Wilkison, Jesse

Jesse Wilkison was raised in Bradenton, Florida, where he graduated from Southeast High School with an International Baccalaureate diploma. He first became interested in criminal defense law during high school where he volunteered as a criminal defense attorney for Manatee County Teen Court, a diversionary juvenile justice program that allows first time offenders to expunge their records by serving sanctions issued by a jury of other teens. Mr. Wilkison earned undergraduate degrees, magna cum laude, in political science and creative writing from the University of Central Florida.

Mr. Wilkison earned his law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. While in law school, he worked as a research assistant in the area of civil procedure and served as a managing editor of the Florida Law Review, where he volunteered to tutor first year students in criminal law and constitutional law. He also earned book awards in Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure, Copyright Law, Trial Practice, and Federal Jurisdiction, in recognition for obtaining the highest grades in those classes. He graduated, magna cum laude, with the third highest GPA in his graduating class.

During his first summer in law school, Mr. Wilkison served as an extern at the University of Florida General Counsel’s Office. He has also performed internships with the Manatee County Public Defender and the Florida House of Representatives. Mr. Wilkison clerked for Sheppard, White, Kachergus & DeMaggio during the Summer of 2014, and returned to the firm as an associate in August 2015, where he now works in the areas of civil rights litigation and criminal appeals.