John M. Fitzgibbons
John M. Fitzgibbons

John M. Fitzgibbons

John M. Fitzgibbons began his career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Iowa where he also served as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief, Criminal Division. He then spent two years as a Special Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington where he directed a Congressional investigation into the nation’s meat industry involving criminal and antitrust issues. Mr. Fitzgibbons returned to federal criminal prosecution for three years as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section in Washington, which has responsibility for public corruption cases in the United States. Mr. Fitzgibbons then came to Tampa where he spent four years as an Assistant United States Attorney and was the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. In 1987, Mr. Fitzgibbons left the United States Attorney’s Office in Tampa and founded this firm.

Awards and Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America (Two Practice Areas, Criminal Defense: White-Collar and Criminal Defense: General Practice)
  • The Best Lawyers in America, Best Law Firms in the United States (Two Practice Areas, Criminal Defense: White Collar and Criminal Defense: General Practice)
  • Florida Super Lawyers (Criminal Defense, White Collar)
  • Florida’s Legal Elite (Criminal Law)
  • Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers (Criminal Law)
  • Hillsborough County Trial Lawyers Section James H. Kynes “In the Trenches” Memorial Award for Excellence in Criminal Litigation
  • Goldburg-Cacciatore Criminal Law American Inn of Court Jack Edmund Award for Excellence and Civility in the Practice of Criminal Law
  • Federal Bar Association, Tampa Bay Chapter, Judge George C. Carr Memorial Award for Excellence in Federal Practice and Distinguished Service to the Federal Bar
  • Best Lawyers in America 2014 Lawyer of the Year for Tampa (Criminal Defense: General Practice)
  • Best Lawyers in America 2016 Lawyer of the Year for Tampa (Criminal Defense: General Practice)
  • Best Lawyers in America 2020 Lawyer of the Year for Tampa (Criminal Defense: White-Collar)
  • Best Lawyers in America 2023 Lawyer of Year for Tampa (Criminal Defense: General Practice)
  • Tampa Bay Top Lawyers, Criminal Defense, Tampa Magazine
  • Honorary Special Agent, Criminal Investigation (CI), Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Treasury
  • Special Achievement Awards, U.S. Department of Justice

Legal Organizations and Appointments

  • Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers and former State Committee member for Florida. (The College recognizes the very best of the courtroom bars of the United States and Canada. Membership in the College, founded in 1950, is by invitation only, is limited to 1% of the attorneys practicing in a state and Fellows are selected only upon nomination and review at the local, state and national level and must have extensive courtroom trial experience.)
  • Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers. (The Academy is a group of elite trial lawyers from the United States and from more than 30 countries. Membership in the Academy, founded in 1954, is by invitation only, U.S. Fellows are limited to 500 active lawyers in the United States, and trial lawyers are invited to become Fellows only after nomination and review at the state and national level.)
  • Fellow, American Board of Criminal Lawyers. (The ABCL, founded in 1978, is an exclusive national legal honorary society for outstanding criminal defense lawyers. Membership in the ABCL is by invitation only and Fellows must have successful major felony trial experience and exceptional recommendations from distinguished jurists and current Fellows attesting to each candidate’s high ethics as well as their litigation skills in the area of criminal defense.)
  • Court-Appointed Chairman, Grievance Committee, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Tampa and Ft. Myers Divisions
  • Court-Appointed Member, Merit Selection Panel for U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • Court-Appointed Member, Merit Selection Panel for Re-appointment of U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • Court-Appointed Lawyer-Delegate, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference
  • President, Goldburg-Cacciatore Criminal Law American Inn of Court, Tampa
  • President, Tampa Bay Chapter, Federal Bar Association
  • Chair, Trial Lawyers Section, Hillsborough County Bar Association, Tampa
  • The Florida Bar
  • The District of Columbia Bar
  • The Iowa State Bar Association

Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission

Senator Bill Nelson’s remarks to the Federal Bar Association when Mr. Fitzgibbons received the Judge George C. Carr Memorial Award for Excellence in Federal Practice. Watch now.

Mr. Fitzgibbons served for seven years as the Statewide Chair of the Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission, having been appointed by Florida Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio. He served for a total of fourteen years on the Commission. When directed to do so by the Senators, the Commission accepted applications for all U.S. District Judge, U.S. Attorney and U.S. Marshal vacancies in Florida. The Commission then selected the finalists for each vacancy and forwarded their names to Senator Nelson and Senator Rubio, who interviewed each of the finalists, and then forwarded the names of their finalists to the President.

Certifications

  • Board Certified Specialist (BCS) in Criminal Trial Law, Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education. (Less than 450 of Florida’s 111,000 lawyers are Board Certified Specialists in Criminal Trial Law)
  • Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer, National Board of Trial Advocacy

Court Admissions

  • Florida
  • District of Columbia
  • Iowa
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Tax Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for Eighth Circuit, Fifth Circuit, District of Columbia Circuit, Eleventh Circuit and Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida and numerous other U.S. District Courts throughout the United States

Government Positions

  • Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief, Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida, Tampa
  • Trial Attorney, Public Integrity Section, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
  • Special Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
  • Assistant U.S. Attorney, First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief, Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Iowa, Des Moines
  • Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Kentucky, Lexington
  • Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Iowa, Des Moines

Education

  • B.A., St. Norbert College
  • J.D., University of Iowa College of Law

John M. Fitzgibbons
International Academy of Trial Lawyers