Authors

Dale Swope is the managing partner and the most senior lawyer at Swope, Rodante P.A. Mr. Swope has received nearly every professional honor available to lawyers in his specialty. Martindale-Hubbell has given him an AV rating and AVVO.com, has given him a “Superb” rating both being the highest rating of their kind. Mr. Swope has been named a “Super Lawyer by Super Lawyer Magazine. He is also listed in ‘Best Lawyers in America,’ ‘Who’s Who in the South’ and ‘Who’s Who in American law.’

He was one of the founding members of the Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association, was a director of the Florida Justice Association and the 2017-2018 President of its Executive Committee. Mr. Swope has been Board Certified as a Civil Trial Specialist for over twenty years, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates for more than a decade and was recently inducted into the distinguished American Law Institute. While the recognition of these prestigious organizations is flattering, Mr. Swope will tell you that none of these ‘credentials’ mean a thing compared to a simple ‘thanks’ from a client or family that has been helped by the law firm.

Angela Rodante is a globally acclaimed and in-demand civil litigator who has won numerous accolades for her groundbreaking legal work on behalf of severely injured individuals and for taking on large and powerful businesses. Ms. Rodante’s dedication to her firm, clients, profession, and community is a mosaic with a recurring theme of unselfish service. In 2003, Ms. Rodante became a partner of Swope, Rodante P.A. She continues to have a focus on civil trial litigation, handling cases involving personal injury and insurance bad faith.

Ms. Rodante is involved in a number of community service groups, including the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, Centro Asturiano de Tampa, and the TBTLA, a non-profit organization of lawyers dedicated to ensuring the rule of law. Ms. Rodante has been named Insurance Professional of the Year by Best Lawyers and is a Martindale Hubbell highly rated lawyer in the field of insurance law. Other notable achievements of Ms. Rodante’s are being awarded the Martindale Hubbell Client Distinction Award and AVVO with a superb rating for the past seven years.

Brent Steinberg began working with Swope, Rodante P.A. as a law clerk in 2009, and after graduating from law school in 2010. In 2018, he became a partner. Super Lawyers Magazine, The National Trial Lawyers, and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel have all honored Mr. Steinberg. Mr. Steinberg handles catastrophic injury, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice and insurance coverage cases throughout Florida and Georgia.

Mr. Steinberg, along with partners Brandon Cathey and associate Daniel Greene, earned the 6th largest personal injury verdict in Florida in 2019 — a $30.1 million award in a traumatic brain injury case. He has also worked as lead appellate counsel in cases before the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Court of Appeals, the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

After graduating from law school in 2017, Daniel Greene joined Swope, Rodante P. A. as an attorney. While in law school, Mr. Greene was able to hone his research and writing abilities. He was a legal writing and appellate advocacy teaching assistant, a volunteer tutor, and a Book Award Recipient for legal research. Mr. Greene was also the forum editor of the Florida Law Review, where he wrote The Right to “Cure” a Child’s Homosexuality?:A Constitutional Analysis of State Laws Banning Sexual Orientation Change Efforts on Minors, which was published by the Florida Law Review Forum in 2016.

Mr. Greene was able to demonstrate his at the American Civil Liberties Union by producing motions, deposition outlines, and legal memoranda in a variety of cases, as well as having the opportunity to be a strong advocate for the LGBT community.

Anna Frederiksen-Cherry is a trial attorney fighting for justice in complex cases for the past twenty years. She currently handles cases involving medical malpractice, products liability, environmental toxic torts, and catastrophic injuries. Before joining SRPA, Ms. Cherry focused her practice on Engle progeny cases as a trusted member of elite trial teams securing over $40 million in verdicts for clients against Big Tobacco. She started her career as an Assistant Public Defender in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, where she specialized in all phases of medico-legal injury and death investigation. She was assigned to the major crimes bureau as a trial attorney handling specialized complex litigation. Ms. Cherry is an experienced litigator with over 65 trials, and has presented continuing legal education courses on proving non-economic damages, interviewing and deposing child witnesses, DNA, and trial preparation. She is admitted to practice in Florida and the Middle District Court of Florida.

Sean Shaw is an award-winning and dedicated trial attorney who fearlessly advocates for consumers inside and outside of the courtroom. Sean was born and raised in Tallahassee and has been a resident of the Tampa Bay community for the past nine years. He has been a passionate consumer advocate for the last decade, both as an attorney and a legislator, notably running for Florida Attorney General in 2018. Sean was the Democratic Nominee for Attorney General and was the first African-American nominee for Attorney General in the history of the State of Florida. In August 2016, Shaw was elected State Representative from District 61. He has immersed himself in his community through mentorship, which he believes is a key element to our youth’s success. In addition, he is committed to closing the gaps in the public school system and ensuring that all kids have access to the best education needed to obtain a bright future.

Natalie Shoemaker became an associate attorney at Swope, Rodante P. A. in 2020, shortly after graduating from law school. Ms. Shoemaker, who hails from Orlando, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Middle Eastern Studies minor from the University of Central Florida. Ms. Shoemaker got her J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law after a year at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Ms. Shoemaker volunteered at the Immigration and Inmate Partner Violence Law Clinic at the University of Florida Law School. She helped survivors of domestic violence who were undocumented with their affirmative humanitarian petitions. During her final year of law school, she worked for the Florida Board of Governors Self-Insurance Program, where she obtained practical experience in the insurance industry.

Jacob Schuster is a Swope, Rodante P.A. associate attorney who joined the company in 2021 after graduating with honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Mr. Schuster first studied medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine as part of a B.A./M.D. program before switching to political science at Portland State University, where he received his Bachelor’s degree.

Mr. Schuster discovered his passion for law through his involvement with Moot Court, where he served on the executive board and competed in the Jessup International Moot Court Competition and the Emory Civil Rights and Liberties Moot Court Competition while in law school. Mr. Schuster obtained personal experience assisting everyday Americans through the process of interfacing with a trial court as a summer clerk for the New York Supreme Court.

Senator Arthenia L. Joyner is a dynamic individual whose personal life reads like a chronicle of the struggle for equal justice. She has not just lived history, she made it. Born in Lakeland FL and reared in Tampa, she grew up in a time of segregation and has always been determined to end it. Senator Joyner began her long march for equality as a high school student in Tampa protesting for change as a participant in the Woolworth lunch counter demonstrations. That journey took her to jail cells in Tallahassee when she was twice arrested for demonstrating against segregation and spent 14 days in the Leon County, FL jail.

Joyner was the first Black female lawyer in Hillsborough County and the first Black female State Representative and State Senator elected from Tampa. Senator Joyner has practiced law for fifty-three (53) years – longer than any Black woman in the history of Florida. The Tampa-Hillsborough Library Board celebrated her many contributions to Florida and the community in 2018 by naming its new $9.3 million library in her honor.

Taylor McKnight is a highly accomplished attorney with extensive experience in personal injury law. He is passionate about advocating for victims who have suffered catastrophic injuries and those who have lost loved ones due to the negligence of others. Taylor has handled cases involving trucking, bus, and commercial vehicle crashes, as well as premises liability, medical malpractice, and products liability.

He has a unique perspective and knowledge base, having previously served as a defense lawyer, which allows him to ensure that negligent corporations and individuals are held accountable and made to return the full value of what they have taken from his clients and their families. Taylor is admitted to practice in Florida and various United States District Courts.