For Sherri Denton Mallory, Esq., partner and attorney at Mallory Law Firm, PA, in Panama City, Florida, her aspiration since childhood was to become a lawyer. Her career has been perennially punctuated with numerous achievements, including negotiating and securing the property for the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center in Panama City and managing the project’s financing.
Mrs. Mallory represented the developer for the 14th Judicial Circuit’s state attorney’s and public defender’s offices, handling negotiations, overseeing financing details, and serving as the closing attorney. She has had the unique opportunity to practice big law in a small-town setting, representing developers, banks, and financial institutions. Most recently, she was recruited by the dean of the Florida State University College of Law to serve as an adjunct professor. Impressively, Mrs. Mallory designed the curriculum and taught the real estate transactions skills course, contributing more than 50 documents from her practice.
Mrs. Mallory has been a member in good standing of The Florida Bar since 1987, representing financial institutions, business entities, the State of Florida, and individuals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She has also practiced before circuit, county, and district courts in the state. During her esteemed career, Mrs. Mallory has litigated more than 5,000 cases on behalf of financial institutions, including lender liability cases, foreclosures, and collections. She has handled numerous commercial real estate closings on behalf of both lenders and developers, including multimillion-dollar financing with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Moreover, Mrs. Mallory has individually managed trust escrow monies totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. She has represented clients such as Peoples First Community Bank, Hancock Bank, Vision Bank, Nexity Bank, and Royal American Companies in various litigation matters and real estate closings. She also is a title agent, handling residential and commercial real estate transactions. Additionally, Mrs. Mallory has represented numerous individuals in various civil litigation and real estate matters.
In the early 90s, Mrs. Mallory was the senior attorney for the Department of Health & Rehabilitation Services, prosecuting child abuse and neglect cases. This role was one of the most challenging yet rewarding of her career. She was later recruited by Burke, Blue, Hutchison, et al., PA, becoming a partner with the firm. Mrs. Mallory and her husband, Peter A. Mallory, then formed Warner & Mallory, PA, with Timothy Warner and William Warner, creating a full-service litigation and real estate firm, where Mrs. Mallory was the managing partner. In 2004, she and her husband formed their own full-service litigation and real estate practice until he was elected circuit judge in 2010. Presently, at her solo practice, Mallory Law Firm, PA, she continues to handle civil and commercial litigation matters, real estate, estate planning, and probate law.
Mrs. Mallory’s educational background includes a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Florida State University College of Law, with honors, earned in 1987. She additionally holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in computer science from the University of Florida, which she secured with high honors in 1984, and an associate degree in general studies from Gulf Coast State College, summa cum laude. Mrs. Mallory’s awards include being a top-rated lawyer in litigation for ethical standards and legal ability by Martindale-Hubbell and being recognized by Lawyers of Distinction in litigation each year, for five years straight, in 2020 through 2024. During her higher education, she was awarded a graduate university fellowship at Florida State University College of Law from 1984 to 1987.
Today, applying her expertise in multiple vital areas of the law, Mrs. Mallory is responsible for providing prompt, professional, and efficient legal representation to clients at her firm. To stay up to date with her legal specialties as well as being civically involved and active in her community, she maintains affiliation with the St. Andrew Bay Inn of Court, Florida State University, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. Mrs. Mallory was also a little sister with Delta Tau Delta Fraternity and a former member of the Jaycees.
Ascribing her ongoing accomplishments to hard work, perseverance, and maintaining a balanced life, Mrs. Mallory has salient advice for aspiring professionals in her industry, emphasizing that being prepared is the key attribute to earning their clients’ and judges’ respect and winning cases. She believes that “thinking outside the box” “also is essential to standing out and achieving success. “To sum it up,” she says, using a familiar adage, “work hard, play hard!”