Professional Experience:

Donald H. Partington founded the firm in 1976 with William H. Clark, Robert D. Hart, Jr., and W. Christopher Hart. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1961, and graduated summa cum laude from its law school in 1964. Partington then entered the Army, serving in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He moved to Pensacola in 1967 to practice in the same firm as his law school moot court partner, Bill Clark. His 1965 law review article, The Incidence of the Death Penalty for Rape in Virginia, 22 Wash. & Lee L. Rev 43 (1965), was cited by the United States Supreme Court in Justice Burger’s dissent in Furman v. Georgia, 408 US 238 (1972), and has been widely referenced for its demonstration of racial disparity in death penalty sentencing.

Partington maintained a wide-ranging civil practice and was a member of the Florida Bar’s inaugural Civil Trial Board Certification Review Committee. He also served for many years as chair of the Florida Supreme Court’s Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases. On July 30, 1983, he was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He also served as president of the Escambia/Santa Rosa Bar Association. Throughout his distinguished career, Partington earned a reputation as one of the region’s most knowledgeable and respected civil trial attorneys. Widely regarded as a “lawyer’s lawyer,” he was held in the highest esteem by his peers.

He remains very active and instrumental in many civic and non-profit organizations, such as Manna Food Bank, the Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival, the Pensacola Opera, the Pensacola Arts Council, Christ Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Day School. Notably, the Pensacola Opera has honored Partington for his contributions and support by naming its offices and rehearsal facility as the “Donald H. Partington Opera Center.”