Attorney Damon Chase Who Lost Ginn Lawsuit has Checkered Past

Chase has a long history of arrests that began when he was only 7 years old, including armed robbery and fraud. He once had a different name.

Palm Coast, FL – March 21, 2011— Several GoToby.com readers forwarded an Orlando Sentinel article that details the checkered past of Seminole County attorney, Damon Chase. Chase’s law firm, Chase Freeman, represented 128 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Ginn companies [Feliciano v. Ginn] which was dismissed July 4, 2010. The Judge’s order rebuked Chase. See: Another Ginn Lawsuit Tossed – Were Plaintiffs Properly Represented?
Among the Orlando Sentinel story’s revelations are:
"For the first 31 years of his life, he was Floyd Lee Downs. He legally changed that in 1997, swearing to a Gainesville judge that he was not trying to hide his criminal past."
When he was 24, he was arrested in Orlando for hitting his girlfriend. At 31, he beat up a man in a Gainesville bar during a fight over a World Series game."
"Chase was arrested in Fort Lauderdale when he was 28, accused of using another man’s Social Security card to try to get a fake drivers license."
"…he owed $20,000 in back child support and that during one six-year stretch, he hadn’t filed federal tax returns."
"He was first arrested at age 7, he says, for burglary, sneaking into and trashing a school on a Saturday."
"He was arrested again at age 11, this time for armed robbery. He had tucked a crowbar inside his jacket and gone into a Louisville gas station with two older boys, according to Bar-examiner records. He demanded money from the clerk and then snatched more than $200 from the cash drawer."
"He had scrapes with the law but was never convicted of a felony."
"In 2003, one year after he passed the Bar exam, he was admitted to The Florida Bar at age 37. He has not been arrested since nor disciplined by the Bar."

6 replies
  1. BB
    BB says:

    Balance

    Toby, big fan of the site. After reading the Sentinel article, I’m wondering why you only listed the negative bullet points above. The latter half of the article tells a story of a positive transformation where this attorney has admitted that he changed his name because he was embarrassed by all of the things he had done in his past. I think you do a great job, but it seems a little unfair to cherry pick the negatives out of the article.

  2. bankslayer
    bankslayer says:

    Damon Chase

    Hi Toby
    I think the people that used Chase will agree, it does not look like he changed at all, what did he do for them except take their money. He had a good guy working for him, who knew a lot about the Ginn facts, but once David left the whole thing fell apart. David actually had the Client’s best interests at heart, unlike a lot of the Attorneys, but unfortunately he may be tarred with the same brush, I hope not because he does not deserve it.

  3. John
    John says:

    Not surprise

    Somehow I’m not surprised by this. Why not let a criminal become an attorney. What’s next, a governor who was involved in a massive fraud?

    Amazing

  4. Toby
    Toby says:

    Reply to BB

    You are correct. The Sentinel story describes a person who transformed later in life. I provided the link to the story so readers could see it as you did. My selection of quotations was colored by the tone set in my previous article about the Ginn lawsuit. I believe it would be difficult to commend his actions in that in that case.

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