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Hudson Jones is a Partner at Butler in our Tampa office. He works in our firm’s Property Coverage group, practicing in extra-contractual issues. Some examples of his case types include catastrophic loss, first-party coverage issues, general liability coverage, and property insurance. 

Hudson studied law at the West Virginia University College of Law. While attending law school, he was active in the American Constitution Society, Public Interest Advocacy Group, Sports Law Society, and the Student Bar Association. Hudson focused his studies on Litigation and Trial Advocacy and gained legal experience by assisting two professors and contributing to numerous legal scholarship articles and books. He graduated in 2007 and worked as an Assistant Public Defender in the Florida Public Defender’s Office in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. In his three years at the Public Defender’s office, he tried 52 jury trials as a defense attorney and litigated numerous criminal cases. In 2010, Hudson worked at a private firm, where he focused on defending employers, insurance carriers, self-insurers, and third-party administrators in insurance and workers’ compensation matters before ultimately joining Butler.

As an undergraduate, Hudson attended Harvard University, where he was a Division I scholar-athlete and a four-year varsity wrestler. He also participated in numerous service and volunteer efforts, including the Boston Partners in Education Tutoring Program and Habitat for Humanity. He graduated, cum laude, from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts in Government in 2004.

Admissions

  • Florida

Recognitions

  • Book Award, Judicial Power and Restraint, West Virginia University College of Law
  • Book Award, Labor Law, West Virginia University College of Law

Education

  • Harvard University
    Bachelor of Arts
  • West Virginia University College of Law
    Doctor of Jurisprudence

Memberships

  • Defense Research Institute (DRI)
  • Florida Defense Lawyers Association (FDLA)
  • Hillsborough County Bar Association (HCBA)
  • The Florida Bar

Media

Tips for Young Lawyers – The Effective Court Appearance

This article was originally published in The Trial Advocate, Vol. 24 No. 1 (2023). Used with permission. An effective court appearance requires significant preparation. Learning how to make effective court appearances takes years of practice, hours of preparation, and many opportunities to try new advocacy techniques. But effective advocacy is not accomplished overnight. It must be learned, prepa...

Hurricane Ian Webinar Series Episode 5 – Profiting From A Peril – Business Interruption Valuation During Economic Instability

Our latest webinar series will inform you on issues that may arise during adjustment of Hurricane Ian claims. In the fifth part of this series, Partners J. Pablo Cáceres and Hudson Jones, along with MDD's Kristine Elkind, will analyze problems associated with the valuation of such business interruption claims in light of sudden economic factors, such as those caused by the pandemic and world eve...

Diversity Jurisdiction: Remove Your Case from State to Federal Court, and Keep It There

Join Partner Hudson Jones and Associate Christian Gonzalez-Rivera as they present for the 2022 FDLA Florida Liability Claims Conference at Disney's BoardWalk Inn on June 15-17, 2022. The presentation will provide an analysis of three critical opportunities for defense counsel who wants to remove a case from state to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction....

Diversity Jurisdiction: Remove Your Case to Federal Court and Keep It There

Partner Hudson Jones and Senior Associate Grayson Kelly presented "Diversity Jurisdiction: Remove Your Case to Federal Court and Keep It There" for the 2021 NAMIC Webinar Series. This presentation evaluated the pros and cons of litigating insurance claims in federal court. The presentation analyzed three critical opportunities for defense counsel who want to remove a case from state to federal cou...

Butler Sponsors DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium

Butler is proud to be a sponsor for the DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium on December 5, 2019, in New York, New York. This year’s symposium will give attendees the opportunity to: Engage with a distinguished faculty of insurance industry leaders, experts, and coverage lawyers. Be informed on emerging issues, recent court rulings, national trends, and the future of insurance co...

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Congratulations to our Newest Partners!

As we move into the new year, please join us in congratulating our firm's newest Partners!...

Contingency Fee Multipliers: Florida Supreme Court Rejects Rare and Exceptional Circumstances Requirement

Contingency fee multipliers increase attorney fee awards substantially. The general custom in American law is that each party is responsible for his or her own attorney’s fees, regardless of the outcome of the action. See Johnson v. Omega Ins. Co., 200 So.3d 1207, 1214 (Fla. 2016). An exception, however, arises when an agreement of the parties or a statute states otherwise. Id. at 1214-15. Sec...

Federal Diversity Jurisdiction: Proving Citizenship of Limited Liability Companies

Jurisdiction gives a federal court the power to hear a case. Jurisdiction matters at the outset of a lawsuit. It matters during discovery. It even matters after summary judgment. Jurisdiction matters because federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. State courts, however, are courts of general jurisdiction, meaning they hear many types of cases. But federal courts may only hear specific c...

Uninsured Motorist Bad-Faith Claims: Separate Action, Separate Trial, Separate Damages

First-party coverage and first-party bad-faith actions seeking extra-contractual damages beyond the policy limit are separate and distinct lawsuits in Florida. An insured cannot try a premature statutory bad-faith claim at the same time as a claim disputing insurance coverage. First-party bad-faith claims arising from uninsured motorist (UM) coverage are separate and independent actions, too. I...

Why Sue For Bad Faith When Consequential Damages Are Available

Bad faith aside, insurers often assume a claim's ‘‘total" exposure under the insurance contract is the policy's limit.  Courts traditionally allow insureds to recover contractual damages based on the limit, plus legal interest.  However, a new trend is emerging in some jurisdictions. Click the link on the right to download pdf Article Link>>...

Ongoing Efforts To Preserve Our Unique Right

This article was originally published in DRI's For the Defense, November 2012. The problem of the vanishing jury trial is a familiar one to DRI members, for whom this loss is keenly felt. This decline in jury trials presents not only an economic threat to membership, but also a decline in fair and just adjudication. Ongoing Efforts To Preserve Our Unique Right...

Hudson Jones