Jeffrey DeSousa is a Partner in the Tallahassee office of Shutts & Bowen LLP, where he is a member of the Appellate Practice Group.
Jeffrey has more than a decade of appellate experience, built across both the defense of criminal defendants and the representation of the State of Florida in constitutional and criminal cases. His practice focuses on appellate advocacy and constitutional litigation.
Jeffrey joined the firm after seven years in the Florida Office of the Attorney General, including more than a year as Florida’s Acting Solicitor General. As the State’s top appellate lawyer, Jeffrey oversaw the State’s most sensitive trial and appellate litigation in both federal and state court. Before that, Jeffrey was the Chief Deputy Solicitor General, where he crafted the State’s litigation strategy in criminal appeals and complex constitutional matters. He has frequently appeared before the United States Supreme Court at the emergency, certiorari, and merits stages; has briefed more than 100 cases at the Florida Supreme Court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals; and has acted as counsel of record countless times in the Florida District Courts of Appeal.
His representative matters have involved some of the most consequential issues of the day. In Computer & Communications Industry Association v. Uthmeier, the Eleventh Circuit stayed a preliminary injunction of Florida House Bill 3, a law regulating social-media use by children, and eventually succeeded in reversing the preliminary injunction on appeal. Appearing for the Governor in Worrell v. DeSantis, he successfully defended the suspension of an elected State Attorney from office. In NRA v. Bondi, he represented the State in the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court in a challenge to Florida’s law forbidding the purchase of firearms by people under the age of 21. He has worked on several cases involving elections and voting, including BVM v. Byrd, where the Florida Supreme Court upheld the State’s congressional map against a challenge under the Fair Districts Amendment of the state constitution. And he briefed Kian v. Florida in the United States Supreme Court, where the question presented is whether Florida’s use of 6-person juries complies with the Sixth Amendment. Jeffrey has also authored amicus briefs on many issues, ranging from gaming on tribal lands to the President’s authority to remove executive-branch officials.
Earlier in his career, Jeffrey worked as an attorney in the Appellate Division of the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office, representing criminal defendants at every level of Florida’s judicial system.
Jeffrey has also written and spoken extensively on topics related to appellate practice and criminal law, including the subjects of oral argument, extraordinary writs, the appellate-court interim docket, and overturning adverse precedent. He is a member of The Florida Bar’s Appellate Court Rules Committee, where he vice-chairs the criminal practice subcommittee.
Credentials
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., cum laude, 2013
- Appellate Litigation Clinic
- American Criminal Law Review, Articles Development Editor
- Moot Court
- George Washington University, B.A., Religion, cum laude, 2009
Bar Admissions
- Florida
- New York
Court Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Judicial Involvements
- Intern, the Honorable Beryl A. Howell, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Professional and Civic
- Member, Florida Bar Appellate Court Rules Committee
- Member, Florida Supreme Court Historical Society
- Member, First District Court of Appeal Inn of Court
- Member, Federalist Society
News & Insights
Presentations
- Panelist, “Eleventh Circuit’s Interim Docket Webinar,” Federal Bar Association (October 2026)
- Speaker, “Appellate Update,” Florida Office of The Statewide Prosecutor Annual Convention (July 2026)
- Panelist, “State Solicitors General,” American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (April 2026)
- Moderator, “What Did the Founders Think of the President’s Pardon Power?,” Federalist Society (April 2026)
- Moderator, “Keynote Presentation: An Introduction to Justice Tanenbaum,” Miami-Dade Bar Association 2026 Florida Lawcon (April 2026)
- Panelist, “Institutional Division of Labor: Can Legal Scholars Help Courts Be Better Originalists?,” University of Florida 2026 Originalism Conference (March 2026)
- Panelist, “Solicitor General Roadshow,” Federalist Society Florida State University School of Law Chapter (February 2026)
- Moderator, “25 Years After Bush v. Gore,” First District Appellate American Inn of Court (November 2025)
- Panelist, “Breaking Bad Precedent: Strategies for Litigating to Overturn Flawed Rulings,” Federalist Society 2025 Florida Young Lawyers Summit (July 2025)
- Panelist, “The Next Generation of State Solicitors General,” Federalist Society 2025 Texas Young Lawyers Summit (June 2025)
- Panelist, “Oral Argument,” Navigating Your First Appeal (April 2025)
- Panelist, “Trailblazing Updates: The Latest in Criminal Law,” 27th Annual HCBA Bench Bar Conference (November 2024)
- Panelist, “Florida Supreme Court Round-Up,” Federalist Society Tallahassee Chapter (September 2024)
- Panelist, “Florida Supreme Court Round-Up,” Federalist Society 2024 Florida Young Lawyers Summit (July 2024)
- Panelist, “Panel on Oral Argument,” Practicing Before the Florida Supreme Court Seminar (June 2024)
- Guest Speaker, “Oral Advocacy,” Summarily: A Podcast for Busy Lawyers (November 2023)
- Moderator, “Oral Argument Panel,” Practicing Before the Third District Court of Appeal Seminar (October 2022)
- Moderator, “The Decisional Process Panel,” Practicing Before the First District Court of Appeal Seminar (April 2022)
- Panelist, “OA Prep and Moot Courts,” Florida Appellate Practice Section (November 2021)
Publications and News
- "The Circuit Court Interim Docket," Miami Law Review, Vol. 80, 2026, p. 991 (coauthored).
- "Overview of Extraordinary Writs," in Florida Appellate Practice, 12th ed., 2022; 13th ed., 2024; 14th ed., 2026.
- "The Illicit Antiquities Trade and Terrorism Financing: From the Khmer Rouge to Daesh," in The Handbook of Criminal and Terrorist Financing Law, eds. King, Walker and Gurule, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. (Coauthored.)
- "The Use of Force by Private Parties Against Suspected Pirates," in Prosecuting Maritime Piracy: Domestic Solutions to International Crimes, eds. Scharf, Sterio and Newton, Cambridge University Press, 2015. (Coauthored.)
- "Equilibrium in Representation for High Court Defendants: How the Supreme Court Bar Can Champion Civil Liberties," Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol. 26, 2013, pp. 911–943. (Coauthored.)
- "Self-Storage Units and Cloud Computing: Conceptual and Practical Problems with the Stored Communications Act and Its Bar on ISP Disclosures to Private Litigants," Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 102, 2013, pp. 247–269.
- "Stolen Assets & Stolen Culture: The Illicit Antiquities Trade, the Perpetuation of Violence, and Lessons from the Global Regulation of Blood Diamonds," Durham Law Review, Vol. 2, 2012, pp. 159–180. (Coauthored.)
Representative Reported Opinions
Representative Reported Opinions
- Computer & Communications Industry Association v. Uthmeier, ___ F.4th ___ (11th Cir. Oct. 14, 2026) (First Amendment challenge to Florida’s regulation of social-media use by children under age 16)
- HM Florida-ORL, LLC v. Governor of Florida, 186 F.4th 776 (11th Cir. 2026) (en banc) (First Amendment challenge to Florida’s Protection of Children Act)
- State v. Times, 434 So. 3d 986 (Fla. 2026) (overruling precedent authorizing exclusionary rule for violations of knock-and-announce rule)
- Hernandez v. Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida, 436 So. 3d 1214 (Fla. 1st DCA 2026) (state constitutional challenge to Florida’s law mandating post-tenure faculty review)
- State v. Hunter, 432 So. 3d 1066 (Fla. 4th DCA 2026) (statutory challenge to authority of Statewide Grand Jury to indict for white-collar offenses)
- Byrd v. Smart & Safe Florida, 438 So. 3d 276 (Fla. 1st DCA 2026) (appeal of injunction requiring Department of State to count certain citizen-initiative petitions)
- National Rifle Association v. Bondi, 133 F.4th 1108 (11th Cir. 2025) (en banc) (Second Amendment challenge to Florida’s regulation of purchase of firearms by people under age 21)
- Howard v. Coonrod, 134 F.4th 1136 (11th Cir. 2025) (Eighth Amendment class action challenge to Florida’s parole system)
- Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice v. Bird, 157 F.4th 904 (8th Cir. 2025) (amicus brief in support of Iowa’s law regulating entry into the state by illegal immigrants)
- Executive Office of Governor v. Florida Center for Government Accountability, Inc., 408 So. 3d 839 (Fla. 1st DCA 2025) (appeal of order requiring immediate production of public records)
- Moody v. NetChoice, LLC, 603 U.S. 707 (2024) (First Amendment challenge to Florida social-media regulations)
- West Flagler Associates, Ltd. v. DeSantis, 382 So. 3d 1284 (Fla. 2024) (state constitutional challenge to Florida’s gaming compact)
- Worrell v. DeSantis, 386 So. 3d 867 (Fla. 2024) (challenge to Governor’s suspension of State Attorney)
- Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Adult Personal Use of Marijuana, 384 So. 3d 104 (Fla. 2024) (advisory opinion involving citizen-initiative petition to legalize recreational marijuana use)
- Mitchell v. Race, 396 So. 3d 209 (Fla. 2024) (due process challenge to exercise of Florida long-arm jurisdictional statute)
- State v. Penna, 385 So. 3d 595 (Fla. 2024) (overruling precedent finding a Miranda violation)
- Hubbard v. State, 392 So. 3d 1067 (Fla. 4th DCA 2024) (challenge to Statewide Prosecutor’s authority to prosecute election crimes)
- State v. Rogers, 391 So. 3d 661 (Fla. 1st DCA 2024) (statutory challenge to authority of Statewide Prosecutor to approve a wiretap application)
