Attorney Profile

Thomas Scolaro is an expert trial lawyer who handles litigation for personal injury cases for the Benenati Law Firm. He is an accomplished trial lawyer having tried numerous cases resulting in multi-million dollar jury verdicts, including the largest personal injury verdict in Monroe County, FL, $40.5 million, for the assault victim in a hotel parking garage and a $15.4 million verdict for a motor vehicle collision in Broward County, FL. For more than 20 years, he has successfully represented injured clients throughout Florida and nationwide, obtaining over $300 million in settlements and verdicts.

Tom Scolaro is known as a tireless and innovative advocate in the practice of personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice, maritime and wrongful death cases. As a leader in negligent security cases and advocate for crime victims deserving civil justice, Tom has gained statewide praise for the completion of law-changing results improving public safety in the area of carbon monoxide detectors, taking place after 25 clients, who were unsuspecting tourists of an upscale resort in Florida, suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, emanating from the hotel’s boiler system. Just in the last few years, Tom Scolaro has resolved product liability cases ranging from defective guns to defective furniture, the majority of which resulting in wrongful death lawsuits.

Having handled countless motor vehicle accidents cases throughout the state, including mainly trucking accidents, Central Florida has become Tom Scolaro’s second backyard working directly with the Benenati Law Firm serving as lead counsel in just recently, a case that resulted in a $3 million and $1.9 million dollar settlement, respectively, for the Benenati Law Firm. In the last decade, Tom has heavily litigated complex trucking cases and obtained record results on behalf of his clients. With injuries ranging from amputation, traumatic brain injuries, to wrongful death, in the last decade alone, Tom Scolaro’s has recovered over $40 million for his clients involved in trucking accidents. He recently handled an electrocution case against a central Florida resort that resulted in a $10 million settlement. He represented a central Florida client whose toddler died in a furniture tip-over incident resulting in a $17.5 million recovery.

Tom Scolaro has obtained life-changing results for his injured clients, whether burnt, amputated, disfigured, or rendered paralyzed. His unrelenting approach to litigation and ability to strategize the most complex injury cases have earned him a stellar reputation amongst trial lawyers. He has had the distinction of being ranked as one of America’s leading lawyers by prestigious publications, including Best Lawyers in America, Florida Trend Magazine, Florida Super Lawyers and South Florida Legal Guide and nominated as “Most Effective Lawyer in Personal Injury” by the Daily Business Review.

Memberships

• The Florida Bar
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America (Member)
• Inadequate Security Litigation Group
• Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section
• Nursing Home Litigation group
• American Association for Justice
• Florida Justice Association
• Dade County Bar Association
• Dade County Trial Lawyers Association
• Monroe County Bar Association
• Miami Beach Bar Association
• Cuban American Bar Association (C.A.B.A.)

Honors

• Top Up-and-Coming Lawyers in South Florida, South Florida Legal Guide
• 2006, 2007 (Peer selected out of 23,000 practicing lawyers in South Florida)
• Florida Trend Legal Elite
• 2005, 2006 (Top Up-and-Coming Lawyers in Florida)
• Superlawyers – Selected to Super Lawyers
• 2013, 2014, 2020
• Superlawyers – Selected to Florida Rising Stars
• 2011, 2012
• Nominated as Most Effective Lawyers in Personal Injury by Daily Business Review

Education

• Juris Doctor (with honors), The University of Miami School of Law, 1999
• HONORS: Dean’s List
• Litigation Skills Trial Class Honors
• LAW REVIEWS: Business Law Review
• Psychology, Public Policy, and Law – Managing Editor
• Bachelor of Science (with honors), Manhattan College, 1996
• Dean’s Honor List
• WGA Scholarship

Admitted To Practice

• All Florida State Courts
• United States District Court
• Southern District of Florida
• Middle District of Florida

Past Legal Employment

• Certified Legal Intern, State Attorney’s Office – Miami, FL
• Legal Intern, Rockland County District Attorney’s Office – New City, NY
• Legal Intern, Rockland County Public Defender’s Office – New City, NY

Selected Lectures, Seminars and Presentations

• Featured Speaker, “Law Firm Marketing: What Works and What Doesn’t When Building Your Practice,” Live Online Seminar, West Virginia Association for Justice, 2021 Mid-Winter Seminar
• Presenter, “Handling Cruise Ship Medical Malpractice Cases,” Live Webcast, LawPracticeCLE, December 2020
• Presenter, “Settlement Demand Letters,” Live Webcast, ProLaw CLE, September 2020
• Lecturer, “A 40-year Analysis of Marketing, Case Acquisition, and Continuous Law Firm Growth,” Law Firm Marketing Program, Boardwalk Seminar, New Jersey Association for Justice, August 2020
• Lecturer, “How to Optimize the Efforts and Utilization between Lawyers and Paralegals,” Monroe County Bar Association 30th Annual Education Program,” Key West, FL, February 2020
• Presenter, “Handling Cruise Ship Medical Malpractice Cases,” On-Demand Course, ProLaw CLE, June 2019
• Lecturer, “Dodging Bullets in Pre-Litigation and Trial,” Boardwalk Seminar, New Jersey Association for Justice, April 2017
• Lecturer, “Ethical Marketing Practices,” Monroe County Bar Association Seminar, March 2014
• Lecturer, “Networking, Marketing and Expanding your Practice while Complying with Ethical Regulations, Monroe County Bar Association Seminar, March 2012
  Lecturer, “10 Keys to Marketing your Practice,” Monroe County Bar Association Seminar, November 2009
• Lecturer, “Misdiagnosis and Mistreatment in the Nursing Home,” Nursing Home Negligence in Florida, January 2006
• Lecturer, “Apportionment of Fault in Inadequate Security Cases,” Litigating Premises and Negligent Security Cases in Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, November 2005
• Lecturer, “Finding Selecting and Handling Expert Witnesses,” Litigating Premises and Negligent Security Cases in Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, November 2005