About Ralph Gonzalez

Ralph L. Gonzalez is a former U.S. Army Captain who has practiced law since 1983. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he won the Williston Contract Competition, served as a Book Review Editor for the Harvard Environmental Law Review, and competed in the Ames Moot Court Competition. He also holds an M.B.A. from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics magna cum laude from the University of Tampa, where he was named the Most Outstanding Graduate and a Distinguished Military Graduate. Gonzalez served as a Captain in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps, Defense Appellate Division, and was recognized for his extraordinary legal work on behalf of clients.

He has been with The Yerrid Law Firm for over 25 years and brings extensive civil, commercial, and appellate litigation experience. He played a leading role in the firm's work on Florida's landmark tobacco litigation and has tried numerous complex medical malpractice, personal injury, and business cases. Notable co-counsel verdicts include a $30 million verdict for a Hillsborough County woman's personal injuries, a $16 million wrongful death verdict, and a $4.6 million verdict against Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. He is admitted to the Florida Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Proven verdicts and settlements at The Yerrid Law Firm

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

$11.3 billionSettlementLargest in FloridaLargest of 1997

C. Steven Yerrid, the youngest of Florida's 11-lawyer 'Dream Team,' added racketeering and conspiracy charges that tripled the damages ceiling, helping the state secure what was then the largest civil settlement in American history against the tobacco industry.

Florida (State v. American Tobacco Co.) · 1997Product LiabilityRead the full story →

A Hernando County jury returned a $330 million verdict for Angela Stone after a drunk driver ran a stop sign and fatally struck a minivan carrying her 13-year-old daughter.

Hernando County Circuit Court, Brooksville, FL · 2009Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

A Hillsborough County jury awarded $216.8 million to Allan Navarro after an emergency room misdiagnosed his stroke as sinusitis, leaving him permanently paralyzed. It was the largest medical malpractice verdict in Florida history at the time.

Hillsborough County Circuit Court, Tampa, FL · 2006Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →
$76.8 millionVerdict

A Hillsborough County jury awarded $76.8 million in compensatory damages to the family of Dana Maria Rivera, a 36-year-old mother of four killed on February 28, 2025, when Nicholas Betancourt, released from a DUI arrest that same morning, crossed the center line on Gunn Highway in Odessa while impaired by cocaine and methamphetamine.

Hillsborough County Circuit Court, Tampa, FL · 2025Wrongful DeathRead the full story →
$30 millionVerdict

A Hillsborough County jury awarded $30 million to the parents of Hannah Waite, 23, who died of septic shock after doctors at Kindred Hospital left a known small-intestine ulcer untreated for two months.

Hillsborough County Circuit Court, Tampa, FL · 2024Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →

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

Practice areas

Education

Harvard Law School
J.D.
University of Tampa
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Florida, admitted 1983
State Bar of District of Columbia

Other attorneys at The Yerrid Law Firm

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Proven verdicts and settlements from other Tampa firms

Swope Rodante PA
Swope Rodante PA
$30.1 Million TBI Verdict After Insurer Refused to Settle
Wilkes & Associates, P.A.
Wilkes & Associates, P.A.
$1.1 Billion Verdict Over Nursing Home Resident's 17 Falls, Never Paid by Insolvent Defendants
MattLaw Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers
MattLaw Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers
$160,000 Verdict for Marion County Woman After Rear-End Crash Left Her With Seizures and Memory Loss

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