge Thomas A. Clark at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta. Following two years with a large Boston firm, David returned to Florida, and spent more than two decades with Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., where he was a shareholder from 1993 to 2011 and also served on the firm’s Executive Committee. At Searcy Denney, David had a diverse trial practice, which included significant tort and product defect cases, civil rights, and business disputes. David is one of the principal architects of the Florida’s statewide tobacco litigation, following the Florida Supreme Court’s Engle decision.
David is one of only seven Florida lawyers certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in both appellate practice and civil trial law. He has acted as lead counsel in over 100 appellate cases, and principal trial counsel in dozens more. David is included in the Best Lawyers in America, Florida Trend Magazine’s List of “Legal Elite,” and Super Lawyers. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the American Bar Foundation. In 2012, David received the South Florida Business Journal’s Award for “Most Effective Lawyer” in the field of product liability. From 2011 through 2017, David served on Florida’s Standard Jury Instruction Committee (Civil). He has served as a director or trustee on charitable boards in the fields of public broadcasting and advocacy for farmworkers.
DANIEL R. HOFFMAN is a graduate of Queens College and Harvard Law School. For several years, he practiced with large New York law firms in the field of transactional real estate. In 2010, he shifted his practice to litigation, and joined the firm in 2016. Dan’s current practice concentrates on appellate litigation. Dan has appeared in more than 30 appellate cases, and acted as the author of the principal briefs in several cases filed in Florida’s appellate courts.
Dan is active with the National Parkinson Foundation, the Miami Beach JCC, and the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society, where he serves as an editor of the Society’s Review.
