Overview

Jennifer A. Mansfield is a commercial litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's Jacksonville office, and a member of Holland & Knight's Healthcare & Life Sciences and Technology & Telecommunications industry teams. Ms. Mansfield has extensive experience in First Amendment law, insurance defense, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation and managed healthcare litigation. She has broad experience in state and federal trial and appellate courts.

Most recently, Ms. Mansfield has provided advice regarding event cancellation, contractual force majeure clauses and compliance with local, state and federal government edicts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms. Mansfield's healthcare litigation experience includes defense of ERISA welfare benefit plans, defense of managed healthcare plans, disability insurance defense and antitrust defense litigation. She also helps retirement communities navigate resident relations and contractual issues, avoiding litigation where possible, for both independent living and assisted living facilities. Part of her work has been advising facilities on compliance with Florida's statutes governing assisted living facilities, as well as providing independent incident analysis and advice during regulatory investigations.

Most recently, Ms. Mansfield's First Amendment practice has included representation in federal trial and appellate courts of a homeowner challenging a local architectural review ordinance, asserting that the architectural style of his home is expression protected by the First Amendment. In early 2020, Ms. Mansfield also helped a coalition of national and international media entities covering the financial markets to convince the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to delay implementation of a change to its lockup policies that would have substantially delayed the ability of the news organizations to publish key economic data quickly.

Ms. Mansfield's First Amendment practice also includes representing newspapers, television stations and other media entities in defense of defamation claims, prepublication review, courtroom access, Florida's Sunshine Law, and for access to public records under the Freedom of Information Act and Florida's public records laws. Ms. Mansfield has written articles on liability issues arising from social media, and has been invited to speak numerous times regarding the legal implications of social media and Internet privacy. She has also provided prepublication review of potential defamation, privacy torts and copyright issues for several documentaries, as well as opinion letters needed for the documentarians to obtain insurance coverage for their projects.

Ms. Mansfield also has experience in both federal and state courts with antitrust claims, product liability defense, enforcement of patent rights, construction defect litigation, Florida lien law, and other commercial disputes at the trial court and appellate levels.

Before joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Mansfield served for two years as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Ralph W. Nimmons, Jr., United States District Judge (deceased) for the Middle District of Florida.

Prior to her law career, Ms. Mansfield served for three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay teaching business skills to the management of a farmers' cooperative.

Credentials

Education
  • University of Miami School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
  • Northwestern University, B.A., Economics
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • Florida
Court Admissions
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • All State Courts in Florida
  • All Federal Courts in Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Memberships
  • Merit Selection Panel, United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, 2017, 2018
  • The Florida Bar, Media Awards for Outstanding Journalism Committee, 2017
  • The Florida Bar, Rules of Judicial Administration Committee, 2016-present
  • The Florida Bar, Media & Communications Law Committee, Chair, 2011-2012
  • The Florida Bar, Civil Trial Practice Manual, Steering Committee
  • The Florida Bar, Civil Procedures Rules Committee, 2004-2010
  • Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission, Commissioner, 2010-2017; Chair 2013-2014 
  • Mental Health America of Northeast Florida, Chair
  • JCCI Forward, Chair, 2012-2013
  • Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association
  • Federal Bar Association
  • American Bar Association, Litigation Section
  • American Bar Association, Forum on Communications Law
  • Jacksonville Bar Association
  • Theatre Jacksonville, Chair, 2013-2014 
  • Jacksonville Community Council
Honors & Awards
  • First Coast Women in Law, Attorney at Law Magazine, 2023
  • Holland & Knight Pro Bono All-Star, 2020
  • Holland & Knight Public and Charitable Service All-Star Award, 2017
  • The Federal Bar Association Jacksonville Chapter, Spirit of Giving Award, 2016
  • Leadership Jacksonville, Class of 2011
  • "40 Under 40," Jacksonville Business Journal, 2008
  • Pro Bono Champ, Holland & Knight, 2004, 2007, 2008
  • Order of the Coif
  • Dean's List, University of Miami School of Law
  • University of Miami Law Review
Spoken Languages
  • English
  • Guarani
  • Spanish

Publications

Speaking Engagements

News