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Professional Biography

John Crabtree is the managing partner of Crabtree Auslander & Tackenberg—a Miami-based appellate law firm with a national practice. The firm focuses on representing private clients and their companies in complex civil appeals, including family-law, trusts, estates, and commercial-litigation disputes. John has handled hundreds of appeals before state and federal appellate courts—including oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member of the prestigious American Law Institute and board certified in appellate practice. By election of his peers, he chaired the 1400-member Appellate Practice Section of The Florida Bar. He is the continuing author of both "Civil Appeals" and “The Record on Appeal – Civil Appeals,” two chapters in the treatise Florida Appellate Practice. He has lectured and written on a range of other appellate and class action topics and serves as a consultant and expert witness in the area of appellate practice.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Kokkari Estiatorio in San Francisco

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

The present is a mere point on a pendulum.

What was your first job?

Bellhop at a mountain resort

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

Big Two-Hearted River by Hemingway (from his In Our Time collection of short stories)

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

As the post-Covid litigation pipeline matures, the number and variety of cases making their way to the appellate courts will continue to increase.