Dennis M. O’Hara joined Wicker Smith in 1974 and is a Managing Partner resident in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office.  In his 30+ year career, Mr. O’Hara has served as lead counsel or sole attorney in numerous civil jury trials involving medical malpractice, products liability, general negligence, automobile liability and aviation law. 

 

Mr. O’Hara has been involved in Aviation Law since the late 1970’s. Over the years, he has handled both commercial and general aviation cases, representing clients such as AIG Aviation, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and the United States Aviation Underwriters.  He has been involved in major aviation air disasters, including acting as lead counsel for Valujet in the multi-district litigation for the Valujet crash in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996, the Bahamas crash of the Cessna 402 carrying the entertainer, Aaliyah. He is presently lead counsel for Chalks in the incident involving the crash of their Grumman Mallard seaplane that occurred in Miami harbor on December 19, 2005. In addition, he has been involved in the handling of numerous general aviation matters on behalf of aircraft manufacturers, fixed base operators, and owner/operators, including the Miami Heat.

 

In his medical malpractice work, he has defended healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies and other health care related clients in cases concerning issues related to wrongful death, infant death, brain damage, paralysis, surgical and nursing issues both in Pennsylvania and Florida. Mr. O’Hara serves as counsel for the Swiss Hoffmann-La Roche companies, namely F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd and Roche Holdings Ltd.  He also served as counsel for NutriSystem, Inc. in the class action litigation involving over 300 lawsuits concerning the NutriSystem Weight Loss Centers. 

 

Mr. O’Hara has earned an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating awarded by that organization.  He has also been named one of the Top Lawyers in Florida by Florida Trend Magazine as well as Florida Super Lawyers in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and Best Lawyers in America in 2007, 2008 and 2009.  Mr. O’Hara was inducted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) in 1999.