Holland “Holly” Howanitz is the Southeast Regional Managing Partner for Tyson & Mendes’ Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Tampa, and Atlanta offices and a Partner in the Nashville office. Her practice focuses on premises liability, transportation, construction defect, general and automobile negligence, professional malpractice, and products liability.

In her 20 years of practice, Howanitz has represented corporations, insurance carriers, and others in numerous cases. Her experience includes admitted liability cases as well as disputed liability cases. Howanitz also has experience in construction litigation and with errors and omissions cases regarding insurance.

Howanitz is a member of ABOTA (American Board of Trial Advocates). She is also on the executive board for ABOTA and was sworn in as Jacksonville Chapter President in 2025. Also in 2025, Howanitz achieved board certification for Civil Trial in Florida. In addition, she received an AV Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Howanitz obtained her J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law, where she graduated cum laude. Prior to attending law school, she obtained her B.A. from Oglethorpe University

Robert O’Malley is the Tyson & Mendes Ft. Lauderdale Branch Office Managing Partner. He has more than two decades of experience defending clients in auto, civil litigation, trucking and transportation, and premises liability cases, including handling personal injury claims involving surgeries, catastrophic loss, and traumatic brain injury.

O’Malley’s extensive trial experience includes defending individuals, corporations and insurance companies throughout the State of Florida. Among his trial results are victories involving allegations of traumatic brain injury, multiple surgeries, and implantation of spinal stimulators. He successfully represented a lawyer in Broward County who was involved in an admitted liability case involving multiple back surgeries and implantation of a spinal cord stimulator; the jury returned a zero verdict. 

Prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, O’Malley was a partner at a large Florida law firm. In 2010, he was selected as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers. In 2025, he achieved board certification for Civil Trial in Florida and in 2026, he became a member of ABOTA (American Board of Trial Advocates).

O’Malley obtained his J.D. from The Florida International University School of Law, where he served on the Board of Advocates and participated in Moot Court. He obtained his B.A. in Political Science from The Florida International University

J. Stephen (“Stef”) Zielezienski serves as executive vice president at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA). In this capacity, he oversees the policy, advocacy, legal and communications staff in its holistic approach to public policy thought leadership. Prior to the merger of the American Insurance Association (AIA) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) that created APCIA, Zielezienski held the position of senior vice president and general counsel for 14 of his 22 years at AIA.

Before joining AIA, Zielezienski was with the Washington, D.C. offices of Mintz Levin and Wiley Rein and clerked for the Honorable Richard L. Nygaard of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Zielezienski is a graduate of Columbia Law School. He graduated summa cum laude from Columbia College in New York City.

Adam Shores is senior vice president for state government relations for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), where he leads the organization’s state government relations and advocacy efforts. In this capacity, he advocates for public policy solutions benefiting insurance consumers and member companies. He also leads APCIA’s state political strategy, including managing the organization’s corporate PAC priorities and political engagement efforts.

Prior to joining APCIA, he spent nearly 15 years with Allstate Insurance Company where he directed strategic advocacy programs on several key public policy priorities.

Prior to joining Allstate, he served as a speechwriter in the administration of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush; a regional media director for the National Federation of Independent Business; a spokesman for the Florida Department of Education; and a legislative analyst in the Florida Senate Majority Office.

Shores holds a Bachelor of Science in Politics and Journalism from Troy University, and a Master of Professional Studies in Political Management from The George Washington University.

William W. Large is a passionate advocate for legal reform and an experienced attorney who most recently spearheaded Florida’s transformational civil justice reforms of 2023.

As president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute (FJRI), Large is responsible for the daily operations of FJRI, which is a lobbying organization headquartered in Tallahassee, FL.

In 2023, Large led successful efforts to encourage lawmakers to pass, and Governor Ron DeSantis to sign into law, watershed civil justice reforms, including the repeal of the one-way attorney fee statute and limits on contingency risk multipliers, clarity and a safe harbor for third-party bad faith actions, transparency in medical damages and limits on Letters of Protection, premises liability reform, and adoption of modified comparative liability, among others.

Prior to his work with FJRI, Large led Governor Jeb Bush’s fight to reform medical malpractice rules. He also served as Governor Bush’s deputy chief of staff.

He is admitted to practice before all Florida courts, the U.S. Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District, Middle District and Southern District of Florida.

He received both his bachelor’s degree in business administration (B.S.B.A. 1989) and his Juris Doctor (J.D. 1993) from the University of Florida, and holds three master’s degrees from Florida State University: Political Science (M.S. 2002); Business Administration (M.B.A. 2009); and Risk Management and Insurance (MS-RMI 2009).

Daniel J. Santaniello is Principal and Firm Managing Partner at Luks, Santaniello, Petrillo & Cohen and a veteran trial attorney with more than 35 years of experience and over 100 jury verdicts. Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by The Florida Bar, he also holds Martindale-Hubbell's AV® Preeminent™ rating, reflecting the highest level of professional excellence and peer recognition.

Santaniello leads the firm's practice groups focused on AI Litigation Intelligence Strategy & Solutions™, Reptile and Edge Deposition and Trial Strategies, Expert Witnesses & Daubert Strategies, and Surgical and Letters of Protection (LOP) Medical Billing Abuses. His work centers on advancing modern litigation strategies for complex, high-exposure cases.

An invitation-only member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Santaniello received the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Defense Lawyers Association (FDLA), where he previously served as president. He has also been recognized by the Defense Research Institute (DRI) for his contributions to advancing defense standards and the administration of justice.

A Boston native, Santaniello earned a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University before graduating summa cum laude and third in his class from Nova Southeastern University Law School on a full academic scholarship. In 1995, he founded the firm, which has grown to more than 200 attorneys serving clients from offices across Florida, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.