Attorney Profiles

He served as a legal extern for the Honorable Elizabeth A. Jenkins, United States Magistrate Judge, in the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, Florida in 1989-1990.

For over a dozen years after his law school graduation, Mr. Mallard represented insurance companies and self-insured defendants in all types of personal injury cases. For the past several years, he has used the unique perspective and experience he gained during that time in representing victims and their families in all types of personal injury matters.

Mr. Mallard has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict in fourteen different counties in Florida. He is admitted to practice law in all of the Florida State Courts, the United States Federal Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He has spoken as a guest lecturer at the University of South Florida's College of Business Administration and has published articles on topics of trial advocacy for the Sarasota County Bar Association and the Trial Lawyer's Section of the Florida Bar.

Sara B. Mallard is a 1991 graduate of the Stetson University College of Law, annually recognized as one of the finest law schools in the United States in the field of trial advocacy. While at Stetson, Mrs. Mallard was a member of the Stetson Law Review and received the American Jurisprudence Award for excellent achievement in the study of Constitutional Law. Ms. Mallard also served as a legal extern for the Honorable Elizabeth A. Jenkins, United States Magistrate Judge, in the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, Florida in 1990-1991.

Mrs. Mallard is also a graduate of the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science Degree from the College of Journalism and Communications.She was a member of the Dean’s List and the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.

Mrs. Mallard began her legal practice as a defense attorney specializing in litigation of medical malpractice and nursing home actions. Since 1996, Ms. Mallard has focused her practice on representing plaintiffs in all types of personal injury cases, with an emphasis on actions against nursing homes and assisted living facilities. She is a member of the Florida Justice Association and the Sarasota County Bar Association. Ms. Mallard has also served as a lecturer for PESI on the topic of Florida Nursing Home Negligence.

Mr. Rheingans is a 1998 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law. While at the University of Kentucky, he served on the Journal of Natural Resources and Environmental Law (JNREL) and was one of two students selected to have their article published in the JNREL.

He is admitted to the bars of Florida, Kentucky and Oregon. After law school, Mr. Rheingans served as a law clerk to Hon. Thomas L. Clark for the Fayette County (Kentucky) Circuit Court. Upon completion of his clerkship, Mr. Rheingans practiced with a mid-size boutique firm in Louisville, Kentucky specializing in representation of insurance companies and their insureds.

Mr. Rheingans also practiced for a year in Washington, D.C. in the area of anti-trust and white collar criminal law. Upon returning to his hometown of Venice, Florida, in 2003 Mr. Rheingans opened his own law practice where he practiced until 2008, and specialized in the areas of commercial litigation, criminal defense and plaintiff’s personal injury.

Mr. Rheingans is a member of the Florida Justice Association, the Sarasota County Bar Association, Sertoma International Service Club and is immediate past president of the Venice-Englewood Bar Association.

Mr. Rheingans is also a 1995 graduate of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration and a minor in German.