Fisher Rushmer, P.A.

Focus and practice areas

Founded in 1984, Fisher Rushmer, P.A. is a civil trial and appellate firm in Orlando, Florida. Four decades of work give it a long footing in Central Florida. The firm carries disputes through the courts and also handles matters that resolve by agreement.

The stated practice areas cover a broad field of civil work. They include appellate law, general civil litigation, commercial and business litigation, construction law, and contract dispute litigation. The firm also handles insurance coverage and bad faith, medical malpractice and health matters, professional liability, commercial real estate, and wrongful death and personal injury. Mediation appears on the same list, so some matters reach a settlement before a trial begins.

In my opinion, that spread points to a firm built around commercial and insurance disputes, with construction and personal injury work alongside. A client with a contract fight, a coverage question, or a construction claim would find a matching area here. The common thread is a dispute that needs resolving, whether in court or through negotiation.

How the team is built

The website lists 17 attorneys, a size that fits a firm handling both trial and appellate matters. The named attorneys include Gary H. Rushmer, whose name the firm carries, along with Joseph L. Amos Jr., Michael M. Brownlee, and Walter A. Ketcham, Jr. The list also names Karina Cabrera, David A. Corso, Eric R. Elms, Jeffrey W. Kirsheman, David C. Knapp, Declan C. McGinty, Stephanie B. Preston, and Jane Scudder.

Why the size matters

A group of this size can assign different lawyers to different stages of a case. One attorney might handle the trial while another prepares an appeal. That division matters in litigation, where trial skills and appellate skills draw on separate habits of work. A trial lawyer manages witnesses and juries. An appellate lawyer works the written record and the case law.

The mix of practice areas suggests the firm groups its lawyers by subject too. Construction claims, insurance coverage, and medical matters each carry their own rules and their own expert witnesses. A firm that lists all three needs lawyers who know each field. Seventeen attorneys give enough room to build that coverage.

Trial and appellate reach

The firm's appellate group has appeared before the Supreme Court of Florida and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Those are the highest court in Florida and a federal appeals court that covers the state. Appearing before them means the firm's appellate work reaches past routine trial-level filings.

Appeals run differently from trials. They turn on the written record and legal briefing, and a higher court reviews how the law was applied below. Fresh evidence rarely enters at that stage. The argument lives in the brief and in a short oral hearing, so clear writing does much of the work.

As a reviewer, I read the appellate record as one of the clearest signals in the firm's own material. Courtroom appearances at that level are concrete facts, and they add weight to the wider litigation practice. A firm that reaches those courts has handled cases important enough to be appealed.

Insurance and coverage work

The firm states that its insurance attorneys belong to the Harmonie Group, a network of law firms. Membership in a group like that connects those lawyers to counterparts in other regions. Insurance coverage and bad faith form one of the firm's named practice areas.

Coverage disputes ask whether a policy pays for a given loss. Bad faith claims go further and question how an insurer handled the claim itself. These matters often move between state and federal court, and they reward lawyers who read policy language closely. The firm's place in this field lines up with its litigation focus and its appellate experience.

Professional liability and medical malpractice work draws on similar ground. Both often involve an insurer, an expert opinion, and a detailed factual record. A firm that already handles coverage disputes has the parts in place for that kind of case.

Working with the firm

Fisher Rushmer works from downtown Orlando, in the Fifth Third Bank building near Lake Eola. The location keeps the firm close to the courts and the business district of Central Florida. Clients across the state also fall within its stated reach.

The firm offers Spanish bilingual services and in-person consultations. Bilingual service widens who can work with the firm without a translator, which helps in a region with a large Spanish-speaking population. For a client weighing options, that access is a practical point in the firm's favor.

Fisher Rushmer pairs a four-decade history with a 17-lawyer bench and a litigation practice that covers both trial and appellate work. The firm names concrete courts it has appeared before and a defined set of practice areas. Those facts give a client a clear starting picture of what the firm handles.

Board certification and attorney credentials

Two of the firm's attorneys hold board certification from the Florida Bar, a mark that sets a lawyer apart within a defined area of law. Michael M. Brownlee earned board certification in appellate practice in 2016. He earned election to the Order of the Coif at Florida State University College of Law, and he has argued before several U.S. Courts of Appeals. David A. Corso is board certified in civil trial law by the Florida Bar, and he studied at the University of Texas School of Law.

Board certification asks a lawyer to meet defined standards of experience and to pass an examination in the chosen area. A client reading these credentials gets a concrete measure to weigh. The two certifications sit on opposite sides of the firm's work, one in appeals and one in civil trials.

Individual practice and local roots

The named attorneys carry their own areas within the firm's civil work. Joseph L. Amos Jr., a shareholder, took both his bachelor's and law degrees with high honors from the University of Florida, and his practice reaches county and local government law along with mediation. Eric R. Elms, also a shareholder, earned his law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and works in insurance defense and legal malpractice claims. Gary H. Rushmer, who studied at Cornell Law School, handles arbitration and mediation alongside medical malpractice work.

Other lawyers fill out the construction and employment side of the practice. Stephanie B. Preston, a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, works in employment and labor as well as construction and development matters. C. Gene Shipley handles litigation and landlord-tenant disputes, and his focus on tenancy connects the firm's commercial real estate work to the everyday side of property law. Walter A. Ketcham, Jr., a Stetson University College of Law graduate, takes both defense and plaintiff personal injury cases.

Some of these lawyers hold standing in the local bar. Shipley was President of the Orange County Bar Association from 2007 to 2008, a role that ties the firm to the legal community around its downtown office. For a client, that kind of position signals a lawyer known to the courts and colleagues in the county where much of the firm's work sits.