Areas Of Practice

• Appeals
• Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith
• General Litigation
• Insurance Defense

Kansas R. Gooden, a Board Certified Appellate Specialist and AV Rated attorney, serves as the firm’s Appellate Practice Group Leader.  She has extensive experience handling all types of civil appellate proceedings, including extraordinary writs and plenary appeals, in state and federal courts.  She also provides litigation and trial support to attorneys throughout the state. She currently works remotely for the firm in Miami.  Through her remote work, she is able to efficiently and more cost-effectively serve her clients needs.

Ms. Gooden is highly involved in the state and local bar associations and has served in many leadership roles.  Currently, she is on the board of the Florida Defense Lawyers Association as the Third District Representative and serves as the chair of the organization’s Amicus Committee.  On behalf of the organization, she authors and co-authors amicus briefs in important cases impacting tort, litigation, and insurance issues.  She is on the Florida Bar’s Appellate Board Certification Committee, which writes and grades the board certification test. The committee also examines the fitness of the candidates for board certification and those applying for recertification. She is also on the Executive Council of the Florida Bar’s Appellate Section and is the current chair of the CLE Committee. As chair, Ms. Gooden is responsible for creating and organizing the CLE programing for the section.  Moreover, Ms. Gooden is a frequent lecturer and travels the state presenting seminars and presentations on various topics to both attorneys and adjusters.

While in law school, Ms. Gooden interned for the Third District Court of Appeal Chief Judge David Gersten. It was there that she developed her passion for appellate practice. Additionally, Ms. Gooden played nationally competitive junior, amateur and collegiate golf. She was the Virginia State Girls Golf Champion in 1997 and 1999 and was awarded the Marion Miley Bracelet by the Western Women’s Golf Association in 1997.

Admissions

• Florida, 2008 – Board Certified Appellate Practice
• United States District Court
  • Northern District of Florida, 2009
  • Middle District of Florida, 2009
  • Southern District of Florida, 2009
• United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, 2012

Awards & Recognition

• Board Certified in Appellate Practice by The Florida Bar, 2015-present
• AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, 2018
• Listed in Attorney at Law Magazine, Jacksonville, as a Rising Star, 2016
• Listed in Attorney at Law Magazine, Jacksonville, in Top Ten Under 40, 2016-2017
• Listed in Florida Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in Appellate Practice, 2011-2018
• Recipient of Amicus Award from the Florida Defense Lawyers Association, 2015. This award is bestowed upon an appellate attorney with significant contributions to the defense bar through Amicus, or “Friend of the Court,” briefs.
• Recipient of the James A. Dixon Young Lawyer of the Year Award from the Florida Defense Lawyers Association, 2017. The award is given annually to a young lawyer who exceeds the standards of excellence, dedication and commitment to the FDLA and its goals.

Memberships

• The Florida Bar – Appellate Section
  • Appellate Practice Board Certification Committee, 2017-2020
  • Executive Council, 2015-2018
  • Publications Committee Member, 2014-present
    • Assistant Editor of the Florida Bar Journal, 2014-2016
  • CLE Committee Member, 2013 – present
    • Co-Chair of the Monthly Telephonic CLEs, 2015-2017
    • Chair, Essential of Appellate Law CLE, 2017
    • Chair, Hot Topics in Appellate Law CLE, 2013
  • Outreach Committee Member, 2014-2016
    • Liaison to the Jacksonville Bar Association, 2014-2016
• First District Appellate Inn of Court – Barrister, 2011-present
• Third District Court of Appeal Historical Society, 2017-present
• Jacksonville Bar Association
  • Vice Chair of the Appellate Section, 2012-2013
  • Chair of the Appellate Section, 2013-2014
• Florida Defense Lawyers Association
  • Amicus Committee, 2010-present
  • Board of Directors – First District Representative, 2016-present
• Jacksonville Association of Defense Counsel
  • Secretary, 2013
  • Vice President, 2014
  • President, 2015
• Federalist Society, 2015-present
• 4th Judicial Circuit Large Firm Pro Bono Subcommittee, 2011-2012
• Ronald McDonald House’s Inaugural Golf Tournament Committee, Member, 2014