Mark H. Ruff Jr. - Wicker, Smith, O'Hara, McCoy & Ford, P.A.

Profile

Mark H. Ruff Jr. joined Wicker Smith in 2002 and is a partner in the West Palm Beach office. Mr. Ruff has extensive experience representing retailers in matters arising on their property, as well as in matters involving the products they sell. This includes representative clients such as Publix Super Markets, Inc., and the largest quick-serve restaurant in the world. In regard to premises, Mr. Ruff has successfully defended and has lectured on security cases involving robberies, car-jackings, and shootings. In his product liability experience, he has represented manufacturers, distributors and retailers involving a multitude of products such as children’s playground equipment, fire suppression equipment, chemicals, tires, and brakes.

Mr. Ruff is also involved in the representation of commercial motor vehicle carriers. As a part of the firm’s transportation team, he is available 24 hours a day and has responded immediately to over one hundred accident scenes and catastrophic losses.

Additionally, Mr. Ruff’s experience includes construction litigation relating to both defect and bodily injury claims. Notably, Mr. Ruff has defended multi-million dollar residential and commercial claims involving windows, doors, stucco, and roofing systems.

Mr. Ruff graduated cum laude from Flagler College with a Bachelor of Arts in History and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida. He is a member The Florida Bar, Palm Beach County Bar Association and the national leadership honor society Omicron Delta Kappa. He is admitted to practice in the state of Florida.

Download
vCard

Download
Credentials

Education

University of Florida (J.D., 2002)
Flagler College (B.A., cum laude, 1999)

Representative Matters

Ruling Affirmed: Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal (Professional Negligence)

Orlando Partner, Michael D'Lugo, and West Palm Beach Partners, Mark Ruff and Nicholas Seamster, recently prevailed in a matter heard by the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal. This was a professional negligence claim brought by a contractor against our client, an engineer, stemming from the construction of two sewage pump stations. The Plaintiff claimed that our client negligently designed and negligently administered the project, causing the contractor to fall behind and to be improperly terminated by the city that had originally commissioned the project. The Plaintiff sought over $12 million in actual and consequential damages. Several counts of the Complaint were disposed of via summary judgment prior to trial, and Mark Ruff and Nicholas Seamster tried the case on the remaining counts in Palm Beach County, Florida, in February 2022. Although the jury awarded approximately $100,000 in damages and split the liability equally between the Plaintiff and our client, we moved for a directed verdict which was granted post-trial. Plaintiff appealed the directed verdict in June 2023, and Michael D’Lugo filed our Answer Brief in October 2023. In early June, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed without discussion on all issues related to our client.

Mark Ruff

Mark Ruff - Partner

Mark Ruff

Partner

Profile

Education

Representative Matters

Ruling Affirmed: Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal (Professional Negligence)

Practices

Education

Honors

Credentials

Admitted to Bar

Professional Affiliations