FORT LAUDERDALE and JACKSONVILLE – McGlinchey Stafford PLLC has added of counsel Allen S. Katz and associates Shannon M. Arsenault and Gina L. Bulecza to its Commercial Litigation practice group in Florida.
Katz and Arsenault will work out of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office and Bulecza out of the Jacksonville office.
“Allen, Shannon, and Gina strengthen our presence in Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, adding depth and an expanded range of skills to our commercial litigation practice and helping us better serve clients doing business in Florida,” Michael Ferachi, a member and team leader of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice group, told the Florida Record.
Ferachi said the three litigators were brought to McGlinchey Stafford because they are skilled, experienced and respected among their peers.
“We also provide attorneys with outstanding opportunities to grow their individual client bases and practices, and we seek talent with diverse backgrounds and skill sets,” Ferachi said.
Katz has an extensive background in complex litigation, commercial litigation, consumer financial services litigation, creditors’ rights, real estate litigation, insurance disputes, taxation, licensing and regulatory issues.
Ferachi said Katz has extensive jury trial experience in cases involving complex consumer and commercial finance litigation, including those involving counterclaims or non-routine matters, such as quiet title claims, alleged violations of consumer protection statutes, and state and federal claims.
Additionally, Katz has acted as arbitrator in more than 75 alternative dispute proceedings on behalf of the National Arbitration Forum.
"His experience in accounting, business and regulatory matters assists in his representation of clients in all phases of the litigation process,” Ferachi said.
Katz received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996. He has completed master's-level accounting courses at Long Island University, and earned his B.B.A. from The George Washington University.
Arsenault represents clients in commercial litigation matters, focusing on contested residential mortgage foreclosures. Before entering private practice, she served as assistant attorney general in the Fort Lauderdale office of the Florida attorney general.
Arsenault received her J.D., cum laude, from the St. Thomas University School of Law in 2007, and served as the managing editor of the St. Thomas University Intercultural Human Rights Law Review. She is also a graduate of The George Washington University, where she received her M.A. in education policy, as well as a graduate of Florida State University, where she received her B.S. in mathematics education.
Bulecza represents clients in commercial and consumer financial services litigation. She has more than seven years of experience representing financial institutions and servicing companies in litigation involving contested mortgage foreclosures, real estate transactions, title issues and bankruptcy. Bulecza earned her J.D. from the Florida Coastal School of Law in 2008, and her B.S. in criminology and sociology, cum laude, from Florida State University.
Ferachi said the firm includes seasoned trial attorneys, former federal prosecutors and in-house attorneys from varied backgrounds. In Florida specifically, he said the McGlinchey Stafford team has experience working in-house for some of the largest financial services companies in the world, as well as seasoned trial experience handling complex commercial litigation; bankruptcy, reorganization and creditors’ rights; consumer financial services; and real estate.
“The tremendous growth of McGlinchey Stafford’s two offices in Florida is a result of the confidence our clients have placed in us to handle all manner of their legal needs in the state as well as countrywide,” Ferachi said.
Since opening its first office in Florida in 2010, the firm has grown to 28 attorneys in the state, with 15 attorneys in its Fort Lauderdale office and 13 attorneys in its Jacksonville office.