Brian J. Connelly

bconnelly@gouldcooksey.com

Brian J. Connelly was born in Vero Beach and returned to his home town to practice personal injury and civil trial law in 1995. Mr. Connelly joined Gould Cooksey Fennell in 2000 and focuses his practice in the areas of personal injury,wrongful death, product liability, social security disability and insurance litigation. Mr. Connelly is "AV" rated, the highest conferred for legal ability and ethics, from Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

Mr. Connelly obtained his undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross and his law degree from Stetson University College of Law. Mr. Connelly's experience as a trial lawyer includes complex product liability cases in the areas of medical implant products, automotive components, heavy equipment, ladders and includes serving as co-counsel in one of the first tread separation tire cases that was the precursor to the Firestone tread separation cases, wrongful death and complex brain injury cases. Mr. Connelly's commitment to the practice of personal injury law has resulted in the creation of new law in Florida involving the parameters of expert testimony for cases involving personal injury and includes such reported cases as Mattek v. White, 695 So. 2d 942 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) and Allstate v. Mattek, 735 So. 2d 1283 (Fl. 1999). Mr. Connelly's recent trial work has resulted in the largest verdict in Indian River County history for a non-surgical automobile accident case. While serving as co-counsel with partner David Carter, the two obtained a jury verdict which ranked among the highest awards in personal injury cases in the history of our community, and was recently featured in Florida Lawyer Magazine.

Additionally, Mr. Connelly's appellate court experience was instrumental in the creation of new law in the Florida dealing with the obligations of corporate and private defendants to disclose financial relationships with testifying experts. Mr. Connelly also served as co-counsel with firm member Troy Hafner against the State of Florida that secured homestead tax exemptions for homeowners utilizing certain trust structures. Nolte v. White & Dunn, 784 So. 2d 493 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001).

Mr. Connelly is dedicated to obtaining fair and just compensation for our clients who have suffered injury through the negligence of others. He is active in the Vero Beach community with volunteer service for the American Cancer Society, Youth Guidance, and serves on the Board of Directors for ARC of Indian River County. Mr. Connelly has also served on the Board of Directors for the Mental Health Association, is the Past President for the Indian River County Bar Association, and served for three years as the Indian River County Pro Bono Liaison for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit. He is a member of the Florida Justice Association and is licensed to practice in both the Florida state courts and the Federal courts in the Southern District of Florida.