Dorothy Clay Sims (born 1957) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and nationally renowned expert in medical expert cross examination. She is best known for her

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

contributions to the defense and acquittal of

Casey Anthony Caylee Marie Anthony (August9, 2005 – June2008) was an American toddler who lived in Orlando, Florida, with her mother, Casey Marie Anthony (born March19, 1986), and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony. On July15, 2008, Cayle ...

Background

Sims was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. She was raised in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...

, and

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

. Sims is one of three children, and the only daughter of Benham Sims Jr., a

Southern Bell Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company was a Bell Operating Company serving the Southeastern United States of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It also previously covered the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, M ...

worker, and Dorothy Brown, a Head Start teacher. Sims has two younger brothers: Benham Sims III (a lawyer in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

) and David Sims (died March 2014). Her grandfather is

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

politician and civil rights activist

John Y. Brown Sr. John Young Brown (February 1, 1900 – June 16, 1985) was an American Attorney at law, attorney and politician. He was a state representative for six two-year terms, serving one as speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1932 and as ma ...

and her uncle is former

Kentucky Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have bee ...

John Y. Brown Jr. Sims' cousins include former

Kentucky Secretary of State The secretary of state of Kentucky is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is now an elected office, but was an appointed office prior to 1891. The current secretary of state is Republican Party (United States), Re ...

John Young Brown III John Young Brown III (born June 2, 1963) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Brown served as Secretary of State of Kentucky from 1996 to 2004. In 2007, Brown ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for Lieutena ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Pamela Brown.http://www.whas11.com/story/news/local/2014/10/10/15495424/

Legal practice

Sims began her career representing injured workers in

North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...

. She co-founded and served as chair of Florida Workers' Advocates; Florida's only statewide injured worker advocacy organization. In 1999 she was elected the first female president of the

Florida Bar Association The Florida Bar is the integrated, or unified bar organization for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States.

Worker's Compensation Section. She remains a lifetime

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

member. From 2003 to 2004, Sims served as the president of the Marion County

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

. Sims is the author of ''Exposing Deceptive Defense Doctors'', a treatise on her trade. She co-authored the

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational content-driven technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and maintains its headquarters at 1 ...

text, ''Litigating Minor Impact Soft Tissue Cases''. Sims has authored articles in the magazines '' The Champion'' and ''

Trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

''. She is also the author of several children's books that address difficulties faced by children of injured workers. Sims has appeared in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' and ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', and has been featured on '' The Piers Morgan Show'', '' On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren'',

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

, and '' In Session''. Since 2000, Sims has lectured at

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

s and conducted seminars at various legal and governmental organizations around the world.

Casey Anthony case

In 2010, Sims was approached by Jose Baez and

Cheney Mason James Cheney Mason (born December 12, 1943) is an American attorney best known as co-counsel for Casey Anthony in the 2011 Casey Anthony trial and counsel for Nelson Serrano in his 2006 murder trial. Early life and education Cheney Mason is a ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, after giving a

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

seminar on cross examining expert witnesses.Baez, J., & Golenbock, P. (2012). Presumed guilty: Casey Anthony : the inside story. Dallas: BenBella Books. She agreed to join the defense team

, and worked as the team's

forensic Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

testimony expert. Anthony was acquitted on July 5, 2011.

Current activity

Sims consults with and trains lawyers around the world in the art of cross examining medical experts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Dorothy Clay 1957 births Living people University of Florida alumni Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni