Thomas Slater

Attorney at Pajcic & Pajcic
Jacksonville, FL30 years experience

About Thomas Slater

Thomas F. "Tom" Slater, Esq. is a Partner at Pajcic & Pajcic, where he has practiced since 1995. He has been lead attorney on over 800 cases with total recoveries in excess of $400 million, focusing on transportation and maritime, personal injury, and products liability matters.

Slater is known for his aggressive approach and willingness to dig deep to uncover details. In one notable case, he discovered that a semi-truck driver involved in a fatal wreck was behind the wheel because a terminal manager fabricated a background check and road test, leading to a $9.65 million settlement. He also secured an important Florida Supreme Court ruling establishing that utility companies are liable for inoperative street lights.

Slater is a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Civil Trial Law and is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He served on the Florida Standard Jury Instruction-Civil Committee and on the Florida Bar Association's Rules of Civil Procedure Committee for six years (two as Vice Chairman), and is a frequent speaker at legal seminars.

He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida College of Law in 1986 and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with honors from the University of Florida in 1983. He is licensed in Florida, Georgia, and Virginia, and admitted to multiple federal courts including all three U.S. District Courts in Florida and Georgia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Pajcic & Pajcic

These results are credited to Pajcic & Pajcic. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

A Nassau County jury found two trucking companies responsible for the 2017 chain-reaction crash on I-95 near Yulee that killed 18-year-old Connor Dzion, returning a $1 billion verdict that Curry Pajcic won for the teen's parents.

Nassau County Circuit Court, FL · 2021Truck AccidentsRead the full story →

A Nassau County jury awarded $141.5 million, including $125 million in punitive damages, against K&N Logging after an unvetted driver's 80,000-pound log truck plowed into stopped school-zone traffic and left a young child with permanent brain damage.

Nassau County Circuit Court, FL · 2024Truck AccidentsRead the full story →
$21 millionVerdict

A 4-month-old girl died in May 2019 after being left about five hours in a hot van outside a Jacksonville preschool, and the owner later pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter. In January 2022 a Duval County jury awarded her mother $21 million in a wrongful death case against the preschool. The insurer denied coverage, and the resulting federal coverage case settled on undisclosed terms in 2024.

Circuit Court, Duval County, Florida (Jacksonville) · 2022Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$18.74 millionVerdict

A Duval County jury returned an $18.74 million verdict after Joshua Mathews suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2012 assault outside Pete's Bar in Neptune Beach.

Duval County Circuit Court, FL · 2016Premises LiabilityRead the full story →
$10.2 millionVerdictTop 10 of 2005 · #9

A Duval County jury found that the collapsing roof and a defective seatbelt of a 2000 Ford Explorer caused a young driver's death in a Virginia rollover, returning $10,184,315 against Ford in the first verdict aimed squarely at the Explorer's roof and belt design.

Duval County Circuit Court, FL · 2005Product LiabilityRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law
B.S. in Business Administration (with honors), 1986
University of Florida
Undergraduate, 1983

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Florida
State Bar of Georgia
State Bar of Virginia
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Middle District of Georgia
State Bar of U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia
State Bar of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
State Bar of U.S. Supreme Court
Florida Bar Association
Georgia Bar Association
Virginia Bar Association
Jacksonville Bar Association
American Board of Trial Advocates
American Association for Justice
Southern Trial Lawyer Associates
Florida Justice Association
Jacksonville Justice Association

Awards & recognition

Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist — Civil Trial Law
Martindale-Hubbell AV rating

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$11.3 billion · Florida's Dream Team Beats Big Tobacco for $11.3 Billion: Yerrid's Racketeering Play Tripled the Stakes
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$23.94 million · Copilot Burned in Fatal Wildfire Helicopter Crash Wins Verdict Against Engine Maker
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$27.01 million · Jury Awards Former Smoker With COPD $27 Million Against Philip Morris USA
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$8.1 million · Duval County Jury Awards $8.1 Million After Toddler Suffers Brain Damage at Jacksonville Daycare
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$5.46 million · Neighbor's Unguarded Angle Grinder Costs Man His Sight: $5.46 Million Verdict in Gadsden County

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.