386-281-5777

J. Lester Kaney has engaged almost exclusively in the area of civil litigation, including appellate practice, for his entire career. Lester has conducted more than 70 jury trials, and more than 50 non-jury trials and evidentiary proceedings. In addition, Lester has briefed and argued more than 70 appeals in state and federal courts. As an AV-rated* lawyer, Lester is certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer by The Florida Bar, in Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and is also certified by the Florida Bar in the specialty of Business Litigation Law. 

For approximately the first fifteen years of his career, Lester specialized in the defense of personal injury matters. In those years, Lester's clients included USF&G, Southern Bell, Florida Power & Light, State Farm Casualty Insurance Company, Canal Insurance Co., Florida East Coast Railway, Wal-Mart, and a number of other insurance carriers and self-insured companies. Lester also handled a wide variety of commercial, real estate, and probate litigation matters during this period.

In the early 1990's, Lester elected to redirect his practice away from traditional insurance defense toward a business litigation practice.  Lester's specialties are:

 

Business Transaction Litigation

Employment Litigation

Professional Liability

Product Liability Litigation,

Probate/Trust Litigation

Appellate Law

 

In recent years, Lester has served as lead counsel in federal and state court litigation involving claims of sex discrimination, race discrimination, sexual harassment, disability discrimination, and age discrimination. He is a charter member of the American Employment Law Council, which consists of in-house and outside counsel to many of the major corporations in the United States, and which is dedicated to keeping its members current on a vast array of employment law issues, including trial and settlement techniques and strategies.