About T. Edmund Spinks

T. Edmund Spinks, is of counsel with the law firm of Patricia Palma, P.A. and is the attorney in charge of the personal injury division of the firm, he has been practicing law in the area of litigation for over 18 years.

Before practicing law, Mr. Spinks served in the Army and trained as a smoke operations specialist and deployed to the Gulf War as a nuclear, biological, and chemical sergeant. Following his service in the Army, he was trained and certified as a firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) in Florida. He was employed by the Polk County Fire Rescue Department, where he became one of the founding members of local Fire Fighter Union, IAFF 3531.

While working for the fire department, he attended the University of South Florida at Tampa studying politics and international relations. Mr. Spinks received a bachelor’s degree with honors in political science and was also awarded a minor in international studies. Following graduation from USF, Mr. Spinks was accepted into the Marine Corps Officer Candidate Program at Quantico, Virginia. After successfully completing this rigorous program, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.

Once commissioned, Mr. Spinks was assigned to the Marine Corps Recruiting Command in Tallahassee, Florida. It was there that he attended Florida State University College of Law. After graduating from FSU, Mr. Spinks became an attorney admitted to practice in the State of Florida. He resumed active duty with the Marine Corps and graduated from the Naval Justice School becoming admitted to practice in the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and all military jurisdictional courts.

Mr. Spinks was promoted to captain and assigned duty at Marine Corps Base Hawaii where he began representing the United States in courts martial and the District of Hawaii Federal Court. During his time in Hawaii, Mr. Spinks successfully complete the Hawaii bar examination and became admitted to practice law in the State of Hawaii courts.

Gaining valuable litigation experience representing the United States, he returned to Florida and became admitted to practice in the Middle District of Florida, Federal Court. Capitalizing on his litigation experience, he began representing individuals in personal injury and disability litigation cases. He retired from United States Marine Corps Reserve after over 25 years of service at the rank of major.