DAVID J. SALES is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees in French and served as a graduate teaching fellow. He obtained his law degree from the University of Chicago, where he was the Articles Editor of the Legal Forum. After law school, David served as a clerk to Judge Thomas A. Clark at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta. Following two years with a large Boston firm, David returned to Florida, and spent more than two decades with Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., where he was a shareholder from 1993 to 2011 and also served on the firm's Executive Committee. At Searcy Denney, David had a diverse trial practice, which included significant tort and product defect cases, civil rights, and business disputes. David is one of the principal architects of the Florida's statewide tobacco litigation, following the Florida Supreme Court's Engle decision.
David is only one of five Florida lawyers certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in both appellate practice and civil trial law. He is included in the Best Lawyers in America, Florida Trend Magazine's List of "Legal Elite," and Super Lawyers. He received the South Florida Business Journal's 2012 Award for "Most Effective Lawyer" in the field of product liability. From 2011 through 2017, David served on Florida's Standard Jury Instruction Committee (Civil). He has served as a director or trustee on charitable boards in the fields of public broadcasting and advocacy for farmworkers.
