Douglas B. Dykes

Doug Dykes was born and raised in Panama City, Florida. He graduated from Rutherford High School in 1988; from Gulf Coast Community College in 1989; and from Florida State University in 1991. Then he graduated from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University (located in Birmingham, Alabama) in 1993. While at Cumberland, Doug was a Member of the American Journal of Trial Advocacy where he published his first article – “Articulation of Non-Race-Based Reasons for Peremptory Challenges After Batson v. Kentucky, Volume 17:1, Summer 1993.

His first job was as a law clerk with Tipler Law Offices (now Tipler & Larkin Law Offices) in Birmingham, Alabama. Steve Tipler and Tom Larkin introduced Doug to the reality of what it means to be a Plaintiff’s attorney: First and foremost, the attorney's mission is to achieve justice by helping people, to the fullest extent possible, after they have been injured due to someone else’s negligence. While legal issues are important, each and every case an attorney handles involves someone's loved one – a real person who has hopes, dreams, wishes, and life goals but who has occasional setbacks like everyone else. Among the many things Doug learned from the Tipler & Larking experience, two specific items stood out from the rest, and both have helped him tremendously. From Steve, Doug learned that to be a good attorney, attention to detail is absolutely critical. Tom taught Doug the value of always keeping the best lines of communication open with each and every person he comes into contact with – no matter whether they are friend or foe. To this day, you were to call Tom Larkin and tell him you needed to speak with someone in Seattle, Washington, within 30 minutes, Tom would be able to arrange it. To be a good attorney, you not only have to pay very close attention to detail, you also have to be able to communicate effectively with people.

Doug was hired immediately after law school by Raymond L. Syfrett in December of 1993. However, there is another important fact worthy of mention. Doug did not realize that Ray’s son, Clayton, was also attending law school at Cumberland at the exact same time and was only one year behind him. After lobbying Clayton, as well as Ray the résumé led to Doug’s first job after graduation from law school. Doug was admitted to the Florida Bar on April 19, 1994, and has been practicing law, continuously, ever since at 311 Magnolia Avenue in Panama City, Florida.

Over the past 14 years, Doug has developed two passions about helping people who have been injured:

• The first is to reach out to as many people as he can before they are injured so that they understand what they really need to do protect themselves in case they or a loved one are seriously injured.
• His second passion is to fully and completely engage in understanding the lives of his clients and how their injury has truly impacted their life.

In reality, the insurance companies work tirelessly to discredit cases, injury victims and Plaintiff’s attorneys. Doug works equally as hard on behalf of injured people, with meritorious claims, who seek justice through our legal system. Doug has personally handled hundreds of personal injury cases in his career ranging from simple automobile accidents to complex wrongful-death cases. If you, or a loved one, has a meritorious claim and you truly seek justice, then you are just the client Doug Dykes stands ready to serve.

Email Doug at DDykes@Syfrett-Dykes.com.