Mr. Geoff (Stancil) Bichler

Class of 1979
Career Pathway: Human Services

Geoffrey (Stancil) Bichler was nominated by Jim Tobin.

In high school, Geoff was active in student government, represented GHS at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference, was a member of the National Honor Society and lettered in baseball, football, track and basketball. A stand-out in basketball, his senior year he was named MVP, was selected for the all-conference first team, received all-state honorable mention and was the leading scorer in the conference.

Geoff graduated summa cum laude from Nova Southeastern University in 1983 with majors in history and political science. At NSU, he was captain of the varsity basketball team. He graduated magna cum laude with a master of arts degree in history from the University of Miami in 1986; then he earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1989.

In 1996, Mr. Bichler founded Bichler & Kelley, P.A. in Orlando to provide high-quality legal representation for firefighters, police officers and correctional officers with difficult disability claims. Since then, the firm has expanded throughout Florida and has consulted nationwide on cases.

Throughout his career, he has lobbied and litigated on behalf of first responders and has been an active and outspoken leader on behalf of the rights of all injured workers. He was a keynote speaker for the International Association of Firefighters at the Redmond Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona, just weeks after the 9/11 tragedy.

He has been recognized as one of the most knowledgeable and creative practitioners of presumptive legislation, which creates special protection for first responders, and he has been featured as one of the "Best Lawyers in Orlando" by Orlando magazine every year since 2004. He was selected by Florida Trend magazine for its "legal elite" edition recognizing the best attorneys in the state. He has been AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell -- the highest possible peer rating available for both competence and ethics – since 2004. He has also been selected by Best Lawyers in America as one of the preeminent experts in the field of workers’ compensation every year since 2004. He was elected to the board of directors for the Florida Workers’ Advocates and the executive council of the Florida Bar Workers compensation section in 2009.

Mr. Stancil owns Grayling’s Rialto Theatre, which is currently in its 95th consecutive year of operation by his family.

He lives in Winter Park, Florida, with his wife Deanna and their four children. He has competed in over 100 marathons (including the Boston Marathon three times) and 50 triathlons, including the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2008.