John S. Mills

John S. Mills is a Florida Bar board-certified appellate specialist. He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed as a “Legal Elite” in Florida by Florida Trend magazine and as a “Super Lawyer” in the top 5% of Florida lawyers by Law and Politics magazine.

A fifth-generation Floridian with roots in both Jacksonville and Manatee County, John earned his undergraduate degree from Florida State University. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was the Executive Articles Editor of the Georgia Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.
 

John began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. After that he practiced commercial and employment litigation at the international law firm of Foley & Lardner for several years. In 2002, John started a solo practice to focus exclusively on appellate litigation. That firm has grown and prospered and is now known as Mills Creed & Gowdy.
 

John has been appointed as the chair of The Florida Bar’s Appellate Court Rules Committee after serving five prior years on the committee. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Appellate Practice Section of The Florida Bar. He is a master in the First District Appellate American Inn of Court, and is an alumnus of Leadership Jacksonville, the Chester Bedell Inn of Court, and the board of governors of the Jacksonville Bar Association.
 

His awards include the 2006 S. Victor Tipton Award from the Florida Justice Association for “superior achievement in legal writing and commitment,” the 2006 Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, and the 2005 Pro Bono Award from the Appellate Practice Section of The Florida Bar. John has also served as special counsel to the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission in the prosecution of four Florida judges for judicial misconduct.
 

John has lectured on advanced appellate topics at numerous conferences and seminars, including the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference, the Eleventh Circuit Appellate Practice Institute, the Florida Appellate Justice Conference, and the Florida Bar Appellate Practice Certification Review Course, where he annually teaches federal appellate practice to Florida appellate lawyers preparing to sit for the board certification exam.