Fred obtained a BA in Chemistry from Duke University in 1989 and his law degree, with honors, from the University of Florida College of Law in 1992. Fred practiced in the litigation department of Holland & Knight LLP for over 26 years before joining Bishop Page & Mills, PLLC in 2023. Fred’s peers have given him the highest rating, AV, with Martindale Hubbell for the past 20+ years, and have recognized him in the Best Lawyer in America® in intellectual property, litigation-intellectual property, and/or insurance law since 2006. Fred has also been recognized by his peers in multiple years as the Litigation-Intellectual Property Lawyer of the year for Jacksonville.
Fred is registered to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office and regularly appears for clients in lawsuits brought under patent, copyright, trademark, unfair competition, and trade secret laws. Fred understands how expensive these types of cases can become for clients and prides himself on bringing value to the matter while pursuing the best possible net outcome. Examples of matters Fred has handled include representing e-commerce entities on patent and copyright infringement claims involving web-based applications, and defending manufacturers on copying claims involving design patents, trade dress, and product design copyright issues. Fred also has substantial experience on former employee/employer disputes involving trade secrets, and on copyright claims relating to software, music, architecture, and other literary and visual works.
On insurance coverage matters, Fred has handled hundreds of coverage questions for clients on many distinct types of policy forms over the past 30 years. He is often called in at the last minute to help close settlement negotiations with insurers defending clients under reservation of rights. His experience spans a broad range of alleged causes of loss, including construction defects, securities law violations, trademark and copyright infringement, data attacks and disclosures, auto and trucking accidents, employment conditions, professional negligence, employee thefts, hurricanes, fires, floods, consumer class action claims, post-merger breach of warranties, and premises conditions. This background has provided Fred with first-hand experience on numerous different types of individual and commercial insurance forms, including Directors & Officers; Buyers-Side Representations and Warranties; Professional Liability, Malpractice and Errors & Omissions (Technology Professional, Brokers, and Media Professional); Cyber Liability; Commercial General Liability; Builder’s Risk and Contractor’s All-Risk; Business Auto, Commercial Auto and Garage Owners; Trucker’s and Non-Trucking; Cargo and Contingent Cargo; Homeowners; Business Owners; Crime / Fidelity Bonds; Banker’s Blanket Bonds / Financial Institution Bonds; Maritime (property claims); Railroad Protective Liability; Employer Liability Insurance, and other types of policy forms.
In addition, Fred has experience on reinsurance disputes under quota share treaties, stop-loss policies, and specific excess forms.
Fred also is a go-to lawyer on other types of contract and complex commercial disputes, including disputes arising out of former employee/employer relationships, antitrust and restraint of trade misconduct, pre-IPO tenders and related disclosures, landlord-tenant conflicts, agent and distributor misconduct and violations of duties of loyalty, termination of distributor agreements, post-closing indemnity obligations for M&A parties, and software disputes arising out of failed customization projects.
