PENNY W. SCHMIDT is a partner with Schutt, Schmidt & Noey. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida while working full-time as a paralegal. She obtained her law degree, with honors, from St. Thomas College of Law in 1992. While in law school, she served as the Chairman of the Moot Court Board and was the recipient of American Jurisprudence Awards in the areas of Civil Trial Advocacy, Appellate Advocacy, Evidence, Wills and Trusts and Taxation. She was named Graduate of the Year for the State of Florida by the legal fraternity of Phi Delta Phi.

After graduation from law school, Penny worked as an Associate Attorney with the law firm of Fuller & Minor, P.A., located in Ft. Myers, Florida, and then became a partner in the law firm of Minor & Schmidt, P.A., in Ft. Myers. While in Ft. Myers, she was an active member of the Lee County Bar Association, Lee County Personal Injury Association and the Calusa Inns of Court. In 1997, she and her husband relocated to the Jacksonville area where she began working with one of her current partners, Dennis R. Schutt.

Penny is admitted to the Florida Bar and the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, and is a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association, Jacksonville Association of Defense Counsel, Florida Bar Trial Lawyers Section, the Florida Defense Lawyers Association and the Defense Research Institute. She is the former President of the Jacksonville Association of Defense Counsel. She is also a member of the Florida Academy of Professional Mediators. Penny is a committee member of the Special Needs of Children section of the Jacksonville Bar Association, as well as a member of the ADR section of the Jacksonville Bar Association. Penny is also a member of the ADR section of the Florida Bar. She is an adjunct professor at Florida Coastal School of Law.

Penny's practice focuses on civil trial litigation and she is a Certified Circuit Civil Mediator. In addition, she is also a certified mediator for residential foreclosures and is a panel mediator with the Jax Mediation Center. She is also a Trained Court Appointed Arbitrator. Her main areas of concentration include personal injury/wrongful death, insurance coverage issues, general civil trial litigation, construction defect litigation, and mediation.

She and her husband, John, have one daughter.

Areas of Practice
Civil Trial Litigation
Personal Injury/Wrongful Death
Insurance Coverage Issues
Construction Defect Litigation
Contract Litigation
County and Circuit Court Mediations
(Certified Circuit Court Mediator & Certified Mediator in the Middle District of Florida)

Litigation Percentage
The majority of Penny's time is spent litigating cases with the remainder of her time devoted to being a Certified Mediator.

Bar Admissions
Florida, 1992
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida

Education
St. Thomas College of Law, Miami 1992

Honors and Awards
Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated

Professional Associations and Memberships
The Florida Bar
The Jacksonville Bar Association
(Special Needs of Children Section committee member)
(ADR Section member)
The Jacksonville Association of Defense Counsel
Florida Defense Lawyers Association
(Co-chairman of the Marketing and Webinar sub-committee for the ADR Section)
(Task Force for the Medicare Secondary Payor Statute committee member)
Defense Research Institute
The Florida Bar Trial Lawyers Section
Florida Academy of Professional Mediators
The Jacksonville Association of Defense Counsel (Former President)
The Florida Academy of Professional Mediators
Adjunct Professor at the Florida Coastal School of Law