Phyllis Towzey is the first-ever attorney from a St. Petersburg-based firm to be board-certified by The Florida Bar in Labor and Employment Law. She holds an 'A-V' rating from Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating available for both expertise and trustworthiness. (For Martindale Hubbell listing, click here.) Her firm is in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, and the Inaugural Edition of the Bar Register of Preeminent Woman Lawyers, 2011. She has been selected for Florida SuperLawyers 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, click here, and selected for "Tampa's Best Lawyers" from the Tampa Bay Business Journal, selected for the prestigious Florida Trend Magazine's Legal Elite, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 click here, and also The Best Lawyers in America, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. click here.

Termination Disputes - Severance Agreements - Employment Agreements - Non-Compete Agreements -
Employee Handbooks and Seminars - Sexual Harassment Claims - Discrimination Claims -  Wage & Hour Claims - Whistleblower Claims - Unemployment Compensation Hearings - Dept of Labor Investigations - UAC Appeals

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Ms. Towzey is a litigator specializing in employment law. Her practice includes trials in state and federal court and appeals. She is admitted to practice in all Florida Courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third, Fourth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Florida and the Southern District of Florida.

Ms. Towzey provides counseling to businesses regarding compliance with federal and state laws and regulations affecting labor and employment, and offers management seminars targeted at employment litigation risk management.

Ms. Towzey has experience as a certified mediator and arbitrator in both state and federal court, with an additional specialization in employment law cases.

Ms. Towzey is a chapter author for Personnel Law Update 2005, and Certificate in Human Resource Management 2007, and Employment Law Hot Topics, 2008, published for The George Washington University by the Council on Education In Management, Charlotte, NC.  Ms. Towzey serves on the editorial board for the Employment Law reference book Employment Evidence, authored by Eugene K. Hollander.  For the best selling novel, Nothing To Fear, by Karen Rose, published by Warner Books, Ms. Towzey served as legal technical advisor to the author.

Ms. Towzey was founding member in 1993 of the St. Petersburg-based commercial litigation law firm, Stein, Ford, Schaaf & Towzey, LLP. Ms. Towzey was member for ten years before leaving that firm to open her private practice in the historic Kress Building across from the courthouse in downtown St. Petersburg.

Ms. Towzey is a former senior litigation associate in Tampa, Florida, for what is now the giant international law firm, DLA Piper, where she handled business litigation matters, including employment, banking law and contract disputes.

She served as a member of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee for Chase Federal Bank in Miami, Florida, which was the second largest Florida-based bank (after Barnett Banks) before its sale in 1996 to Bank of America. She served for six years as board secretary and member of the executive committee of the LCC Day School in St. Petersburg. She is a former co-chair of the employment law section and a member of the strategic planning committee for the St. Petersburg Bar Association.

Prior to joining what is now DLA Piper, Ms. Towzey interned with Judge Delores K. Sloviter, Chief Judge, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ms. Towzey has been a guest speaker at American Bar Association Employment Law seminars and she provides Employment Law workshops for clients and prospective clients.

Before practicing law, Ms. Towzey, a nationally accredited public relations practitioner (APR), served as Regional Director of Communications for the American Red Cross in Philadelphia. She was awarded the APR credential when she was 24 and was among the youngest ever accredited by the Public Relations Society of America.

Ms. Towzey received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1979 and her Juris Doctor degree (with honors) in 1987 from Rutgers Law School, where she served as Articles editor of the Rutgers Law Journal.

To read Phyllis Towzey quoted in the St. Petersburg Times, click here, or click here or click here, or here.  To read Phyllis Towzey quoted in the Gulf Coast Business Review, click here.  

Phyllis Towzey publishes a news, commentary and tips blog -- Employment Law Update.. To read or subscribe to the blog click here.

Phyllis Towzey is board-certified in labor and employment law. For Information from The Florida Bar on board-certified attorneys, click here.