Clay M. Townsend

Biography Overview

A co-founder of Griffin, Morgan, Linder and Townsend, P.A. in 1985 with John Morgan, Clay has represented clients in personal injury claims, as well as commercial, entertainment, and intellectual property litigation in multiple jurisdictions against some of the largest corporations in the United States.  He has secured numerous million-dollar plus verdicts, judgments and settlements for his clients.

After graduating from the University of Florida Law School, cum laude, in 1982, Clay began a successful legal career. Some of the high-profile clients he has represented include Britney Spears’ manager, Johnny Wright, the Backstreet Boys, Harlem Globetrotter players including Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon, Michael Douglas. Coach Lou Holtz in a defamation case against the Daily Beast,  copyright cases such as the “Rear Window” film copyright case against Steven Spielberg,  the “Pocketful of Miracles/Lady for a Day” film case,   the Kurtzman estate Mad Magazine case, and the U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte dispute.   Mr. Townsend has also worked on the toxic tort cases such as the Central Florida bombing range case against Tivoli and acted as co-counsel with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on toxic tort cases such as the Raytheon case in Tampa, and represented two of the governor’s children in the matter of the estate of Governor Lawton Chiles. He has handled many high profile cases and has been interviewed by Geraldo Rivero on Fox News, and featured on American Greed for his significant role in the Backstreet Boys litigation. Over the years, his list of clients included judges, elected officials, law firms.

Mr. Townsend has represented renowned athletes before the NCAA, and has successfully litigated complex cases with companies such as Universal, AIG, etc. Mr. Townsend started the contingency fee litigation practice at Morgan and Morgan with the Backstreet Boys cases and co-founded the Business Trial Group in 2010. Mr. Townsend also has significant business experience as the developer and owner of two Florida’s largest and most historic restaurant and entertainment complex: Townsend’s Fish House and Tavern and Townsend’s Plantation which won awards for historic preservation.

Mr. Townsend has obtained a long list of settlement and verdicts in excess of a million dollars, including recoveries in excess of $30 million dollars.