DAVID BARKSDALE graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 1988. He received his J.D. from the University of Florida in 1992, with honors, and was appointed to the Order of the Coif. He practiced two years with the Bedell firm as an associate, then spent four and a half years with the State Attorney's Office in Jacksonville, where he was a Division Chief and a member of the Homicide Team. He returned to the Bedell firm as a partner in 1999. He is a Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer and is listed in the white collar and non-white collar criminal defense sections of The Best Lawyers in America.  His practice focuses on criminal defense in the state and federal courts. His wife Patty is an Assistant United States Attorney assigned to the appellate division.  They have two children.