Melvin B. Wright

Melvin Bowen Wright was born and raised in rural South Georgia. After graduation from law school he moved to Central Florida and began practicing law in Orlando in 1985, where he, his wife, and their two children enjoy living.

He has over forty years of real trial experience in all types of personal injury and wrongful death litigation, including automobile and trucking accidents, premises liability, product liability, and nursing home and other institutional abuse and neglect.

Education

Mr. Wright graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences in 1981. In 1985, he graduated from Mercer University Law School in Macon, Georgia, one of the oldest law schools in the United States and the first law school in Georgia to earn accreditation by the American Bar Association.

Experience & Accomplishments

Mr. Wright began the practice of law with an emphasis on wrongful death and personal injury litigation and represented both the injured and the insurance industry until 1993. Since then, he has devoted his practice to exclusively representing victims of severe personal injury and death in all types of cases, including

· Motor Vehicle and Trucking Liability

· Dangerous Property and Premises Liability

· Dangerous Products and Product Liability

· Nursing Home Negligence

· Assisted Living Facility Negligence

· Neglect and Abuse of the Developmentally Disabled

· Pharmacy Negligence

· Child Care Negligence

· Drownings

· Burn and Electrocution Injuries

· Paralysis Injuries

· Traumatic Brain Injuries

Admissions to Practice

Mr. Wright is admitted to practice in all state courts in Florida and the Supreme Court of Florida, and he is also admitted to practice in Georgia and Tennessee. Experienced in Federal court litigation, he is also admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the Northern District of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has tried over one hundred civil jury cases in both state and federal courts and handled even more appeals in various Florida courts at state and national levels.

SIGNIFICANT CASES:

· One appeal handled by Mr. Wright was against a funeral home operator for negligence in the supervision and direction of a funeral procession crossing a busy

state highway, resulting in serious and permanent injuries to a family member of the deceased, and was decided by the Supreme Court of Florida in favor of Mr. Wright’s client. That ruling prompted the funeral home industry to join together in hiring powerful lobbyists to convince Florida legislators to enact statutes partially immunizing funeral home operators from liability for future auto accidents that occur during processions. The client recovered a significant settlement after winning her appeal.

· In a 2012 case, Mr. Wright was selected to serve as one of only eight attorneys as a member of the Official Creditors’ Committee representing injured victims nationwide in the Massachusetts bankruptcy litigation involving New England Compounding Center, which manufactured, sold, and distributed injectable steroid solutions that were contaminated with mold and/or fungus in their laboratory. Hundreds of people across the nation suffered from serious and life-altering infections. A nationwide settlement of almost $200,000,000 was reached in 2015 in the bankruptcy proceedings with the makers of the tainted drugs, as well as others alleged to have been responsible for the contamination of the drugs.

· In another case involving the rape and impregnation of a young but mentally disabled nursing home resident, Mr. Wright sued the nursing home and co-authored an article in the American Journal of Nursing entitled “Born into a Diaper.” The case was successfully prosecuted and settled on behalf of the resident and her minor child.

· In 2017, an Orange County, Florida jury awarded Mr. Wright’s client $6,800,000 against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The verdict of compensatory and punitive damages was on behalf of Mary Sheffield for the wrongful death of her husband, a retired Florida Highway Patrol officer and decorated World War II veteran, from multiple bouts of lung cancer caused by his addiction to nicotine. The case was one of many Engle progeny cases in Florida arising from the

negligence and intentional conduct of R.J. Reynolds and its co-conspirators in hiding the addictive nature and health hazards of using its cigarettes during the approximately 40 years that Mr. Sheffield was a regular and addicted smoker.

Top Verdicts & Case Samples

• Settlement of almost $200,000,000 in a national mass tort pharmaceutical case against multiple corporate and individual defendants as a result of the sale and ingestion of contaminated compounded pharmaceutical medications resulting in a nationwide outbreak of deaths, illnesses and diseases including fungal meningitis; Mr. Wright served as one of 8 attorneys on the Official Creditors Committee in the Bankruptcy Court that played a pivotal role in securing the settlement and obtaining court approval by the bankruptcy judge of a settlement with the bankrupt producers of the drug, as well as other businesses who participated in the production, sale, and/or dissemination of the contaminated medication.
• Final judgment of $20,000,000 for quadriplegic after defeating underinsured drunk driver’s attempt to extinguish the claim in bankruptcy court;
• Verdict of $6,800,000 against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company including $1,800,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000,000 in punitive damages for the widow of an Engle class action member, World War II veteran and retired Florida Highway Patrol Captain who died from three separate episodes of lung cancer caused by years of smoking as a result of his addiction to nicotine and R.J. Reynolds fraud and concealment of material facts about their cigarettes over five decades from the 1930s to the 1980s when he quit smoking successfully.
• Settlement of five million $5,270,000 against a driver and her employer for burn injuries resulting from a fiery automobile accident.
• Settlement of $4,125,000 against a heavy equipment rental company for negligent maintenance of a leased aerial lift resulting in an accident resulting in the paraplegia of the operator.
• Settlement of $3,800,000 against the manufacturer when a power company lineman was killed when his bucket truck lift device failed, dropping him to the ground.
• Settlement of $3,000,000 against a shopping center and its management company for a deliveryman who was crushed when a portion of the roof collapsed from the building onto him during a delivery, causing multiple leg fractures, two vertebral compression fractures, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Settlement of $2,750,000 for the wrongful death of a woman ejected from a commercial passenger bus as a result of a vehicular collision;
• Settlement of $2,500,000 against a nursing home corporation on behalf of a mentally impaired stroke victim who gave birth to a baby boy linked by DNA evidence to a male certified nurse assistant employed by her nursing home;
• Settlement of $1,875,000 for the widow of a nursing home resident who died from malnutrition and a severe bedsore on his tailbone;
• Settlement of $1,525,000 against owner, driver, and manufacturer of a vehicle that ran over a pedestrian, killing her.
• Settlement of $1,300,000 dollars for a couple injured in a motor vehicle collision as a result of negligent installation and maintenance of a stop sign;
• Settlement of $1,300,000 for the parents of an adult motorcyclist killed at an intersectional collision.
• Settlement of $1,300,000 against the insurer of a nursing home in bankruptcy for the family of a nursing home resident who choked to death when left unsupervised at mealtime;
• Settlement of $1,200,000 for the wrongful death of a spouse who was killed as a pedestrian when her son backed over her in a parking lot;
• Settlement of $1,275,000 for the family of a nursing home resident who wandered away from the facility and ultimately died from exposure to the sun and elements;
• Settlement of $1,100,000 for a 13-year-old boy who sustained closed head injury after being ejected from his uncle’s pick-up truck because he was not wearing his seatbelt.  
• Settlement of $1,050,000 for the parents of a 21-year-old killed in a motorcycle vs car accident as a result of the negligence of the operator of the car and the negligence of contractors responsible for the safety of the work zone at the intersection where the collision occurred.  
• Verdict of over $1,000,000 for the family of a five-year-old child who suffered from a fatal heart arrhythmia when left unsupervised in the pool at a YMCA day camp;
• Settlement of $1,000,000 for a woman burned by a bartender serving a flaming alcoholic beverage;
• Settlement of $1,000,000 which included all of the available liability insurance coverage for the parents of a 15-year-old pedestrian killed by a commercial van;
• Settlement of over $900,000 dollars against a landowner and landscape maintenance company for failing to maintain trees and shrubs allegedly contributing to a motor vehicle accident. The recovery was for a motorcyclist who suffered brain damage while not wearing a helmet, while under the influence of prescription pain medicine, and while operating a poorly maintained motorcycle;
• Settlement of $900,000 for the widow of a nursing home resident who developed severe bedsores and died;
• Settlement of $860,000 for a family injured in a trucking accident;
• Settlement of $800,000 for a young man who sustained severe injuries in a mechanical scissor lift accident as a result of negligent maintenance of the premises upon which the scissor lift was being operated causing him to sustain severe back, shoulder, and upper and lower extremity injuries requiring multiple surgeries;
• Settlement of $800,000 for the surviving sons of a nursing home resident who developed a severe bedsore on the hip and died;
• Settlement of $750,000 against a nursing home for the wrongful death of a new resident resulting from failure to administer insulin and transfer physicians’ orders on admission;
• Settlement of $750,000 against a hardware store for negligent painting of its parking lot surface leading to a “slippery when wet” condition that caused a fall resulting in mild brain injury;
• Settlement of $750,000 against a pharmacy for providing a heart transplant victim an immunosuppressant medication in an incorrect dosage causing near fatal heart rejection;
• Settlement of $750,000 for a retired male bicyclist who required hip surgery and knee replacement after being struck by a truck;
• Settlement of $750,000 for the daughter of a nursing home resident who choked to death at mealtime in the main dining room of a nursing home in bankruptcy;
• Settlement of $750,000 for the family of another nursing home resident who died from bedsores and malnutrition; 
• Settlement of $750,000 reached during trial for a client who developed reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a nervous disorder, following a seemingly minor foot injury sustained on the job;
• Settlement of $710,000 for wrongful death as a result of medical malpractice in failing to prevent a pulmonary embolus which caused the post-operative death of a patient;
• Settlement of $700,000 dollars for the wrongful death of a developmentally disabled 54-year-old man for failure to property monitor and comply with dietary restrictions resulting in a fatal choking at a group home;

Board Certifications & Professional Associations

• Mr. Wright has been board-certified as a civil trial specialist by The Florida Bar, Board of Legal Specialization and Education since 1996. This certification is the highest level of recognition by the Florida Bar of the competency and experience of an attorney in the field of civil litigation. Only 7% of Florida lawyers are board-certified in their area of expertise, and only 1% of all Florida lawyers are board-certified in civil trial law.
• Since 1999, Mr. Wright has also been board-certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, accredited by the American Bar Association to certify attorneys in the specialty of civil trial law and civil pretrial practice—Less than 1% of attorneys nationwide have this certification. Mr. Wright is a Certified Civil Pretrial Advocate and a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate as well as a member of the NBTA advisory committee.

Bar and Professional Associations and Recognitions:

Mr. Wright is recognized by these bar and professional associations and more:

• The State Bar of Georgia
• The Florida Bar
  • The Trial Lawyers Section of the Florida Bar
• The Central Florida Trial Lawyers Association (CFTLA)
• The Florida Justice Association (FJA) EAGLE Member
• The American Association for Justice (AAJ)
  • The Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section of the AAJ
  • The Professional Negligence Section of the AAJ
  • The Nursing Home Litigation Group of the AAJ
• American Board of Trial Advocates, Central Florida Chapter Trial Lawyer of the Year 2025; Past President of Central Florida Chapter
• International Society of Barristers
• Southern Trial Lawyers Association
• The National Trial Lawyers Association
  
  PROFESSIONAL AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
• Best Lawyers in America since 2019, Lawyer of the Year in 2023 for Orlando Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Litigation
• Super Lawyers since 2006, Top 100 Super Lawyers in Florida since 2020 and Top 10 Super Lawyers in Florida in 2025
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• AV Rated by Martindale Hubbell Law Directory

Lectures and Presentations

Mr. Wright has lectured to attorneys, expert consultants, and colleagues over the years on issues pertaining to motor vehicle negligence, premises liability, product liability, personal injury, and wrongful death as well as nursing home and institutional abuse and neglect. In 2008, he was asked to present a seminar on nursing home neglect and harm to the legal nurse consultants and staff of the State of Florida Department of Children and Families.

In 2013, Mr. Wright was asked by the AAJ to present a portion of a seminar on the handling of meningitis cases arising from a nationwide outbreak caused by contaminated steroid medications sold by a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy. He also presented at the Florida Justice Association’s (FJA) 2015 Annual Convention on Annual Nursing Home Legislative and Case Law Update and demonstrated “Cross-Examination of an Expert by The Defense.” In 2015 and 2016, Mr. Wright served as moderator of workshops at the AI J. Cone Trial Advocacy Institute trial skills sponsored by the Florida Justice Association. He also presented “The Common Law Collateral Source Rule in Florida” at the FJA’s Masters of Justice Seminar.

Community Service:

Mr. Wright is active in his community in support of senior citizens and disabled children and adults. He serves on the advisory board of Easter Seals Florida.