Mark D. Tinker is Board Certified in Appellate Practice with The Florida Bar—a status earned by less than two-tenths of one percent of all Florida lawyers—and currently serves as one of nine members of the Bar’s Appellate Practice Certification Committee.  Mr. Tinker maintains an AV Preeminent^® distinction, the highest available mark for professional excellence issued by Martindale-Hubbell’s Peer Review Ratings, and he is annually rated by his peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America^® for Appellate Practice, as one of Florida’s appellate Super Lawyers^®, and as one of the Nation’s Top Attorneys (Top One Percent) by The National Association of Distinguished Counsel.  Mr. Tinker is similarly recognized by his contemporaries as among the Top Attorneys in Tampa Bay and Tampa’s Legal Elite, and he was honored as one of Tampa’s Attorneys of the Year for his appellate proficiency in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Mr. Tinker is distinguished for handling industry-important appeals, and he has practiced before the United States Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court, all five of Florida’s District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as the Federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  With over 20 years of experience, he has been lead counsel in more than 650 appellate matters, including appeals of final and interlocutory orders, certiorari, and other extraordinary writ proceedings.  He has further presented over 135 oral arguments in the Florida Supreme Court, all Florida District Courts of Appeal, and the Federal Eleventh Circuit.  A sample of just a few of Mr. Tinker’s reported decisions is below.

In conjunction with his appellate practice, Mr. Tinker has extensive experience analyzing insurance coverage issues, including recent and industry-leading experience in COVID-19 Business Interruption insurance litigation.  Mr. Tinker is versed in personal and commercial auto, property and homeowner’s, commercial general liability, inland marine, directors and officers, errors and omissions, and professional liability policies and certificates.  His coverage practice includes providing coverage opinions, responding to Civil Remedy notices and time demands, conducting examinations under oath, and litigating declaratory judgment actions.  Mr. Tinker is recognized as a Top-Rated Lawyer in Insurance Law^® by Martindale-Hubbell, and he is annually rated as one of The Best Lawyers in America^® for insurance law, as well as one of Florida’s insurance law Super Lawyers^®.

A sought-after scholar and lecturer, Mr. Tinker is a recurring speaker for, and author with, several professional entities—including the Florida Bar—on topics including appellate practice, legal writing, issue preservation, and Florida bad-faith law.  An advocate of pro bono legal services, Mr. Tinker participates in the Free Legal Answers program administered by the Florida Bar, where he supplies legal advice and guidance to eligible low-income or poverty-level individuals, as well as the Bar’s Lawyers Advising Lawyers service, where other attorneys seek his guidance on matters of appellate practice and procedure.

Mr. Tinker obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester, with a concentration in Psychology, then earned his Juris Doctorate cum laude from Stetson University College of Law.  While attending law school, Mr. Tinker was selected to the prestigious position of Executive Editor of the Stetson Law Review and received a series of distinctions, or “book awards,” for achieving the highest marks in Appellate Practice, Florida Civil Practice, Remedies, Torts II, Research and Writing I, and Research and Writing II.  He is a member of the Florida Bar, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and the St. Petersburg Bar Association.