TAMPA – Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns, LLP is pleased to announce that J.D. Zarate has joined the firm’s litigation team in the Tampa office. He has represented clients in business, corporate and complex commercial litigation matters in a wide variety of state courts at the trial and appellate level.
Prior to joining Johnson Pope, J.D. served the people of the State of Florida as an Assistant State Attorney in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida for over three years. During that time, J.D. litigated thousands of cases ranging from misdemeanor offenses to punishable-by-life felony charges, including the successful prosecution at trial of multiple complex burglary offenses committed during the state of emergency caused by Hurricane Irma. He brought over fifteen jury trials to verdict, and he handled hundreds of bench trials, motion hearings, and depositions. After his time as an Assistant State Attorney, J.D. bolstered his civil litigation experience at a highly regarded local litigation firm, where he handled all phases of litigation in a wide variety of practice areas including contractual disputes, products liability, premises liability, and trucking and transportation, among others.
Zarate holds B.S. and B.A. degrees from the University of Florida and received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns, LLP is a regional, full-service law firm with offices in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater.