D. Keith Thomas

ATTORNEY AT LAW

D. Keith Thomas is a trial lawyer with The Barry A. Cohen Law Group, who brings over twenty years of civil trial practice to the firm in cases involving significant injury or death suffered as the result of negligence of another. Recently, Mr. Thomas was elected by his peers to join a distinguished group of attorneys as one of Florida’s Legal Elite in Florida Trend Magazine.

Mr. Thomas focuses his effort on areas of practice including products liability, trucking accidents, motorcycle accidents, negligent security, nursing home negligence, and medical malpractice.

Mr. Thomas began his working career as a civilian research and development engineer for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Department of Defense. He worked on the design and development of airborne mine countermeasures at several of the U.S. Navy’s laboratories, including field operations and tests on-board ship and helicopter. As such, he has a detailed knowledge and understanding of mechanical design and manufacturing, as well as physics and biomechanics.

Given Mr. Thomas’s unique background and technical education, Mr. Thomas is remarkably positioned to evaluate and handle cases involving defective products and accident reconstruction in a more comprehensible manner distinguishing him from most attorneys. His engineering background and understanding of the complex geometries and forces at play in trucking collisions and product manufacturing gives Mr. Thomas the ability to analyze, evaluate and prosecute complex cases, as well as work with our experts to maximize potential recoveries for the clients we represent.

Mr. Thomas earned his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering Degree from Georgia Institute of Technology before attending and graduating with Honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1989. Initially, Mr. Thomas defended insurance carriers and their insureds in a wide array of injury and death cases. However, 15 years ago, Keith re-focused and committed his practice to the exclusive representation of victims and their families in catastrophic injury and death cases. Mr. Thomas’s defense background gives an inside perspective on how these cases are perceived and handled by insurance carriers and large corporations whose defective product or negligence has resulted in demonstrating losses to individuals and their families.

It is estimated that fewer than seven percent of all practicing attorneys have engineering, science or math undergraduate degrees, and most of those lawyers practice in the areas of patent and intellectual property law. Having a trial lawyer who is also an engineer, as well as a former insurance defense lawyer, on our Advocacy Team gives The Barry A. Cohen Law Group insight and greater ability in personal injury litigation, resulting in a tremendous advantage to our clients.

Keith Thomas is a valued and important member of our trial team whose unique and considerable skills are brought to bear along with The Barry A. Cohen Law Group’s other substantial resources in order to aggressively and intelligently represent our clients.

Bar Admissions

Florida

Court Admissions

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida

Practice Areas

products liability
trucking accidents
motorcycle accidents
negligent security
nursing home negligence
medical malpractice
wrongful death
catastrophic injuries

Work History

U.S. Department of Defense, Panama City, FL (1983-1987

Owner, Panhandle Distributors, Panama Beach City, FL (1985-1987)

Tew, Zinober, & Barnes, P.A., Clearwater, FL (1989-1992)

Williams, Brasfield, Wertz, Fuller, Freeman, & Lovell, P.A., St. Petersburg, FL (1992-1999)

Santa Lucia and Thomas, P.A., Clearwater, FL (1999-2006)

D. Keith Thomas, P.A., Safety Harbor, FL (2006-2010); The Barry A. Cohen Law Group Tampa, FL (2010-current)

Education

Georgia Institute of Technology, 1983, BME

University of Florida College of Law, J. D., 1989, Honors

Affiliations

Florida Justice Association

Awards/Recognitions

Florida’s Legal Elite Florida Trend Magazine

Top Layers in Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Magazine; AV Preeminent Rated Lawyer by Martindale-Hubble for 13 continuous years