Founding partner Peter M.
Cardillo graduated from Columbia
Law School in 1982, and has
been a trial lawyer for the
last 26 years. As a result
of his Army ROTC academic
scholarship, Cardillo incurred
a military commitment, and
served as a JAG lawyer in
the Army for his first four
years of practice, trying
many court-martial cases.
He was discharged
from active duty with an
honorable discharge at the
rank of Captain in 1987,
and was recalled to active
duty by President Bush during
Operation Desert Shield/Desert
Storm in 1990.
Cardillo began his private
practice at a national law
firm, developing a wide variety
of business litigation experience.
In 1996, he was recognized
by the Florida Bar and granted
this specialty certification
designation in business litigation,
which was the first year
it was available. Cardillo
has maintained and renewed
this specialty designation,
and thus remains board certified
in business litigation. Only
3% of Florida attorneys have
received this certification.
Also in 1996, Cardillo began
his focus on the representation
of property owners who have
suffered termite damage.
In 1999, he was named the
managing partner of the Tampa
litigation department of
a national law firm, a position
he held until 2003. By then,
his focus had evolved to
the point of exclusively
representing property owners
with termite damage claims.
Despite tremendous success
in building that firm’s
Tampa litigation department
from its genesis into a formidable
team, Cardillo decided that
he could best serve his termite
clients by opening his own
boutique law firm. In 2003,
Cardillo founded the firm,
and as a result, his termite
clients have enjoyed unprecedented
attention and service.
Cardillo was admitted to
the Florida Bar in 1982 and
is a member of the U.S. Supreme
Court and the Eleventh Circuit
Court of Appeals in Atlanta,
Georgia. He is also admitted
to practice before all three
of Florida’s federal
district courts – the
Middle, Southern, and Northern
Districts of Florida. Cardillo
is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an
organization limited to lawyers
who have achieved multi-million
dollar recoveries for their
clients. Cardillo serves
as a federal arbitrator and
is a master in the Tampa
Bay Inns of Court. He has
tried more that 30 jury cases.
Mr. Cardillo has received
the "AV" rating (the highest
rating available) from Martindale-Hubbell
based on evaluations from
fellow lawyers. He is also
a member of the litigation
section of the American Bar
Association, the Trial Lawyers
Section of the Florida Bar,
and the Trial Lawyers Section
of the Hillsborough County
Bar Association, and the
Florida Justice Association. Cardillo is a member
of Community Associations
Institute and the Bay Area
Apartment Association, to
which he frequently
contributes his termite expertise.
He received his
undergraduate degree in 1979
from the University of South
Florida.
