Douglas B. Dykes

Doug was born and raised in Panama City, Florida. He graduated from Rutherford High School in 1988. He then graduated from Gulf Coast Community College in 1989 and then from Florida State University in 1991. He then 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 as a law clerk with was 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 your 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 you handle involves a father, husband, wife, mother, parent, child – a real person that has hopes, dreams, wishes, sadness, tears, and setbacks like everyone else. Among the many things Doug learned from Steve and Tom, two specific items shine above 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 the Doug the value of always keeping the best lines of communication open with each and every person you come into contact with – no matter whether they are friend or foe. To this day, you could call Tom Larkin and tell him you needed to speak with someone in Seattle, Washington and within 30 minutes Tom could 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 the people you need to when you need to.

Doug was hired fresh out of law school by Raymond L. Syfrett in December of 1993. However, there is another important fact worthy of mention. Doug did not even realize that Ray’s son Clayton was also attending law school at Cumberland with him and in fact was only one year behind him. After lobbying Clayton as well as Ray the resume turned into 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 attack cases, injury victims, and Plaintiff’s attorneys. Doug works equally as hard fighting back by representing 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 is ready to serve.  Email Douglas at DDykes@Syfrett-Dykes.com.