FFP Podcast: Episode 1 – Interview with Jack Fine
Interviewer: You’re listening to the Fine, Farkash & Parlapiano Podcast. Today we have on Partner and Founder of Fine, Farkash & Parlapiano. Jack Fine. Jack, how are we doing?
Jack: We’re doing great today.
Interviewer: Give us a little introduction on the back story and how you got involved in doing law.
Jack: Sure. I actually came to Gainesville in 1974 to go to law school. Grew up in the northeast. Graduated. Was a public defender doing criminal defense in the Third Circuit, which is the Lake City area and counties north of Alachua County. I was hired in Alachua County where I interned when I was a law student as a public defender. Did criminal defense for three or four years and went into private practice. And after I went into private practice, I looked for the best attorneys I could find to join me. One was a former public defender that I worked with Tom Farkash.
The other was our boss, Alan Parlapiano who was actually a constitutional officer as public defender. He was a constitutional officer, the state of Florida. We convinced him to resign and join us in establishing the firm. We started doing criminal defense and moved to personal injury. And eventually, Tom and Alan retired. And my wife Cherie and my daughter Julie, along with Jonathan Ramsey, also known as “JR”, from the State Attorney’s office have all joined us in our office at this point.
Interviewer: A personal injury law firm, what types of cases do you guys take on, on a daily basis? Who’s the type of person that should be calling the law firm?
Jack: Well, it varies. But basically, it’s someone who’s been injured due to the negligence of another. A lot of our cases are auto accidents, car and truck crashes, whether it’s on the interstate or in the inner city or on rural roads. We do premises liability cases. They could be third party attacks due to negligent security. I represented some of the victims of Danny Rolling many years ago. They could be slip and fall type cases due to the negligence of a landlord, or property owner, or store proprietor. We don’t do a lot of malpractice cases, but we do some. If we can’t do a case, we will refer it to a specialist who can. Our goal is to provide the best representation for our clients in any given personal injury case.
Mr. Fine was born in New York, New York, and was raised in the northeast, where he studied sociology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. He then graduated with honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1976. In law school, he was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, was inducted into the Order of the Coif, and graduated in the top 10 percent of his class. Mr. Fine was admitted into the Florida Bar in 1976, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 1977, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida in 1991, and the United States Court of Appeals 11th Circuit in 1982.