Timothy Engelbrecht
Partner | Tampa
Tim Engelbrecht is an experienced and trusted litigator based in Tampa, Florida, helping domestic and international insurers navigate the challenging first-party property insurance market. He has been practicing law since 2007. Tim has handled various cases involving losses caused by hurricanes, sinkholes, windstorms, hail, floods, fires, and plumbing failures in residential and commercial properties. In addition to that, Tim has significant experience handling cases involving assignments of benefits (“AOBs”) as well as claims of bad faith and unfair claim-handling practices.
Tim’s passion is presenting cases at trial to juries and judges. Tim has led trial counsel in cases across Florida in Circuit and County Courts and Florida’s Small Claim Division. In 2020, Tim obtained a complete defense verdict after a five-day jury trial in a case brought by a homeowner seeking additional insurance proceeds after a covered hurricane claim.
During the height of the pandemic, Tim was one of the few lawyers in Florida who tried a case virtually over Zoom. Tim obtained a complete defense verdict in an AOB case brought by a contractor seeking insurance proceeds after doing work at the insured property. The case was particularly challenging, with all the lawyers, parties, and witnesses (including one who used an interpreter) appearing virtually and the presentation of evidence having to be accomplished virtually. That made the trial win even more satisfying.
Tim has also had several significant appellate outcomes. Tim obtained final summary judgment and was affirmed on appeal in the case of Gamero v. Foremost Ins. Co., 208 So. 3d 1195 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017), which addressed the insurance policy’s marring exclusion and clarified Florida’s jurisprudence on the issue of coverage by estoppel and the proper use of a reply pleading.
Tim particularly enjoys his role at Butler as a leader and mentor to his large group of associate attorneys, paralegals, and support staff who assist him in his practice. Having such a dedicated and capable team of people ensures that Tim’s clients receive the highest level of support for their cases.
Outside the courtroom, Tim is a sought-after author and speaker writing articles regarding emerging issues in his practice and presenting them to clients and insurance industry trade associations. Tim has presented to the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) at the Old Library in London, England, on several first-party property insurance topics. Tim has written articles for the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) and the Southern Loss Association, Inc. (SLA). Tim has spoken on various topics at conferences held by the Property and Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB) and the Windstorm Insurance Network (WIND). Tim has also hosted webinars regarding the particular challenges of hurricane losses.
Tim was a featured panelist speaker at the London Market Association’s Property Insurance Claims Group’s (PICG) Annual Conference in London in May 2023. The title of Tim’s presentation was A Brave New World: Futurism and Its Impact on Claims. The panel had a lively multimedia presentation that discussed the emerging topics of singularity, generative AI, nanotechnology in building materials, and next-gen robotics (among other things) and their anticipated use and effect in the future of insurance claim handling. Tim embraces emerging technologies and works to implement them into his law practice for the benefit of his clients.
Tim is also a student of history. Tim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Norbert College, where he majored in history. Tim also enjoys the related field of archaeology. Tim has had the opportunity to explore several ancient sites around the world including the Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, The Great Pyramid and Sphinx at Giza, The Step Pyramid of Djoser, the Funerary Complex of King Teti, and the Tomb of Mehu at Saqqara, the Colossus of Ramses II at Memphis, Loch Ness in the Scotland Highlands, and the Neolithic monument Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England.
Tim earned his law degree – a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude – from Hamline University School of Law. During law school, Tim attended the University of Notre Dame’s Summer Law Programme in London, where he studied carriage of goods by sea and the law of the European Union. Tim was a member of the moot court and an editor of law review. Tim won four awards for achieving the highest grade in his law school classes. During his final year in law school, Tim was a judicial extern to The Honorable Ann D. Montgomery, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Minnesota. Before joining Butler, Tim was a staff attorney (judicial clerk) in Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit.
Tim enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters outside of work, especially traveling. Tim’s wife, Nikki, runs the family’s real estate development business, which has developed two mid-century modern vacation rental properties in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Tim and Nikki grew up. The properties are just a few blocks from Lambeau Field – the legendary home of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. Tim and Nikki are Packer shareholders, and they enjoy hosting friends and family for Packer games during the season. Tim and Nikki are especially excited to host guests for the 2025 NFL Draft that will be held at Lambeau Field.
Admissions
- Florida
- Minnesota
Recognitions
- CALI Awards in law school for achieving the highest grade in the classes of Property I, Torts I, Insurance Law, and National Security Law
Education
- St. Norbert College
Bachelor of Arts - Hamline University School of Law
Doctor of Jurisprudence
Memberships
- The Florida Bar
- The British Museum
- Hillsborough County Bar Association (HCBA)
Courts
- United States District Court – Northern District of Florida
- United States District Court – Middle District of Florida
- United States District Court – Southern District of Florida
Experiences
Tar Capital, LLC, dba Total Leak Detection aao Paloblanco v. Foremost Ins. Co., 21000212SCAXMX, (Fla. Hendry County Ct., Nov. 18, 2021) (final judgment in favor of Defendant insurance company following a bench trial in a first-party property insurance declaratory judgment action brought by an assignee leak detection company; this trial was conducted completely over Zoom during the pandemic).
Blum v. Foremost Ins. Co., consolidated cases 18-000040-CA, 18-CA-000041, and 17-000071-CC, (Fla. 20th. Cir. Ct., Glades County, March 3, 2020) (two directed verdicts and three final judgments all in favor of Defendant insurance company following a five-day jury trial in a first-party property insurance breach of contract action brought by homeowner and an assignee water remediation company regarding a hurricane claim and a plumbing claim).
Blum v. Foremost Ins. Co., consolidated cases 18-000040-CA, 18-CA-000041, and 17-000071-CC, (Fla. 20th. Cir. Ct., Glades County, January 23, 2020) (order granting Defendant insurance company’s motion to limit Plaintiff’s presentation of evidence at trial to only the actual cash value of the damage, not the replacement cost value of the damage, because Plaintiff did not make the repairs to his property after the Defendant insurance company admitted coverage and made actual cash value payments).
Gamero v. Foremost Ins. Co., 208 So. 3d 1195 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (opinion affirming final summary judgment in favor of Defendant insurance company in a first-party property insurance breach of contract action based on the insurance policy’s “marring” exclusion as applied to damaged floor tiles. The Court rejected Plaintiff’s theory of coverage by estoppel and also clarified the proper use of a reply pleading).
Holloman v. Foremost Ins. Co., 2019-000333-CA (Fla. 2d. Cir. Ct., Gadsden County, April 29, 2021) (order excluding Plaintiff’s expert under Daubert in a first-party property insurance breach of contract action regarding a hurricane claim).
United Water Restoration Group, Inc. aao Griffin v. The First Liberty Ins. Corp.,16-2014-CC-10899-XXXX-MA (Fla. Duval County Ct., July 21, 2015) (final summary judgment in favor of Defendant insurance company in a first-party property insurance breach of contract action brought by an assignee water remediation company).
King v. First Liberty Ins. Corp., 2013 WL 561373 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) (final summary judgment in favor of Defendant insurance company in a first-party property insurance bad-faith action).
Gavin’s Ace Hardware, Inc. v. Federated Mut. Ins. Co., No. 2:11-cv-162-CEH-SPC, 2011 WL 5104476 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 27, 2011) (order sustaining Defendant insurance company’s objection to producing claim file material).
Media
Best Lawyers – 2024 Edition
Join us in congratulating our attorneys who were recognized in the 2024 Best Lawyers publication! Click on their icons to learn more. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Their process is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal ...
An Update on Artificial Intelligence and the Law
A just machine to make big decisions, Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision …. Lyrics from the song I.G.Y. by Donald Fagen. In May 2023, I was part of a panel that gave a presentation at the London Market Association’s Property Insurance Claims Group’s (PICG) Annual Conference. Part of our presentation addressed the rise of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in the law and in i...
Can I Knock the Opposing Expert Out? Understanding How Florida Courts Allow or Prevent Proposed Experts
Experts are key witnesses in any case. They have the ability to testify about things that are usually beyond the scientific or technical understanding of the average person. If the expert is good at conveying that sort of information, it can have a big impact on how a jury resolves the case. However, just because a person is listed on a witness list as an “expert”, doesn’t necessarily m...
Partner Tim Engelbrecht at the 2023 PICG Conference
On May 11, 2023, Tampa Partner Tim Engelbrecht presented at the prestigious Property Insurance Claims Group Conference of 2023 in London, UK. Tim was joined by co-presenters David A. Smith (Global Futures and Foresight) and Tom Tiernan (Engle Martin) as they discussed the future of the insurance industry with the latest developments in artificial intelligence, large-language models, and robotics....
A Brave New World: Futurism and its Impact on Claims
Partner Tim Engelbrecht and co-presenters David A. Smith (Global Futures and Foresight) and Tom Tiernan (Engle Martin) will be presenting at the Property Insurance Claims Group (PICG) Conference on May 11, 2023 at King's Place, London. Their presentation will cover the groundbreaking fields of Large Language Models (LLM) such as ChatGPT, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) and their future ...
