Thirteen Attorneys Named Partner

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The Law Firm of Shutts & Bowen LLP is pleased to announce the naming of thirteen partners at its recent annual meeting.

Chad Crews focuses on transactions involved in real estate development, including acquisitions, sales, financing, land use matters, water management district and zoning issues.   He also has experience in creditors’ rights, bankruptcy, general commercial litigation, and receivership matters. He graduated from Vanderbilt Law School.

Peter Franke concentrates his practice in transactional business law, with an emphasis in business acquisitions and sales, entity formation, corporate law, securities, real estate acquisitions, leasing and sales, commercial lending and corporate finance, including representation of both privately owned and public companies.   He received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from Purdue University.

Sara Koch practices in the firm's construction practice group.   Her experience includes representing clients in matters involving construction and commercial litigation, including claims for defects, contract disputes and lien foreclosures. Ms. Koch has experience representing subcontractors, owners, general contractors and homebuilders.  She is a graduate of Stetson University School of Law.

Peter Lagonowicz is an international tax and estate planning attorney in the Miami office, where he represents foreign clients investing in the United States and U.S. based clients investing abroad.  He received an LL.M. in tax from the University of Miami, a J.D. from The Florida State University, and a B.A. from Boston College.

Jordan Lee concentrates his practice in the areas of complex estate planning, estate and trust administration, federal income, estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxation, private foundations and other tax-exempt organizations, pre-marital and post-marital agreements, and business succession planning.  He also frequently assists clients with estate and trust litigation, corporate, partnership, and real estate matters.  He received his LL.M. in Taxation and J.D. from the University of Florida School of Law.

Arturo Martinez practices in the areas of banking litigation (including asset recovery and financial torts), white-collar criminal defense and related forfeiture actions, Bank Secrecy Act compliance and money laundering prevention.  He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

John Nadjafi represents developers, owners, lenders, design professionals, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers in legal matters involving construction law and litigation. Mr. Nadjafi also represents clients in commercial litigation matters involving complex contracts, business torts, real estate, non-competition agreements, fiduciary duties, partnership, joint venture and shareholder disputes.  He received his J.D. from Nova Southeastern Law School.

Nicole Deese Newlon focuses her practice on commercial litigation and securities litigation.  She also has experience in white collar criminal defense and has handled grand jury and corporate internal investigations, assisted in the development of corporate compliance and ethics programs, and coordinated responses to subpoenas from governmental and investigative bodies. She represents brokerage firms, financial institutions and corporations in arbitration and litigation matters, administrative investigations, and proceedings before state and federal regulatory agencies.  She received her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law and an MBA from the University of South Florida.

Brad Redlien is a business litigation attorney whose practice encompasses a variety of general business matters, with a focus on class action defense, Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 (Sales of Goods), securities litigation, complex insurance coverage matters, and other commercial controversies.  He is a graduate of the George Washington University School of Law.

Martha Rabbitt has experience in a wide range of finance transactions representing lending institutions in acquisitions, CMBS loan and defeasance transactions and refinances of large-scale commercial, hotel, storage and multi-family properties as well as asset based lending.   She also handles corporate matters, representing clients in business acquisitions and salesShe received her J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.

Michael P. Silver has a broad-based litigation practice that includes commercial litigation and appeals in state and federal courts, as well as various administrative forums.  His experience includes contract disputes; business torts claims; defense of professional liability/malpractice matters; insurance and bad faith claims; and real estate litigation, including commercial foreclosures and lender liability issues.  Mr. Silver has represented clients in numerous industries, including the automotive, construction, financial services, health care, insurance, real estate, and securities businesses.  He received his J.D. from the University of Florida.

Linda Socolow represents clients in land use and governmental matters. She has prepared and presented Community Development petitions and worked with municipalities and government agencies throughout Florida.  She also focuses her practice on domestic and international intellectual property matters, including trademark and copyright registrations, proceedings before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and domain name disputes.  She received her J.D. from St. Thomas University and her LL.M. in Real Property Law from the University of Miami.

Shelly Wald is Florida Bar Board Certified in Wills, Trusts & Estates.  She works with individuals and families of high net worth as well as corporate and individual fiduciaries.  She focuses exclusively on estate planning, tax planning, trust and estate administration, and not-for- profit work.  She is also a co-author of Florida Estate Planning, part of West’s Florida Practice Series and has authored chapters in various continuing legal education books for attorneys.   She received her J.D. from the University of Miami.

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Shutts & Bowen, established in 1910, is a full-service business law firm with approximately 270 lawyers located in eight offices across Florida.

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