2025 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America

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August 19, 2024

Why You Can Trust Tampa Personal Injury Lawyers

Tampa Personal Injury Lawyers has over six decades of experience helping injured people. We have a proven track record of success for our clients. Our law firm has been around for a long time because we get great results and don’t take advantage of people.
Our lawyers are featured in The Best Lawyers of America 2024 Edition for Personal Injury, it is an honor that reflects our excellence in the field. This recognition is based on a rigorous peer-review survey, where leading attorneys evaluate the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Other lawyers in the field confirm our reputation for delivering outstanding legal representation to our clients.
Our personal injury lawyers have achieved a 10.0 AVVO rating, the highest possible score, this signifies our attorneys’ substantial experience and successful track record. This rating considers various factors, including years of practice, disciplinary history, professional achievements, and peer endorsements. Attorneys with a history of winning complex, high-stakes cases are more likely to achieve this rating, which serves as a benchmark of excellence and reliability in the legal profession.
Our Personal Injury lawyers have been selected to be on the Florida Super Lawyers 2024 list. Super Lawyers is an exclusive list that honors less than 5 percent of attorneys in the entire state of Florida. Super Lawyers is a research-driven and peer-conducted rating system that is part of Thomson Reuters. Only the most outstanding lawyers with substantial professional achievements are chosen by their peers to represent Super Lawyers. With their patented multiphase selection process, this honor reinforces our lawyers’ high standings both with the clients we work with and the legal community as a whole.
Our attorneys are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum which is one of the most prestigious acknowledgments a trial attorney can receive. Less than 1% of attorneys in the United States are members of this elite group, which is reserved for those who have won million-dollar or multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements. This exclusive membership demonstrates our lawyers’ exceptional skill and success in handling significant personal injury cases.
Our firm has been recognized as ‘Best Law Firm’ and ‘Best in Personal Injury Law’ by the Tampa Bay Times’ Best of the Best People’s Choice Award. Our firm has been the recipient of the Tampa Bay Times’ Best of the Best People’s Choice Award consecutively over the last five years. This award is a community voting based contest that chooses the best businesses, companies and services in Tampa Bay. Every year, the Tampa community members cast over 135,000 votes to choose the top businesses in the area. We are honored to have our efforts in Personal Injury law be recognized by the people of Tampa Bay.
Tampa Personal Injury Lawyers stands out due to our commitment to client success and our extensive expertise in personal injury law. Our attorneys have consistently secured favorable outcomes for clients, earning reputations for diligence, compassion, and legal acumen. Simply put, they are the toughest around, but also fair. Our firm is dedicated to providing personalized service, ensuring that each client receives the attention and support they deserve throughout their legal journey. You can count on Tampa Personal Injury Lawyers to have your back.

Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A. is pleased to announce the recognition of twelve distinguished lawyers in the 31st edition of The Best Lawyers in America and the fifth edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America.

The firm takes pride that our attorneys have been recognized. We are dedicated to our clients and to helping people during their time of legal need.

Best Lawyers in America recognize the following attorneys in their respective specialties:

Sean K. McQuaid (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2023)

Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs

Aubrey O. Dicus, Jr. (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2010)

Commercial Litigation
Criminal Defense: General Practice
Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs

Jonathon Douglas (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2023)

Insurance Law
Litigation – Insurance

Robert Kapusta, Jr. (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2023)

Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
Corporate Law
Real Estate Law
Trusts and Estates

Bruce Marger (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2009)

Litigation – Trusts and Estates
Trusts and Estates

Andrew R. Pardun (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2023)

Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
Litigation – Real Estate
Real Estate Law

C. Hunter Rawls (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2025)

Litigation – Trusts and Estates
Trusts and Estates

Howard P. Ross (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2013)

Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
Commercial Litigation
Commercial Transactions / UCC Law
Corporate Law
Litigation – Mergers and Acquisitions
Litigation – Real Estate
Real Estate Law

Caitlin C. Szematowicz (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2023)

Commercial Litigation

Kenneth Thornton (Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2024)

Real Estate Law

Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America (2025 Edition)

Lama Alqasemi (Recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America since 2024)

Elder Law

Ranger Jackson (Recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America since 2025)

Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs

Table of Contents

Sean K. McQuaid

Sean K. McQuaid is recognized in The Best Lawyers of America, 2025 Edition, for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs. He is the President and Managing Partner of Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A., and served as President of the St. Petersburg Bar Association from 2020 to 2021. His expertise includes Personal injury, Car accidents, Motorcycle accidents, Truck accidents, Wrongful death, and Criminal defense.

Aubrey O. Dicus, Jr.

Aubrey has been recognized in the 2025 Edition of Best Lawyers in America for expertise in Criminal Defense – General Practice, Criminal Defense – White Collar, Commercial Litigation, and Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs. With nearly 50 years of service at the firm, Aubrey also holds the distinction of having handled virtually every type of case there is- from the smallest matter to the most high profile.

Andrew R. Pardun

Andrew R. Pardun is acknowledged in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers for his expertise in Real Estate Law and Litigation – Real Estate. His additional areas of practice encompass Commercial and Residential Title Insurance, Commercial and Residential Real Estate Closings, and Business Law.

Bruce Marger

Bruce Marger has been recognized in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers for his expertise in Trusts and Estates and Litigation – Trusts and Estates. He practices in Estate Planning, Estate and Gift Tax Planning, Income Tax Preparation for Estates and Trusts, Probate Administration, Trust Administration, Real Property Law, and Probate and Trust Litigation. Additionally, he specializes in assisting clients with planning qualified IRA distributions.

Caitlin C. Szematowicz

Caitlin C. Szematowicz has been acknowledged in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers for her expertise in Commercial Litigation. Since joining Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A. in 2012, she has consistently delivered exceptional legal services in the areas of Civil and Commercial Litigation, Appeals, and Employment Law (for employers).

Howard P. Ross

Howard P. Ross is recognized in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers for his expertise in Real Estate Law, Real Estate Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions/UCC Law, Corporate Law, Litigation-Mergers and Acquisitions, and Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships). He has been with the firm since its inception and has been a member of the Florida Bar and the American Bar Association for over 50 years.

Jonathon Douglas

Jonathon Douglas, honored in Best Lawyers 2025 for Insurance Law and Insurance Litigation, is a St. Petersburg native and distinguished attorney. He has dedicated his career to representing policyholders in complex insurance litigation and now serves as a partner at Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A., focusing on personal injury and insurance disputes.

Kenneth Thornton

Kenneth Thornton is recognized in the Best Lawyers 2025 Edition for Real Estate Law. He represents borrowers and lenders in asset-based lending, provides real estate counsel for lenders, and represents buyers and sellers in commercial real estate. On the Executive Council of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar, he previously chaired several committees and now chairs the Property Legal Opinions Committee.

Robert Kapusta, Jr.

Robert Kapusta, Jr. is acknowledged in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers for his expertise in Real Estate Law and Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law. His additional areas of practice encompass Mergers and Acquisitions, Business and Corporate Law, as well as Tax and Estate Planning.

C. Hunter Rawls

C. Hunter Rawls has been recognized in Best Lawyers for his outstanding contributions in Litigation – Trusts and Estates and Trusts and Estates. A sixth-generation Floridian, Hunter practices in the Wills, Trusts, and Estates division of Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A. With a robust background in estate planning and a strong litigation history, Hunter offers top-quality representation, whether drafting testamentary documents or litigating disputes.

Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch 2025

Lama Alqasemi

Lama is one of the Best Lawyer’s 2025 “One’s to Watch” honorees for her specialty in Elder Law. Lama also specializes in legal practices involving Charitable Gift Planning, Business Succession Planning, Estate Planning, Estate and Trust Administration, Guardianship, Medicaid Eligibility, and Qualified Income Trusts. She is a graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, holds a Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.), and graduated from George Mason University School of Law with her Juris Doctor.

Ranger Jackson

Ranger Jackson has been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America for “Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs.” Ranger brings a diverse background in personal injury, criminal defense, and civil litigation. His impressive career includes stints as a prosecutor in both Pinellas County, Florida, and the San Francisco Bay Area, where he handled high-profile cases and led an electronic investigations unit.

Best Lawyers in America and Ones to Watch 2025

Before online reviews, people relied on personal recommendations for legal counsel. Since 1981, “Best Lawyers” has guided users based on the principle that top lawyers recognize excellence in their peers. Through extensive peer-review surveys, only a select few are titled “Best Lawyers in America.”

In 2025, their 31st edition highlights the top 5.3% of U.S. attorneys across over 150 practice areas, evaluated through more than 12 million reviews. The “Ones to Watch” edition spotlights rising stars with exceptional early-career performance.

CEO Phil Greer emphasizes their commitment to recognizing outstanding legal professionals and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

About the Firm: Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A.

Founded in 1958, Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & McQuaid, P.A. is one of Florida’s oldest law firms. We deliver quality legal services to individuals and businesses of all sizes. You can rely on our advice on business and corporate law, criminal law, estate planning, litigation, personal injury, property damage, real estate, wills, trusts, and probate. For more information, visit https://www.stpetelawgroup.com.