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Justin B. Hales

Associate

Justin B. Hales is an associate in the firm’s Tallahassee, Florida and Thomasville, Georgia offices where he handles matters throughout Florida, the panhandle, and throughout the State of Georgia. Born in Indianola, Mississippi and raised in Thomasville, Georgia, Justin attained his undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Georgia in 2008. Justin went on to obtain his Juris Doctorate from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2012.

He focuses his practice on general liability matters including wrongful death, products liability, negligent security, construction defect, premises liability, and trucking/automobile liability. He practices in both State and Federal Court throughout the States of Florida and Georgia.

Before joining Conroy Simberg, Justin was an Assistant Public Defender in Lee County, Florida for nearly four years before joining a plaintiff’s personal injury firm in Lee County, Florida for three and a half years.

Practice Areas: 

Admitted to Practice:

  • Florida, 2013
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
  • Georgia, 2016 
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia 

Education: 

  • Florida Coastal School of Law, Juris Doctor, 2012
  • The University of Georgia, B.A., 2008

Honors and Awards:

  • Florida Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2022-2023

Representative Experience:

  • 2024 – Justin secured a directed verdict in a trip and fall case in Hillsborough County, Florida against one of America’s largest injury firms, where the Plaintiff claimed a scraper mat outside of a convenience store was a dangerous condition which caused his fall.  The Plaintiff received a lumbar laminectomy and had an ACDF surgical recommendation.  Medical expenses totaled $120,000 with another claimed $130,000 in future medical expenses. Plaintiff was seeking $1,500,000 at trial.  The defense disputed liability, causation, and damages.  Following the close of the Plaintiff’s case-in-chief, the defense moved for a directed verdict on the basis that the Plaintiff had not proven the scraper mat was a dangerous condition.  Before the defense could complete its case-in-chief, the court granted the directed verdict in favor of the Defendant. 

  • 2024 - Justin prevailed on a motion for summary judgment  in a private whistleblower action where he argued the employer did not qualify as an “employer” as defined, and even if the employer qualified as an “employer”, there were legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for the employee’s termination.

  • 2024 - Justin prevailed on a motion for summary judgment based on an “Act of God.”  He successfully argued that Plaintiff’s injury caused by a flying tent on the Defendant’s property was caused by a rogue wind and that the Defendant had no duty to warn Plaintiff of such a potential hazard. 

  • 2024 – Justin prevailed on a motion to dismiss with prejudice wherein Plaintiff filed a suit in 2017 and sought to add his client as a Defendant in 2023.  He successfully argued the statute of limitations had expired and the naming of the client as a Defendant did not relate back to the original filing of the Complaint in 2017.

  • 2023 – Justin prevailed on a Motion for Final Summary Judgment in a fourteen-count employment discrimination and breach of employment contract suit, wherein Plaintiff alleged she was terminated due to her gender and pregnancy status and was subject to a hostile work environment. The Defense argued that Plaintiff had executed a valid release in Defendant’s favor which related to the nine contractual counts.  The Defense further argued that Plaintiff was terminated for legitimate non-discriminatory non-pretextual reasons.  After a ten-hour evidentiary hearing the Court granted final summary judgment in the Defendant’s favor.

  • 2023 - Justin prevailed on a Motion to Declare the Defendant Immune from Civil Action pursuant to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” Law. He successfully argued that while there was an altercation at the Defendant’s place of employment, Defendant had no duty to retreat, Plaintiff’s spittle and forehead hit the Defendant and placed the Defendant in imminent fear for his safety, and the Defendant was immune from prosecution as he was authorized to stand his ground and use non-deadly force when he struck Plaintiff.

  • 2023 - Justin prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a wrongful death action where the Plaintiff claimed Defendant committed an intentional tort during the course and scope of Plaintiff’s employment which caused the decedent to contract COVID-19 and perish. He successfully argued Plain-tiff was not a survivor under the wrongful death act and had no claim.

  • 2022 - Justin prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a wrongful death premises liability negligent security claim where he argued that the Defendant’s apartment complex breached no duty owed to the Plaintiff because the incident was not foreseeable, and, even if there was a breach of duty, the Defendant was not the proximate cause of the decedent’s death.

  • 2022 - Justin prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a premises liability slip and fall accident where he argued that Plaintiff was a trespasser, and the Defendant breached no duty owed to the Plaintiff.

  • 2022 - Justin obtained a defense verdict in an admitted liability case involving a semi-tractor in Spalding County, Georgia following a three-day jury trial. Plaintiff claimed that the crash led to his need for a reconstruction of his mandible and asked for $1.8 million at trial. Defendant argued that Plaintiff's mandible reconstruction was caused by a preexisting condition and that Plaintiff was not injured in the crash. The jury came back with a defense verdict in 2 hours. 

  • 2022 - Justin prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a pedestrian versus motor vehicle accident case in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia where he argued that Plaintiff walked into oncoming traffic without regard for the right-of-way and assumed the risk associated therewith. An offer of settlement was served by Defendant resulting in a claim against the Plaintiff for defense fees and costs.