Citra Business Lawyers

I represent start-up businesses and existing businesses that want to expand through franchising, licensing, dealerships, distributorships, private placement of securities. I also do business entity formation such as S corporations and LLC. I also represent buyers and sellers of businesses. I represent tenants in lease negotiation.

Jay Patel is a Former Prosecutor and a Former Law Enforcement Officer with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. After Jay was admitted to the Florida Bar, he served as a prosecutor in Okaloosa and Walton Counties from 2013 to 2017. As an Assistant State Attorney, he spent years prosecuting thousands of crimes ranging from misdemeanors to felonies, some punishable by life in prison. Jay achieved success in prosecuting criminal cases that were before a jury, a judge, and the appellate court. Despite his success as a Florida Prosecutor, Jay decided it was time for a change. Thus, in 2017, Jay went...

Jeffrey N. Schatzman is a native of Miami, Florida. He received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Florida in 1986 and his J.D. degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Western Michigan University) in 1989.

Mr. Schatzman is a member of The Florida Bar and is admitted to practice in all Florida State Courts as well as the Federal District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida. Mr. Schatzman concentrates his practice in the areas of Bankruptcy, representing both creditors and debtors; Commercial Collections; Commercial Litigation; and Commercial Transactions.

He has been a...

Eliot T. Brais is the sole and managing shareholder in his North Attleboro, Massachusetts office. He began his law career in 1988, joining his father, Ronald A. Brais, who had enjoyed a 40 year practice primarily concentrating on estate planning and small business law.

In his father’s footsteps, Eliot T. Brais’ areas of expertise include estate and business planning. Over the years, Eliot’s practice areas expanded to include real estate, real estate development and criminal law having handled in excess of 1,000 criminal cases and 50 trials.

Eliot T. Brais’ representation of clients’ interests goes well beyond the award of monetary sums...

Sergiu "Sergey" Gherman is a commercial attorney. Having had experience with all stages of lawsuits, including appeals, Sergiu has appeared before judges in state and federal courts. He has successfully represented clients in matters alleging fraud, securities fraud, fraudulent transfers, employment discrimination defense, trusts and estate defense, in prosecution of professional malpractice, products liability, statutory easement, insurance claims (group health, individual health, auto), as well as in appeals. Sergiu is the former Honorary Consul of the Republic of Moldova in the State of Florida.

Regina is the Managing Partner of The Campbell Law Group based in Coral Gables, Florida. She is recognized for her unique insight, resourceful problem-solving skills and understanding of how legal issues affect people and companies differently.

One of Regina’s biggest passions is litigation. Regina and The Campbell Law Group PA have seen a great deal of success in prosecuting and litigating business fraud and ponzi schemes, tortious interference with a business relationship cases, non-compete cases, shareholder actions, complex divorce and post-divorce actions, especially cases with recalcitrant parties with a talent at hiding assets and/or avoiding support obligations amongst other causes of...

Aleksey Shtivelman is a partner in the Miami office of Shutts & Bowen LLP, where he is a member of the International Dispute Resolution Practice Group.

Originally from Odessa, Ukraine, Aleksey moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1994 and received his law degree from Boston University in 2012. As a native Russian speaker and fluent in Spanish, Aleksey has successfully resolved high-stakes legal disputes representing foreign and domestic clients doing business in many jurisdictions, including Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Aleksey’s practice includes advising clients in connection with foreign and domestic disputes, including power generation, aviation, and energy industries. Aleksey has...

Andrea A. Willis, Esq. is a top-rated business attorney licensed in Florida and New York, known for delivering high-impact legal counsel to entrepreneurs, startups, and established companies. With a proven track record in contract negotiation, mergers and acquisitions, and business structuring, Andrea has successfully closed over 100 M&A transactions, with deals spanning from small businesses to multi-million dollar corporations. As a trusted mergers and acquisitions lawyer and corporate counsel, Andrea combines legal strategy with practical business insight. She frequently acts as a legal advisor and mentor to her clients—helping them minimize risk, maximize value, and scale sustainably. Her approach is...

Professional Associations: Miami-Dade County Bar Association American Bar Association (ABA), Franchise Forum International Franchise Association (IFA) American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) Coalition of Franchisee Associations (CFA) Classes & Seminars: ABA’s Annual Franchise Forum AAFD's Annual Conventions Pro-Bono Activities: Miami Dade County 'Put Something Back' Program Bar Admissions: Florida U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan U.S. District Court Eastern District of Arkansas U.S. District Court Western District of Arkansas U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit

Cesar is an International Attorney specialized in business law, litigation, and cross-border investments. He assists start-ups and seasoned investors to structure their business efficiently, reducing risk and setting them up for success. His experience in dispute resolution and litigation allows him to provide comprehensive and top-notch advise zealously protecting the interest of his clients. He holds a J.D. and International Arbitration LL.M. from the University of Miami School of law, an LL.M. for Foreign-Trained Lawyers from Brooklyn Law School, and a Licenciatura en Derecho “Cum Laude” from the Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras. He is admitted to practice law in the states...

Shari Wald Garrett is an experienced Business Law Attorney at Siegfried Rivera. Her practice includes representation of Condominium and Homeowners Associations in a broad array of legal matters. She provides general counsel, as well as representation for developer and owner disputes, contracts, Board and owner meetings, governing documents, election disputes, and day-to-day operations. Ms. Garrett is dedicated to providing outstanding advocacy for clients throughout the State of Florida.

Ms. Garrett received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Florida. In 2001, she obtained her J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law.

Gary M. Mars joined the firm in 1991, developing a specialty in community association representation. Since then, his practice has evolved into full-service community association representation, including transactional work, covenant enforcement, drafting of opinion letters regarding the management and operation of the association, drafting amendments to governing documents, performing contract review and preparing meeting packages for board meetings and annual meetings. His representation also includes assisting clients with matters pertaining to construction defect negotiations and litigation, and turnover issues Mr. Mars has over 25 years of experience in assisting community associations in the pursuit of Chapter 558 claims and has...

A Miami-native, Oscar grew up and attended all academic training in South Florida. While in college, he obtained his Real Estate Sales Associate license and has been actively engaged in real estate transactions throughout South Florida since the age of 19. During his undergraduate degree, he created and opened his own Real Estate Brokerage company, Endeavor International Real Estate. It was through these labors that helped pay his way through law school. During his law school training, he worked for The Lasarte Law Firm where he worked over two years in the land use/zoning and governmental affairs field. It was...

David Podein is a partner with Haber Law and has been with the firm since 2009. He concentrates his practice in the areas of real estate and construction law, condominium and community association representation, commercial leasing, secured financing, and business and commercial litigation.
A substantial portion of Mr. Podein’s practice involves representation of community associations in the financing, approvals, and contract negotiation for multi-million dollar capital improvement, repair, and/or building upgrade projects. Additionally, Mr. Podein represents real estate developers, investors, joint venture, lenders/servicers, and landlords in connection with real estate related transactions, including commercial and shopping center leasing, landlord tenant negotiations,...

Business law and transactions attorney assisting entrepreneurs and established business enterprises. Anthony J. Horky provides legal services in the areas of business entity formation, governance, preparation of governing and organizational documents, mergers and acquisitions, preparation of transactional documents and legal representation/negotiations in the areas of stock purchase agreements, asset purchase agreements, escrow agreements, stock pledge agreements, commercial leasing and licensing, and many other forms of transactions. Anthony Horky also has over 12 years of commercial litigation experience handling cases involving breach of contract, shareholder disputes, fraud and civil theft, wrongful disassociation, and many other areas of business disputes....

Betty Marion Whitman resides in Ocala, Marion County, Florida where she began practicing law in Marion County in 1987. Betty started her legal career as a secretary to her father, a general practitioner in Melbourne, Florida. She continued to work as a legal secretary in various cities in Florida and briefly in New York City. She obtained her A.A. degree from Brevard Community College, then went on to the University of Central Florida to obtain her B.A. degree, and then to Law School at the University of Florida. Betty has achieved an “AV Preeminent” rating by Martindale & Hubbell,...

David has been actively involved in the real estate world for over 7+ years serving as the Director of AAA Financial Corporation, CEO of Capital Funding Financial, and as Real Estate Agent, Mortgage Originator, & Attorney to a high net worth clientele. David graduated with numerous awards from the University of Miami with a degree in Finance & Accounting while starting for the #1 ranked Hurricanes as an outfielder on the baseball team. David went on to play for the Colorado Rockies before heading back to law school to specialize in real estate law. David proceeded to get his LL.M....

Nickolas C. Ekonomides is the sole shareholder of Nickolas C. Ekonomides, P.A., with offices in Clearwater, Florida and has been practicing law in the Tampa area since 1994. His practice covers a wide range of corporate and real estate representation with concentration in business and commercial state and Federal litigation. Mr. Ekonomides was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1994 and to the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, in the same year. In 2004, Mr. Ekonomides was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

He is a long standing member of his...

Attorney Stephen Lacey is a Estate Planning and Probate Attorney in Melbourne, Florida. His practice areas focus on Estate Planning, Elder Law, Probate, Wills, Trust Administration and Wealth & Asset Protection. With over 20 years of experience, Attorney Lacey has handled various Estate Planning cases in the State of Florida.

Mr. Gallagher graduated from Stetson University College of Law. After graduation he began practice with a large Tampa firm focusing on insurance litigation. Additionally, Mr. Gallagher served as a Federal Judicial Intern for Chief Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich of the U.S. Middle District of Florida. Mr. Gallagher has experience in both litigation and transactional matters. His current practice focuses on insurance litigation, foreclosure defense, real estate litigation, business law and consumer law.

While at Stetson, Mr. Gallagher was the Director of the Legal Writing Clinic, President of the Christian Legal Society, a Teaching Fellow for Legal Research and Writing classes, a...

Andrew Pardun, LL.M. is an Associate with the firm specializing in the areas of Real Estate Law, Title Insurance, Commercial and Residential Real Estate Closings, Commercial Lending and Borrowing, Foreclosure Matters, Business Law, and Tax Law.

Andrew joined the firm in January of 2016 after completing his Juris Doctorate Degree from Stetson University College of Law and his MBA Degree, with Honors, from Stetson University. Andrew completed his MBA degree with a perfect 4.0 GPA and was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honors society. During his first year at the firm, Andrew completed his Master of Laws Degree in...

Stephen J. Wein is a founding shareholder of the firm. He was previously the Chairman of the Litigation Department of a prominent local firm where he was also a member of its Executive Committee. He is a 1976 graduate of Stetson University College of Law. Steve’s extensive litigation experience is diverse, ranging from Complex Commercial to White Collar Criminal matters on behalf of and against public and private companies, financial institutions, insurance companies and professionals. The representations have dealt with a wide gamut of legal issues involving securities, antitrust, class actions, computers and software, intellectual property, healthcare fraud...

A nationally-recognized leader in defending the rights of consumers in all area of legal disputes, with a very intense and dedicated focus to defending and prosecuting foreclosure related issues. The lawyers and staff at WeidnerLaw maintain a very hands on and personal approach to each client relationship and have a state of the art client communication system that ensures clients are kept abreast of all their case developments

Peter T. Hofstra is an of counsel real estate attorney at DeLoach, Hofstra & Cavonis, P.A. His expertise in real estate law has helped to solidify the firm as a specialist in real estate acquisitions, condominium and association law and transfer of real property.

Ms. Hattaway began her career in litigation representing large publicly held corporations in complex business disputes. She has experience in both federal and state courts. Her practice has included civil rights litigation, employment law, real property litigation, franchise negotiations, as well as business litigation. Most recently, Ms. Hattaway has focused on assisting clients with strategic business planning: drafting operating agreements, drafting and editing sales contracts, negotiating contracts and advising businesses, including multi-specialty medical group, individual physicians, pharmacology research specialists, new franchisees, expanding family-owned enterprises, and design startups. Ms. Hattaway served as a Commissioner of the Canaveral Port Authority....

Oxalis B. Garcia is a native from Puerto Rico. After being admitted to practice Law in the State of Florida she began focusing on practicing Family and Criminal law in the Tampa Bay area. Since that time, she has represented clients in divorces, custody disputes, post-judgment modification actions, child support matters, alimony and domestic violence injunctions. In addition she has represented client in Misdemeanors, Traffic Infractions, DUI’s and Violations of Probation. Presently she is admitted in three (3) jurisdictions and is fluent in both the Spanish and English languages. In addition Attorney Garcia volunteers at the Free Family Law...

Practice Areas: Business Law; Construction Law; Real Estate
Admitted: 2005, Florida and U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

Law School: Florida State University, J.D.

Member: Hillsborough County Bar Association; The Florida Bar.

Biography: Board of Directors, Tampa Interbay Rotary Club. Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court Mediator. Lifetime Member Veterans of Foreign Wars. AV Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Named “Rising Star” in Business Litigation by Super Lawyers. Consistently named to “Tampa’s Top Rated Lawyers” by Legal Leaders Magazine.

Born: Charlotte, North Carolina, April 1, 1974

MilitaryService: U.S. Navy, 1993-1999

Cases: Scherer v. Villas Del Verde Homeowners Ass'n, Inc., 55 So.3d 602 (Fla....

Michelle is a graduate of Stetson University College of Law with an L.LM in Elder Law, Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law with a Juris Doctor, State College of Florida with a Paralegal Certificate, University of South Florida - Sarasota/Manatee with a Bachelor's Degree in History, University of Phoenix with a Master in Accountancy, and Florida Metropolitan University with a Bachelor's in Accounting.

A firm believer in education, she continues to encourage others by being an Adjunct Professor at State College of Florida's Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton, and Venice Campuses since 2016. She teaches the Legal Research and...

Mr. Curry is a civil trial lawyer and has had his own firm for most of his career. He has been recognized by Judges and his colleagues as one of the preeminent lawyers in his field receiving an “AV’ rating from Martindale Hubbell. He has an active Civil Trial Practice participating in civil trials involving Commercial, Personal Injury, Family Issues and General Business Litigation. In addition to his successful Law Practice he served as a Founding Director and General Counsel of Platinum Bank from 1997 through 2012.

Mr. Curry has served as President of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce. He was...

The Carney Law Firm serves individuals and businesses throughout Florida in business litigation, estate planning, and probate matters. The Carney Law Firm offers clients expertise from a firm they can trust. Mr. Carney has big law firm experience, but provides small firm service. A potential client’s biggest worry is often the expense of hiring a professional attorney. Mr. Carney is often able to assist his clients by offering contingency and flat fee options. The Carney Law Firm is committed to providing each client aggressive and practical legal representation. In recognition of his legal skills and ethical standards, Mr. Carney received an AV...

I am commercial litigator who understands the benefits and risks of litigation for each of my clients. I emphasize a practical assessment of disputes and provide innovative strategies. Whether advancing or defending claims, I am relentless in pursuing my client’s objectives.

Anthonia “Toni” Imudia attended Columbia University in the City of New York where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Science degree in Nursing. She obtained a doctorate degree in nursing practice from the Univeristy of Miami before attending Stetson University College of Law where she obtained her Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees. Toni worked in healthcare for over 13 years and rose to the level of an executive director of a non-profit agency in New Orleans. The agency provided primary care to HIV-AIDS patients under the Ryan White program. Toni later took an...

A native of Florida, Ryan T. Cox graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in criminology before going on to get a master’s degree in criminal justice from UCF and a law degree from UF’s Frederick G. Levin College of law. Following graduation, Ryan represented clients in civil litigation and business transactions before finding his niche defending people against criminal charges.

Now, having returned home after 4 years working in Colorado, Ryan has decided to apply his skills to representing the people of the gulf coast. He joins Carlson Meissner with extensive experience handling all manner of...

Wes Trombley is a partner with Trombley & Hanes, P.A., concentrating in the areas of both criminal and civil litigation. Wes is a lifelong resident of Tampa, Florida, and graduated from Jesuit High School, the University of South Florida with a Business Marketing Degree, and Stetson University College of Law. As a law student and prior to becoming a member of the Florida Bar, Wes served in the 13th Judicial Circuit for Hillsborough County, Florida as a Judicial Intern and a Florida Supreme Court Certified Intern Prosecutor and he served for the 6th Judicial Circuit in Pinellas County, Florida...