Defense

For nearly seven weeks last winter, Naples attorney Brian Dickerson was in federal court, pitted against the powerful U.S. Justice Department in a $1.7 billion private-securities fraud trial against five former executives of
National Century Financial Enter-prises—one of the largest of its kind.

On March 13, roughly five years after being retained, Dickerson listened as the jury handed down a guilty verdict against his client, Donald Ayers of Fort Myers, and Ayers’ four co-defendants, on charges of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. "It definitely was a disappointing result, especially whenever you spend that much time fighting for something," says the 37-year-old lawyer.

"Believe me, I’ve watched that game tape over and over," he says, referring to court transcripts. "I wanted to figure out the different things we could have done. We lost that round; it’s not over yet."

That sense of determination wouldn’t surprise those who remember Dickerson from his days at Barron Collier High School, where he was a stand-out athlete, and his rise from assistant state attorney to "star," as one friend calls him, comes from the same qualities that made him excel in baseball and football.

"Being a good trial lawyer is similar to being an athlete in a game of competition," says prominent Naples defense attorney Jerry Berry, Dickerson’s long-time friend and mentor. "A trial lawyer wants to win. I could tell [early on] that he was competitive."

That quality, combined with Dicker-son’s knack for spotting opponents’ weaknesses and devising strategies, has served him well. In his 12-year law career, he has represented major corporations and doctors in civil cases, as well as defendants facing white-collar-crime charges.