Attorney David W. Bianchi

44 Years of Experience

David Bianchi is a trial lawyer with 44 years of experience representing clients in cases throughout Florida and the United States. As NewsNation put it, “David Bianchi is recognized as one of the nation’s most successful lawyers in fraternity hazing cases.” The Daily Business Review described him as “a national leader in hazing litigation,” The Miami Herald referred to him as a "national leader in hazing litigation with over 40 years experience,” and Nancy Grace, on the television program Crime Stories, described him as “America’s leading hazing lawyer.” He has obtained the largest fraternity hazing verdict in the country and tens of millions of dollars for hazing victims and their families. He is also one of the authors of Florida’s tough felony hazing law, has been an invited speaker on hazing law in Florida and elsewhere, and has been interviewed by various television, radio, and newspapers on hazing issues.

In addition, he has been honored by his fellow lawyers with numerous awards including annual inclusion in the prestigious “Best Lawyers in America” publication; “Super Lawyers;” Florida Trend’s “Legal Elite;” “Top Lawyers;” etc. He has been selected by the "Best Lawyers in America" publication as Miami "Lawyer of the Year" numerous times for representing people who were injured as a result of defective products, as well as his accomplishments in personal injury litigation. He also also been recognized on the list of Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers. In addition to his experience with hazing cases, David has represented clients in a wide variety of product liability cases and obtained the first defective airbag verdict against Mercedes Benz in the country.

This is what the Best Lawyer's website states about David’s “Lawyer of the Year” award:

Lawyers being honored as "Lawyer of the Year" are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the exhaustive peer-review assessments we conduct with thousands of leading lawyers each year. Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.

He is also the recipient of the Daily Business Review’s 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” award in the category of Public Interest for his success in getting “Andrew’s Law” passed by the Florida legislature and signed into law by Governor DeSantis. This was the second time in the past 18 years that Mr. Bianchi drafted changes to Florida’s anti-hazing law and successfully lobbied the legislature to enact his changes. No other Florida lawyer has had a greater impact on hazing law and hazing cases and his achievements were recognized with this very prestigious award.

Mr. Bianchi has represented clients in a wide variety of cases including business disputes, defective cars and trucks, class actions, suits arising from poorly constructed homes, medical and legal malpractice, automobile accidents, negligent security claims, claims against insurance agents and insurance companies, airplane crashes and many others.

Notable Case Verdicts & Settlements

Mr. Bianchi obtained a $14 million verdict for the parents of Chad Meredith who died in a fraternity-related hazing event at the University of Miami which is believed to be the largest hazing verdict in the country and he obtained the first verdict in the country against Mercedes-Benz in a case involving a defective airbag system in a Mercedes. He has successfully represented clients in cases against Toyota, Nissan, Chrysler, Suzuki, and Ford as well. To date, he has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars of verdicts and settlements for his clients.

Past & Present Professional Memberships

Mr. Bianchi has been active in legal and professional organizations for over thirty years:

• He is a former member of the Florida Bar's Board of Governors where he chaired the Insurance Practices Special Study Committee, a committee that created a new disclosure form for use in certain lawsuits in Florida which was subsequently adopted and made mandatory by the Florida Supreme Court.
• He is past chairman of the Trial Lawyer's Section of the Florida Bar, an organization of 6,500 lawyers representing both plaintiffs and defendants.
• He is past chairman of the Joint Committee of the Trial Lawyers Section and the Conference of Circuit and County Court Judges resulting in the publication of a handbook for judges and lawyers that is now updated and republished every year.
• He is past President of the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar, an organization of 14,000 lawyers, and the recipient of the 2000 Florida Bar President's award for "Outstanding" contributions to the Bar and to the citizens of the State of Florida.
• He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocacy, an invitation-only group of trial lawyers who have tried at least 25 cases to verdict.
• He is a former member of the board of directors of the Coral Gables Bar Association.

Giving Back to the Community

In addition to his activities involving the practice of law, David has been active in charitable, community and business activities as well. For many years, he and his wife Julia were very involved in supporting Kristi House, a local charity that provides services to children who are victims of sexual abuse. For many years David served as the auctioneer for the organization's principal fundraising dinner. Along with his wife, he has chaired the Annual Ball for the American Red Cross in Miami and has been a regular supporter of several programs under the auspices of the Red Cross. He is frequently asked to serve as the auctioneer for various charitable galas and he has successfully done so for the Red Cross, Kristi House, the Sylvester Cancer Institute, the Stan Hywett Hall and Gardens in Akron, Ohio, Plymouth Congregational Church in Coconut Grove, Florida and for an Olympic campaign for a two-person sailing team from Miami.

David has served in various other leadership positions in the community:

• David is the past chairman of the Board of Trustees of Plymouth Congregational Church. He chaired the annual fundraising campaign for the church and is a former Moderator for Plymouth, the highest lay position within the structure of the Congregational Church. Additionally, he recently served on the pastoral search committee.
• He is a past director of the Fisher Island Club, Inc. on Fisher Island, Florida, and was the chairman of the board of the Harborview Condominium Association for 10 years on Fisher Island.
• He is a former Vice-Chairman of the holding company of Florida Savings Bank, a local bank that was sold to Commerce Bank.
• A former director of Affomix Corporation, an antibody company spun out of Yale University that was sold to Illumina, Inc.
• The former Chairman of GnuBIO, Inc., a DNA sequencing company spun out of Harvard University that was sold to Bio Rad, Inc. and related matters.

In addition to his legal and charitable work, David is the author of "Blue Chip Kids; what every kid (and parent) should know about money, investing and the stock market." The book was published by Wiley and became the #1 book on Amazon for "Kids and Money." A television series about the book appeared on public television stations in half the markets in the United States. David is a frequent speaker on the subject of the importance of teaching financial literacy to young people and has been interviewed on more than 50 TV and radio stations throughout the United States and Canada about the subject.

Areas of Practice

• Fraternity Hazing Law
• Sorority Hazing Law
• High School Hazing Law
• College Hazing Law
• Organizational Hazing Law
• Sports Teams Hazing Law
• Military Hazing Law
• Admiralty & Maritime Law
• Aviation
• Business & Commercial Law
• Contracts
• Legal Malpractice
• Litigation & Appeals
• Medical Malpractice Law
• Motor Vehicle Accidents - Plaintiff
• Nursing Home
• Personal Injury - Plaintiff
• Products Liability Law
• Professional Malpractice Law
• Toxic Torts
• Litigation Percentage

Litigation Percentage

• 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

• Florida, 1979
• U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida
• New York
• Washington D.C.

Education

• Boston College Law School, Boston, Massachusetts, 1979 J.D.
• Tufts University, 1976 B.A., Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Economics.

Published Works

• Construction Accidents: The Search For A Defendant , Florida Bar Journal, Oct., 1984
• Negligent Operation Of A Pleasure Boat, American Jurisprudence, Proof of Fact 2d, Vol. 43, 1985
• All Our Lawyers Are Juris Doctors, Florida Bar Journal, Jan., 1989
• Hazing Horrors: Who’s Accountable?, Trial Magazine, June 2019

Honors & Awards

• “Most Effective Lawyer” in the Category of Public Interest by Daily Business Review (2019)
• Top Attorneys by South Florida Legal Guide (2018-2019)
  • Trial Practice, Personal Injury, and Wrongful Death – Plaintiff
• "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, Miami (2021)
• "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs, Miami (2019)
• "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs, Miami (2017)
• "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, Miami (2016)
• "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs, Miami (2013)
• Best Lawyers® for Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs (2024)
• Best Lawyers® for Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs (2024)
• Nominee, Trial Lawyer of the Year, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, 1989
• The Florida Bar, President's Award of Merit, 2000, in recognition of his outstanding leadership as Chairman of the Insurance Practices Special Study Committee and the adoption of a Client's Bill of Rights for the benefit of all lawyers and citizens of the State of Florida
• Florida Trend's Legal Elite
• Selected to Super Lawyers (2007 - 2020)
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers