Dale Swope is managing partner of Swope, Rodante P.A. which is the development of the solo firm practice he founded six months out of law school, in 1979.
Mr. Swope is a Tampa native, and a graduate of Hillsborough High School, the University of South Florida, and the University of Florida Law School. The firm’s most senior lawyer, Mr. Swope has received virtually every professional recognition available to lawyers who practice in his field.
He has an AV rating (the highest possible) by Martindale-Hubbell, the oldest reviewing agency in the country. He has a ‘Superb’ rating (the highest possible) by AVVO.com, that is probably the newest rating agency in the country.
He has been designated as a ‘Super Lawyer’ by Super Lawyers Magazine. He is also listed in ‘Best Lawyers in America,’ ‘Who’s Who in the South’ and ‘Who’s Who in American law.’
For more than twenty years he has been Board Certified as a Civil Trial Specialist and was previously also Board Certified as a Business Litigation Specialist. These certifications are considered the most substantive credentialing of attorneys, since admission actually requires taking a substantial test and serious peer review by lawyers and judges familiar with the lawyer’s work.
He was the original incorporator of the Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association and the first of two partners in the firm (along with Angela Rodante) who have been elected as president of that organization. He has been a director of the Florida Justice Association and served on its Executive Committee as the 2017-2018 President.
American Board of Trial Advocates is an organization that requires actual trial experience and peer approval for admission, and he has been a member for more than a decade. Recently, Mr. Swope was elected to be a member in the prestigious American Law Institute.
But while the recognition of these prestigious organizations is flattering, Mr. Swope will quickly tell you that none of these ‘credentials’ mean a thing compared to a simple ‘thanks’ from a client or family that has been helped by the law firm.
