my practice focuses on real estate and business transactions and litigation. I represent buyers and sellers of both residential and commercial real estate in transactions and litigation. I also represent small business in corporate formation, financing and litigation. I counsel clients in distressed asset restructuring and work-out negotiations. I also represent clients in Chapter 7, 11, and 13 proceedings in the Southern District Bankruptcy Court of Florida.

Phelan Hallinan & Schmeig, LLP is a Federal Home Mortgage Loan Corporation (Freddie Mac) approved Designated Counsel for mortgage servicers, originators, and investors. I managed a litigation team of ten (10) attorneys and ten (10) paralegals in a high-volume caseload throughout the State of Florida. I administered the scheduling and preparation of a thousand non-jury trials in several south Florida counties in the 2012 calendar year. I also outlined our litigation strategy and internal memoranda on; (1) Plaintiff’s standing to sue for foreclosure; (2) the use of the Holder-In-Due Course designation under Chapter 673 of Florida Statute to limit defenses and discovery in foreclosure cases; (4) substantial compliance of condition precedent requirement of Paragraph 22 of the Mortgage; (5) ability for Servicing Agent to testify at trial on behalf of Plaintiff despite a change in Servicer after the default on the mortgage; and (6) the procedure of obtaining foreclosure judgment by means of a show cause order pursuant to Section 702.10 of Florida Statute.I also handled complicated mortgage foreclosure cases that involve title claims, lien priority disputes, municipal liens, code violations, mortgage fraud, probate related matters, lender liability, Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act violations, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations, Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act violations and ancillary bankruptcy issues. Successfully litigated hundreds of mortgage foreclosure cases and restructured tens of millions of dollars worth of mortgages and home equity lines of credit.

Represents individual and corporate plaintiffs and defendants in commercial litigation with an emphasis on disputes arising out of contracts, business transactions, real estate developments, partnerships and joint ventures, condominiums, foreclosures, interstate land sales and business torts. Also represents investors and purchasers seeking to cancel new construction contracts and have their deposits returned to them. Relying on the Federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, the Florida Condominium Act and other applicable statutes.

Experience includes real estate acquisition and development; structuring and negotiating acquisition and construction financing; corporate formation; development operations and regulatory compliance; Real Estate Investment Trusts, REITs, operation and advisory. Manage and litigate issues related to real estate lending and development, including mortgage foreclosures, title claims, and other commercial and construction disputes.Litigation experience includes disputes against developers for the return of preconstruction escrow deposits, real estate finance, lender liability, title insurance claims and transaction-related disagreements. Areas of counseling include loan modification, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, short sales, and deficiency judgments.

Experience in complex commercial litigation including, securities cases, commercial and contractual disputes, and business torts. Practiced in both State and Federal Court. Second-chaired jury trials and summary judgment hearings in state and federal court. Conducted Arbitration before NASD Dispute Resolution Board. Drafted pleadings and briefs in Circuit, Appellate and Supreme Court Cases. Argued motions at calendar hearings and evidentiary hearings. Prepared discovery and conducted depositions. Argued before the Third District Court of Appeal in Traveler v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited, India America v. White; Am Floor Specialist, Inc., v. Barret Coral Lane, Inc.; and DVD Play, Inc. v. DVD, 123, LLC.

Experience in personal injury, and commercial litigation. Drafted pleadings, briefs, conducted research and completed memoranda of law. Attended motion hearings, evidentiary hearings, mediations and depositions. I have trial experience in the following cases; Robert Long v. TRS Contractors, Inc. where we obtained a plaintiff’s verdict and Nuevos Ayres Yacht Builders v. Marina Mile Yacht Sales, Inc., a bench trial before Honorable Judge Tobin.

As a Summer Associate contributed to Labor and Employment cases, including but not limited to conducting legal research and drafting pleadings.

Contributed primarily on international human rights cases under the Alien Tort Claims Act. Researched legal issues and drafted pleadings, briefs and memoranda of law.