Overview

Steadfast in advocacy, polished in execution – Grace Overholtz’s calculated and decisive approach to the practice of law makes her a formidable asset for clients. With a reputation for sharp legal instincts and natural leadership, she consistently delivers strategic solutions in the moments when it matters most. That same instinct anchors her work as a member of Jimerson Birr’s Complex Litigation group, where Grace focuses her practice on business litigation and appellate advocacy, with particular depth in matters involving hospitality businesses, franchise systems, and owner-operated companies.

Grace represents businesses across the full life cycle of their legal needs, and she builds the relationships that make that possible. She takes the time to learn a client’s backstory and how their business actually runs, so the next legal question is never started from scratch and every matter is handled by someone who already understands what is at stake. Her representation is built to fit the client: some prefer to be hands-on at every turn, others would rather hand off the problem and step away, and Grace keeps the lines of communication open on whatever terms serve the client best. Personable, business-minded, and genuinely invested, Grace is more than outside counsel; she is the trusted advisor clients call whenever a legal challenge or opportunity arises.

Behind that trusted-advisor approach is a simple philosophy: preparation wins cases. A product of her moot court training, she approaches every matter intent on having an answer to every question and a defense to every claim, more willing to spend the time it takes to chase down the right argument than to settle for an easier one with holes in it. She reads a room and adapts to it, matching her strategy to the moment: a short, resolution-minded path when that will serve the client, and a case built to withstand every counterpunch when it will not. In short, Grace believes in winning, and in winning the right way, through disciplined preparation, thoughtful strategy, and a commitment to staying one step ahead.

Grace’s appellate practice grew directly out of that preparation. In law school, she was one of only four students selected to argue before the Florida Supreme Court, in a matter involving a corporate CEO’s Fifth Amendment disclosure obligations. Further, as Vice President of the 2024 Florida Moot Court Team, Grace and her classmate were named Quarterfinalists at the Chicago Bar Association’s Annual Moot Court Competition and earned Best Newcomer and Best Oral Advocacy Team Overall at the Judge John R. Brown Moot Court Competition in Seattle, Washington. Today, Grace brings those same advocacy skills to appeals before Florida’s six District Courts of Appeal, briefing issues ranging from trade secret protection to shareholder standing.

Prior to joining Jimerson Birr as an Attorney, Grace was awarded the University of Florida Governor’s Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship, to attend the University of Florida Levin College of Law. While at UF, Grace excelled academically and showcased a natural talent in the courtroom. Grace was named the Spring 2023 recipient of the University of Florida Trial Practice & Oral Advocacy Book Award, and graduated with her Juris Doctor, cum laude, in May 2025. Grace spent her first summer of law school as a Legal Intern for the Montana Department of Transportation in Helena, Montana. When not camping in Yellowstone or driving through Glacier National Park, Grace was developing a passion for complex litigation, with a particular emphasis on construction, real estate, state regulatory processes, and transportation. Grace’s experiences in Montana, including drafting briefs on behalf of the State and participating in live depositions, primed her to excel as a member of Jimerson Birr’s Summer Associate Class of 2024.

Born and raised along the Florida Panhandle, Grace attended the University of Alabama on a full-tuition scholarship for her undergraduate studies, involving herself in the University of Alabama Student Government Association and women’s health initiatives. Grace graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in May 2022. Throughout this time, Grace had the distinct honor of working alongside her late father, Neil D. Overholtz, Esq., a proud Florida Gator and renowned mass tort litigator. After her father’s unexpected passing in Spring 2022, Grace forged onwards in pursuit of a career in complex litigation and to continue her father’s legacy as a Florida litigator of the highest character and competency.

From the moment Grace crossed the city limits into Jacksonville, she set her sights on one day calling the River City home. Now a Jacksonville resident, Grace spends her out-of-office time reading fantasy and science fiction novels, as well as perusing the Riverside Arts Market every Saturday with her fiancé, Daniel Self, and their two dogs, Winston and Feyre.

Bar and Court Admissions
- The Florida Bar United States District Court
- Northern District of Florida
- United States District Court
- Middle District of Florida United States District Court
- Southern District of Florida
Education
- University of Florida Levin College of Law, Juris Doctor
  Cum Laude
  Book Awards:
  Trial Practice
  Governor’s Scholarship Recipient (full-tuition scholarship)
- University of Alabama, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
  Summa Cum Laude
  President’s Scholarship Recipient (full-tuition scholarship)
Representative Matters
The matters below reflect a portion of Grace’s work representing businesses in their highest-stakes legal matters. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Commercial Litigation and Business Counseling
- Led the defense of a commercial property owner in a premises liability and vicarious liability action arising from an alleged employee battery, navigating extensive corporate representative discovery and reducing the claimant’s $660,000 demand to a $55,000 resolution.
- Second-chaired emergency injunction proceedings in a dispute over the sale of a $2 million residential property, securing denial of injunctive relief and defeating buyer’s claims for specific performance on behalf of seller.
- Represented private educational institution in defeating a $277,000 arbitration claim after the court determined that no contract, and therefore no agreement to arbitrate, had ever been formed.
- Engaged by a healthcare provider in a commercial contract dispute, successfully obtaining release from a long-term services agreement through strategic pre-suit advocacy and negotiation.
- Represented a private wealth management firm in addressing AI-generated online content, successfully negotiating revisions to Google’s AI-generated business summary and developing a coordinated branding and employee-relations strategy.
Hospitality and Entertainment Industry
- Secured a reduction of more than 50% of a liquor retailer’s debt exposure arising from a fraudulent franchising scheme and related guaranty obligations, while negotiating favorable long-term payment terms with a major commercial finance company.
- Defended coffee chain in commercial lease litigation, defeating summary judgment, recovering the client’s business equipment, and resolving $277,000 claim through a structured settlement totaling less than half the amount sought.
- Engaged by a technology-enabled residential services company to pursue reformation of a profit-sharing agreement associated with a portfolio of multifamily apartment communities.
- Secured a favorable payout for the owner of a medical spa following a former employee’s takeover of business operations, online accounts, and company assets, involving claims for conversion, defamation, breach of contract, and disputes over social media ownership, follower data, and branding-related intellectual property.
- Obtained dismissal of all claims against a media services company in a federal discrimination lawsuit.
Appellate Advocacy
- Defended a life-expectancy analytics company’s favorable summary judgment in Florida’s First District Court of Appeal, shielding the company’s trade secrets, its proprietary actuarial methodology and mortality data, from a competitor’s public records demand. Decision pending.
- Challenged a trial court’s final judgment in a fourteen-year-old shareholder derivative suit before Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal, contesting the plaintiff’s share ownership and standing based on unscheduled bankruptcy assets. Decision pending.
- Engaged as appellate counsel to challenge an adverse final summary judgment before Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal in a negligence action arising from a $540,000 dual-agency real estate transaction, arguing the trial court adjudicated an unpleaded fraud theory and misapplied the statutory duties Florida imposes on transaction brokers. Decision pending.
- Challenged a trial court ruling in an assignment-of-benefits dispute that voided an emergency biohazard remediation company’s service contract, and its right to payment for completed work, based on an ineffective insurance assignment. Decision pending.
- Retained as post-judgment counsel to attack an adverse summary judgment by motion to vacate and rehearing and to defeat appellees’ claimed entitlement to attorneys’ fees under a previously rejected Proposal for Settlement. Decision pending.
Shareholder, Employment, and Restrictive Covenant Litigation
- Defended an elevator services company in litigation concerning the scope and enforceability of non-solicitation and non-compete provisions under a merger and asset purchase agreement, vacating a default judgment and helping broker a mediated resolution structured as an asset purchase with revised restrictive covenants, saving the client approximately $174,000.
- Engaged by a facility services company in litigation against a competing venture involving former employees’ alleged breaches of non-compete agreements and the misappropriation of trade secrets.
- Prepared and negotiated executive employment agreements for a private wealth management firm, including non-compete, non-solicitation, confidentiality, and other restrictive covenant provisions.
- Engaged by a partner in a physician management services organization in connection with a books-and-records demand and related member dispute that culminated in a $317,000 buyout.
- Defended a Florida corporation in shareholder derivative litigation involving contested shareholder status, directors’ fiduciary duties, and post-judgment receivership proceedings.
Organizational Affiliations
- The Jacksonville Bar Association
- The American Bar Association
  Young Lawyers Division
  Law Practice Division
  Litigation Division