David J. Tong

David J. Tong  is a partner with Saxon|Gilmore. He has practiced law in Tampa since 1984, and presently concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy/creditors’ rights, complex commercial litigation, real estate litigation, and first-party property insurance litigation. In addition, he frequently testifies as an expert witness on the issues of reasonableness of attorneys’ fees and costs.

Mr. Tong routinely represents lenders, governmental entities, and other creditors in complex litigation, bankruptcy, and real estate matters. He has litigated numerous complex cases involving commercial real estate, receiverships, and loan restructurings. He has handled or overseen thousands of foreclosure cases throughout Florida, and prosecutes and defends actions involving title insurance claims.

Mr. Tong devotes a portion of his practice to service as an expert witness in attorneys’ fees in litigation cases. He has testified in court as an expert over 90 times.

Mr. Tong has extensive experience in all stages of representing insurance carrier clients in both simple and complex legal matters related to all aspects of claims. This includes insurance coverage disputes, policy interpretation, application of policy exclusions, as well as first and third-party claims from initiation through trial, arbitration, mediation, and appeal throughout Florida.

He also handles appeals in state and federal appellate courts. His appellate practice has included defending foreclosure judgments obtained by lenders and includes appeals concerning the federal Truth-in-Lending Act, priority of liens encumbering real property, and evidentiary issues arising out of contested foreclosure trials. His appellate experience helps him to ensure that a complete, favorable record is preserved at trial for appellate review.

He was awarded his Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Stetson University College of Law in 1984. He served as a staff member on the Stetson Law Review, for two years, and was the published co-author of Structured Settlements, 13 Stetson Law Review 309 (1984). He is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in Florida, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Tong holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida, where he majored in Business Management.

Mr. Tong is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and the Florida Bar, where he is a member of the Business Law and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Sections. He served as President of the Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association, a 350+ attorney group in the Tampa Bay area, in 2005-2006, and was a member of its Board of Directors from 2000 to 2007. He has authored continuing legal education materials for the National Business Institute on curing Florida real property title problems, and he has spoken on bankruptcy law, title insurance law, and foreclosure law for major banks and other lenders throughout the United States. Mr. Tong has been peer review rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest possible rating, since 2005.