Partners

Michael Wiggins is a founding member and senior partner of McDonald Toole Wiggins, P.A.  He is counsel to manufacturers and corporations in the U.S. and internationally, and his litigation practice is devoted entirely to defending large damage and catastrophic injury cases for the automotive, consumer products, industrial equipment and medical device industries.  He is a nationally recognized trial lawyer that has defended and tried cases in over 20 states and federal jurisdictions around the country.  He is frequently retained as lead counsel in mass tort, class action and pattern litigation around the country, and he has extensive experience managing local counsel in the role as regional or national counsel.  Most recently, he has led or co-led trial teams in cases tried to verdict involving claims exceeding $100 million and is leading teams that are scheduled to defend catastrophic cases in Florida, California, Minnesota, Nevada and Massachusetts.  His most important work is as an advocate for children with cancer, and he is the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cannonball Kids cancer Foundation (“CKc”), a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation dedicated to funding medical clinical research. He is a frequent speaker on the reason and need for funding of research in cancers found primarily in children.  Michael lives in Orlando with his wife, Melissa, and their five children: Olivia, Cannon, Arran James, Gray and Charlie.

Mr. Richman represents clients in complex product liability, personal injury and commercial litigation matters. He has extensive experience representing manufacturers in state and federal courts involving claims of personal injury and property damage related to alleged product defects, including motor vehicles, consumer products and industrial tools and equipment. Mr. Richman also has significant experience representing clients in other types of personal injury matters including premises liability and motor vehicle collisions, as well as commercial litigation, including contract, business disputes and alleged unfair trade practices. For over 10 years, Mr. Richman has served as national counsel defending property damage and personal injury claims related to fires caused by an alleged product defect.  Mr. Richman also serves as regional counsel for a major tire manufacturer overseeing catastrophic personal injury litigation in six states in the Southeast.

Frank McDonald is a Florida Bar Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, the highest recognition of competency, professionalism and expertise awarded by the Bar. Throughout his entire career as a trial lawyer in private practice, he has defended product manufacturers and other business entities in complex tort litigation in state and federal courts throughout the southeastern United States.

This practice has included the defense of motor vehicle companies in crashworthiness litigation as well as medical device companies, equipment manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, oil and gas companies and other makers of consumer products in products liability and toxic tort matters.

In 2008, he was invited to become a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.

He has tried over 65 lengthy cases to verdict in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. Mr. McDonald started his legal career in Orlando after a clerkship at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals with the Honorable Joseph W. Hatchett.

He has received numerous awards and honors for his legal accomplishments and has spoken at various seminars on topics that pertain to trial practice.

Bianca Graziela Liston handles all aspects of litigation, as well as coordination of discovery. She defends cases from soft tissue injuries to catastrophic injuries and wrongful death claims in Florida state and federal courts.  She has first and second chair trial experience.  Her practice area includes products liability, personal injury, premise liability, amusement park, DRAM shop, food/supplement, toxic tort, commercial and transportation litigation, as well as administrative actions.

Prior to admission to the Florida Bar in 2002, Ms. Liston worked in a law firm as a legal assistant and paralegal.  Because of her passion for the law, she obtained her Bachelor and Juris Doctorate Degrees from Nova Southeastern University during its night program while continuing full-time employment.   It is this commitment and determination that she brings to her clients.   Ms. Liston is committed to handling each file as if it is her only file.  Likewise, she is determined to search for and discover every fact about the Plaintiff and his/her/its claim to achieve a beneficial resolution for her client whether through dismissal, settlement or verdict.  She also understands that with many clients, especially corporate clients, there is a business aspect to each claim and that winning at trial may not be the best approach to prevailing on a claim.

Courtney King focuses her practice on products and premises liability litigation, primarily representing automobile and medical device manufacturers, as well as theme parks. With a strong interest in her clients’ concerns and objectives, she calls on her trial experience, as well as her observations of strengths and weaknesses in individual cases, to skillfully and efficiently represent her clients.

Select Experience

Examples of Ms. King’s representative experience include the following:

•  Co-Represented an automobile manufacturer to defense verdict at trial in Hillsborough County, Florida in a case involving a plaintiff who sustained burns to over seventy-five percent of his body in a vehicle fire;
•  Represented an automobile manufacturer in personal injury and wrongful death cases involving rollover events, ejected occupants and/or vehicle fires;
• Obtained summary judgment for an automobile manufacturer in a rollover case venued in Pinellas County, Florida;
• Represented multiple medical device manufacturers as local and national counsel in cases venued in Florida and Pennsylvania;
• Represented medical device manufacturers in multidistrict litigation in Alachua County;
• Represented a major theme park in multiple cases venued in Orange County involving negligence, failure to warn, and negligent mode of operation claims.

About Me

What do you enjoy most about the practice of law?

The most rewarding aspect of my job is the creativity involved at every stage of litigation, whether it is determining the most cost-efficient way to defend a case or strategizing as to the most advantageous manner of proceeding with discovery.

What are your favorite activities in your leisure time?

I enjoy family time, which consists mostly of keeping up with my daughter’s latest activities and interests. I also enjoy traveling and reading.