Intro
Brian is an accomplished litigator and trial attorney with a strong focus on resolving business and construction disputes efficiently, prioritizing early resolution when possible, and taking cases to trial when necessary. He is committed to delivering strategic, well-organized plans that help clients achieve their objectives within budget and on schedule.
With extensive experience in business litigation, Brian has represented clients in prosecuting and defending claims related to fraud, fiduciary duty, accounting, and various other business torts. He advocates for business owners, partners, LLC members, and entrepreneurs, bringing a combination of practical and analytical expertise to each case. Brian has a keen ability to analyze complex financial documents, including balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, to uncover or defend against intra-company disputes.
In addition to his business practice, Brian is experienced in construction litigation, representing cities, districts, project owners, contractors, engineers, subcontractors, and suppliers. He handles disputes involving defects, delays, inefficiencies, payments, and design issues, and is well-versed at navigating the complexities of stop-payment notices, payment bonds, mechanics liens, and bid protests.
Before practicing law, Brian served in the United States Army Reserve Military Police Corps and was deployed to Iraq from 2008 to 2009, where he honed leadership, discipline, and problem-solving skills that continue to inform his practice today.
Areas of Focus
Education
Admissions and Courts
Complete dismissal before trial for green-tech company. Argued that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over a tech company and secured a dismissal with prejudice, saving the client significant litigation costs.
Million-dollar resolution of multi-party construction-defect litigation. In litigation spanning several years with multiple general contractors and subcontractors, retained a new damages expert, reformulated the damages analysis, and over several mediations recovered nearly 10 times the amount of damages originally anticipated.
Trial victory for million-dollar dispute over commercial property. Following a three-week trial, successfully quieted titled and secured development rights for a real-estate investment company to develop a large, unimproved property in Southwest Florida.
Mid-trial settlement of fraud and unlawful business practice claims. As part of a three-lawyer team, defended at trial claims of fraud and unlawful business practices. The defense strategy led to a settlement where the plaintiff conceded the dispute was a mistake.
Dismissal affirmed on appeal for national gas-station chain. Argued that a national gas-station chain was not subject to personal jurisdiction in Florida over a dispute that occurred in Georgia; secured a dismissal before the trial court and successfully defended the win on appeal. Knapp v. Speedway, LLC 251 So.3d 858 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018).
Early resolution of muti-million-dollar partnership dispute. Represented a limited partner against two general partners over their failure to report years’ worth of distributions and pay him his equal share of the profits. Spearheaded the pre-litigation strategy and drafted the complaint, which led to early mediation and ultimately an extremely favorable settlement, including an all-inclusive buyout and payment totaling millions of dollars.
Pretrial resolution of substantial construction dispute. In a defect/payment dispute, analyzed licensure issues and demanded disgorgement of all payments made to the general contractor, resulting in a large confidential settlement payment to the property owner.
Association of Business Trial Lawyers
OCBA Business Litigation Section
OCBA Construction Section
Federalist Society
California Waterfowl Association
Amigos de Bolsa Chica