Thomas J. Jerla, Jr.

Thomas Jerla is an attorney at the law firm of Morgan & Morgan, in Plantation, Florida, where he devotes his practice exclusively to personal injury. Mr. Jerla represents victims throughout the State of Florida injured in accidents involving commercial vehicles (including tractor-trailers, dump trucks, cement trucks, and dump trucks), automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, negligent security, premises liability and wrongful death.  As a result of his service on the board of directors of The 22 Project, Mr. Jerla has also focused part of his practice to helping victims who have sustained brain injuries.

Before joining Morgan & Morgan, to represent the injured and their families, Mr. Jerla spent over five years at another firm where he worked on the defense side, representing individuals, businesses and insurance companies in commercial, insurance and personal injury cases. He handled matters involving breach of contract, construction claims and professional liability allegations against entities including condominium associations, homeowners’ associations and their officers and directors. These experiences gave him insight into the strategies defense attorneys use and the best ways for plaintiffs to overcome them.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Jerla worked as an Assistant State Attorney in the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office.  Prior to leaving the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office in 2007, he was assigned to the Economic Crimes Division where he was responsible for the investigation and prosecution of investment fraud, insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, healthcare fraud, embezzlement and identity theft.

During his career, Tom has tried more than forty cases to verdict.  During his time at Whittel and Melton, Mr. Jerla aggressively prosecuted a contentious wrongful death dram shop case against a national restaurant chain as well as a wrongful death case at a local concrete plant.  Through his many years of experience, Mr. Jerla has learned that there isn’t a one size fits all approach to his practice.  Each client needs an individual strategy with relentless protection for the outcome to be successful.  Moreover, Mr. Jerla understand that the foundation of every case starts in the beginning in order to obtain a successful outcome for his clients.

Mr. Jerla is a member of the Florida Justice Association and Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys.  Mr. Jerla was previously the chair of the Florida Registered Paralegal Committee and member of the Student Education & Admissions to the Bar Committee.  Outside of his practice of law, Mr. Jerla serves on the Board of Directors of The 22 Project, a non-profit based in Delray Beach, Florida that is dedicated to assisting veterans suffering from PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries. 

Tom has been listed as AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review rated lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell since 2012. Tom has also been selected as a Top Lawyer of Tampa Bay as published in The Tampa Bay Tribune 2015 and 2016.  Moreover, Tom has also been selected to the 2016 Florida Rising Stars List by Super Lawyers Magazine.  Most recently, Tom was selected to become a member of the National Association of Distinguished Counsel and America’s Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys