E. Holland “Holly” Howanitz is the Managing Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Jacksonville office and a Partner in the Nashville office. Her practice focuses on premises liability, transportation, construction defect, professional malpractice, general and automobile negligence, and products liability.

In her 18 years of practice, Ms. Howanitz has represented corporations, insurance carriers, and others in numerous cases. Her experience includes admitted liability cases as well as disputed liability cases. She has conducted construction litigation in many types of cases and has experience representing many parties in construction cases, including architects, engineers, developers, contractors, and others. She has handled arbitrations for construction cases as well. Ms. Howanitz also has experience with errors and omissions cases regarding insurance. In addition to her impressive litigation history, Ms. Howanitz is a member of ABOTA (American Board of Trial Advocates). She is also on the executive board for ABOTA. In addition, she received an  AV Preeminent® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Ms. Howanitz was named one of Jacksonville’s top 25 influential women in 2016. In 2018 and 2019, she was selected as one of Attorney at Law magazine’s Top 10 Attorneys Under 40.

Notable Trial Experience:

• Breach of Warranty/Products Liability Case: In federal court, plaintiff claimed over $5 million in lost profits due to a baylor not producing the amount of recyclable materials promised in the contract. Defense stipulated to breach of warranty claim but raised the defense of misuse. Defense verdict on the lost profits claim. Jury ordered defendant to buy back the machine for the breach of warranty claim – which defense had been offering to do since the beginning of the case.
• Auto Accident: Plaintiff, a 32-year-old male with no priors, was in a rear end collision. Defendant had admitted liability. Plaintiff had undergone injections, radiofrequency ablations, and had a surgical recommendation for a cervical disk replacement. In closing, plaintiff asked for $1.1 million. Jurors found plaintiff had no permanent injury and awarded $30,000.
• Premises Liability: Plaintiff was at a supermarket when she tripped over a beer display and ended up with shoulder surgery, neck surgery, and a recommended lumbar surgery. She claimed the beer display was dangerous. She had a life care plan of $1.8 million and over $300,000 in past medicals. The jury returned a complete defense verdict.