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Business Litigation & Trial

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz began over three decades ago and remains today at its core a sophisticated commercial litigation boutique. We are business lawyers and trial lawyers. The firm represents clients in all manner of business litigation. We also counsel clients in methods and procedures designed to minimize the possibility of business disputes. We realize that even the most efficiently handled litigation will often take too long and cost too much.  For this reason, we first look at alternative methods to resolve a dispute, including effective negotiation, exploration of pre-litigation settlement possibilities, and alternative dispute resolution procedures.  The firm has thrived by putting its clients’ long-term interests above the firm’s short-term interests.  When litigation cannot be avoided, however, the firm will act in the most aggressive and intelligent way possible to protect its clients.

Class Action Litigation & Trial

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz has defended clients in a wide range of class action lawsuits, including corporate civil litigation, contracts, RICO, business torts, commodities, and securities.  The firm has defended class actions at the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts across the country and has amassed extensive experience in all aspects of this type of litigation.

In particular, the firm has been at the forefront of defending class arbitrations. Primarily as a result of representing propriety post-secondary schools, the firm has handled dozens of cases seeking class arbitration before the American Arbitration Association (AAA).  And the firm obtained the first AAA award denying an entitlement to proceed as a putative class based on a “silent” arbitration agreement following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Stolt-Nielsen SA v. Animal Feeds International Corp., 130 S. Ct. 1758 (2010).  The firm later was able to obtain a reversal of an arbitral award finding that an arbitration agreement permitted class arbitration in Reed v. Florida Metropolitan University, Inc., 681 F.3d 630 (5th Cir. 2012).  Most recently, in Ferguson v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc.,733 F.3d 928 (9th Cir. 2013), we received a favorable ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court and held that the Federal Arbitration Act preempted the California Supreme Court’s Broughton-Cruz rule.

Employment Litigation & Trial

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz represents both employees and employers ranging from small to large businesses in employment matters.  Part and parcel of being good business lawyers and being able to comprehensively understand business risk means knowing employment law.  Employment issues are an inherent risk associated with operating a business and an aspect of almost every piece of business litigation.

As a substantial part of its practice, the firm represents employers before state and federal courts and administrative agencies in all manner of employment claims.  We also counsel employers on compliance with state and federal employment laws and regulations and conduct internal investigations, often in conjunction with human resources.  At times, the firm has also represented senior executives in various employment and labor law matters.

Intellectual Property Litigation & Trial

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz frequently handles trademark, service mark, trade dress, and copyright matters for both publicly-traded and privately-held corporations.  The firm has obtained preliminary injunctive relief for clients as well as defended clients against such claims.  We also advise on trademark and copyright matters to assist our clients to avoid disputes and to protect their rights.

International Litigation & Trial

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz’s international litigation practice focuses on complex commercial litigation involving individuals, corporations, and governments in the international business community.  With lawyers fluent in Spanish, the firm’s international litigation practice represents both U.S. and foreign clients in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Panama, and other countries in South and Central America.  We have substantial experience in coordinating and managing all aspects of multi-jurisdictional litigation, enforcing foreign judgments, presenting and securing evidence from foreign jurisdictions, and dismissing or transferring cases filed in inconvenient or foreign forums.

The field of higher education law involves myriad legal matters affecting the unique regulatory environment in which colleges and universities operate.  The regulatory triad often complicates legal matters that would be routine in another business.  For this reason, educational institutions, and especially proprietary post-secondary schools, should be careful to select counsel experienced in education law.

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz’s comprehensive education law practice is one of the most extensive practices in the country, particularly in its representation of proprietary post-secondary schools.  Put simply, the firm solves the problems that beset educational institutions operating in a very complex regulatory environment.  Educational institutions hire us because we are known within the sector to offer the vital service of efficiently identifying, analyzing, resolving, and preventing a broad range of legal issues in a dynamic and increasingly hostile marketplace.

The firm practices preventative law.  We spend much of our time advising institutions on how to avoid administrative and regulatory issues that might arise from the operation of the institution, including in the areas of licensing and accreditation, lead generation, student admission and enrollment, financial aid, academics, career services, placement, and incentive compensation, as well as how to handle faculty and employment issues.  We work daily with institutions to manage compliance with federal and state law and accreditor standards to determine methods to avoid liability.  The firm has developed in-house training programs on a variety of educational issues and regularly performs workplace audits designed to uncover and solve state and federal law compliance issues.  Our education law attorneys also know how to structure and negotiate education-related contracts, enrollment agreements and disclosures, arbitration agreements, leases and other agreements, and can assist with internal grievance and disciplinary procedures.

We also conduct independent or assisted internal investigations regarding any type of complaint that might arise in a regulated school, including Sarbanes-Oxley issues, institutional and programmatic accreditor and U.S. Department of Education issues, student complaints, and employee misconduct relating to admissions, financial aid, academics, and placement.

The firm litigates and tries cases on behalf of schools in federal and state courts and arbitration and administrative hearings around the country. Over the past decade, we doubt that any firm in the country has tried more student cases than Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz.  During that time, we have handled hundreds of student cases.  Our aggressive defense of schools includes representation involving employee disputes, business torts, Telephone Consumer Protection Act cases, Fair Labor Standards Act cases, Federal Trade Commission enforcement actions, State Attorney General investigations, and virtually every type of dispute that can arise from the operation of an institution of higher education.

Due to the complex regulatory environment within which proprietary post-secondary schools operate, lead generation companies that provide services to such schools may be subject to liability based on their interactions with prospective students.  The firm advises lead generation companies on how to avoid regulatory and legal issues by, among other things, structuring and negotiating contracts designed to protect the company, and reviewing advertising and promotional materials for compliance with state and federal regulations.  The firm also represents lead generation companies in connection with government inquiries and legal proceedings.

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz has decades of experience in representing clients with commercial and residential real estate transactional matters.  The firm handles all aspects of the purchase, financing, refinancing, and sale of commercial and residential real estate.  We prepare new contracts and review existing contracts for both buyers and sellers.  We are approved title agents and prepare and review title searches and title insurance documents to ensure that you know exactly what you are purchasing and that you are protected against legal contingencies.

The firm represents homebuyers, small businesses, developers, property management companies, institutions, and corporations in the purchase, financing, sale, and development of all types of residential and commercial properties.  Whether the matter is the purchase of a home or the implementation of a complex financing deal for a shopping center or a multi-family property, we use our knowledge of real estate law to handle any issue that arises so that the project stays on schedule.

We also have decades of experience representing institutional lenders in closing small and large residential and commercial real estate loans.  Our legal representation includes assisting in the preparation of the commitment letter, preparing the loan documents, and taking the transaction all the way through closing.

No matter what your legal concern, our attorneys have the commercial and residential real estate experience to provide you with the most qualified legal representation attainable.

Since its inception, the firm has been a leading provider in South Florida of legal counsel to national banks, local commercial and private banks, national commercial credit companies, national commercial leasing companies, as well as foreign banks. Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz has strong technical expertise and a deep understanding of the issues financial institutions confront.

In addition to handling litigation, the firm counsels its clients in all phases of consumer and commercial transactions.  The firm has experience in lending and secured transactions, loan workouts, mortgages and foreclosures, lender liability counterclaims, venture capital, and international banking matters.  From drafting and interpreting loan documents, security agreements, promissory notes, contracts and leases, to commercial litigation, our banking clients can be assured that our knowledgeable and experienced banking and finance lawyers will work to see that their institutional rights are protected.

The firm represents financial institutions and other lenders in connection with the negotiation and preparation of documentation for complex secured and unsecured credit transactions.  Transactional matters conducted for major financial institutions include: asset-based lending, loan participations and syndications, derivative swaps, trade financings, and numerous other complex domestic and international lending transactions.

The firm also has experience in the representation of foreign banks desiring to establish or expand banking operations within the United States.  The firm has represented foreign banks in establishing representative offices, international bank agencies/branches, commercial bank subsidiaries and broker-dealer affiliates in the United States.  Through years of experience, the firm has developed substantial experience in dealing with the numerous issues that invariably arise when a foreign bank decides to expand within the United States.

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz has tried hundreds of arbitrations across the country.  Over the past decade alone, the firm has tried tens of dozens of arbitrations to conclusion. Hundreds more have been litigated to successful resolution.  Whether before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the American Arbitration Association, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, or other arbitral bodies, we try cases.  The firm takes special pride in this area of its practice because arbitration often presents special challenges in collecting and marshaling evidence.   Arbitration requires highly developed skills of cross-examination and the ability to adapt on the fly to evidence that may emerge only during the final hearing.  We excel at this process.

Because Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz believes in the arbitration process, we often recommend arbitration agreements to our clients.  The firm has been fortunate to play a prominent role nationally in the recent development of arbitral law under the Federal Arbitration Act.  Our experience with this still developing area of the law has given us insights into the process of drafting effective arbitration agreements, which we do for many of our corporate clients.

Getting to arbitration is sometimes half the battle.  Here, too, the firm’s record has been remarkable.  The following decisions evidence this:

• Gerlach v. Tickmark, Inc., No. 4:21-cv-02768-YGR (N.D. Cal. July 28, 2021) (Gonzalez Rogers, J.). The federal district court for the Northern District of California compelled a California resident, former employee’s claims for alleged wrongful termination and unpaid commissions to arbitration before the AAA to determine any issues of arbitrability and to decide all arbitrable claims, found the employee signed the arbitration agreement at issue over challenges to authenticity and admissibility, and stayed the case pending arbitration.
• Owens v. Rosenhaus, et al., No. 13-27602-THORNTON (Fla. 11th Cir. Ct. Nov. 22, 2013). The trial court compelled the plaintiff’s alleged claims to arbitration before the National Football League Players Association for the arbitrator to determine any issues of arbitrability and to decide all arbitrable claims, and denied the plaintiff’s cross-motion to stay or enjoin the arbitration.
• Ferguson v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc., 733 F.3d 928 (9th Cir. 2013). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s order refusing to compel the plaintiff’s alleged claims for injunctive relief under California’s unfair competitive law, false advertising law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act, finding that the Federal Arbitration Act preempted the California Supreme Court decisions which exempted such claims from arbitration.
• Allen, et al. v. Am. Trades Inst. of Florida, Inc., et al., No. 09-82004-CIV-BUTCHKO (Fla. 11th Cir. Ct. May 2, 2012), aff’d per curium, 2013 WL 2670946 (Fla. 3d DCA June 12, 2013). The trial court compelled the plaintiffs’ alleged claims to individual arbitration before the American Arbitration Association over the plaintiffs’ allegations attacking the underlying enrollment agreements.
• Younessi v. Recovery Racing, LLC, 88 So.3d 364 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a state trial court’s demand that the defendants select an arbitrator in a manner that was inconsistent with the parties’ arbitration agreement and the agreed-upon rules of the American Arbitration Association.
• Bernal, et al. v. Burnett, et al., 793 F. Supp. 2d 1280 (D. Colo. 2011) . The district court compelled the plaintiffs’ alleged claims to arbitration over the plaintiffs’ assertion that the arbitration agreements were unconscionable.
• Kimble v. Rhodes Coll., Inc., No. 10-5786-CIV-CHEN, 2011 WL 2175249 (N.D. Cal. June 2, 2011). The district court compelled the plaintiff’s alleged claims to arbitration for the arbitrator to determine issues of arbitrability, finding that clear and unmistakable evidence of the parties’ agreement to arbitrate arbitrability because the arbitration agreement incorporated the AAA’s Consumer Rules which also include the AAA’s Commercial Rules.
• Miller v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc., 769 F. Supp. 2d 1336 (D. Utah 2011). The district court compelled the plaintiffs’ alleged claims to individual arbitration over the plaintiffs’ assertion that the arbitration agreements were procedurally and substantively unconscionable.
• Montgomery v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc., No. 11-365-CIV-LEINENWEBER, 2011 WL 1118942 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 25, 2011). The district court compelled the plaintiffs’ alleged claims to individual arbitration over the plaintiffs’ assertion that the arbitration agreements were procedurally and substantively unconscionable.
• Barkl v. Career Education Corp., Civil No. 10–3565 ADM/JJG, 2010 WL 4979231 (D. Minn. Dec. 2, 2010). The district court compelled plaintiff’s alleged claims to arbitration over the plaintiff’s assertion that the arbitration agreement was a contract of adhesion and unconscionable.
• Nat’l Fin. Services, LLC v. Mahan, 19 So. 3d 1134 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009). The court reversed the trial court and held that the arbitration provisions in the plaintiff’s customer agreement were not procedurally unconscionable.
• Rodriguez v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc., No. 07-02648-CIV-NOTTINGHAM, 2008 WL 2979505 (D. Colo. Aug. 1, 2008). The district court compelled the plaintiff’s alleged claims to arbitration in accordance with the parties’ arbitration agreement.
• Allen Alvarez, et al. v. Rhodes Colleges, Inc., et al.; Case No. 04-11323 (Fla. 13th Cir. Ct. July 9, 2007). The trial court compelled over 100 plaintiffs to individual arbitration.
• Michael A. Nelson v. Barron Trading Group, Inc., No. 502006CA006727XXXXMB-GERBER (Fla. 15th Cir. Ct. Feb. 7, 2007). The trial court, after conducting an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the arbitration agreement at issue was forged, determined that the arbitration agreement was valid and ordered the parties to proceed to arbitration.
• Anderson v. Corinthian Colleges, No. C06-5157 FDB, 2006 WL 2380683 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 16, 2006). The district court stayed action brought by non-signatories to an arbitration agreement pending arbitration of similar claims brought in separate lawsuits by signatories to the arbitration agreement.
• Adrienne Travis v. Rhodes Colleges, Inc., et al.; Case No. 04-CA-001999 (Fla. 13th Cir. Ct. Oct. 19, 2005). Trial court compelled putative class action to arbitration.
• Burns v. Hamilton, et al., No. 02-1388-CIV-BARKER, 2003 WL 23104230 (S.D. Ind. Nov. 7, 2003).The district court compelled the plaintiff’s alleged claims against National Commodities Corp. to arbitration over the plaintiff’s assertion that he was fraudulently induced to enter into the customer agreement and arbitration agreement, and that the National Commodities Corp waived its right to arbitration.
• Knight v. Xebex, et al., 750 F. Supp. 1116 (M.D. Fla. 1990). The district court compelled the plaintiff’s alleged claims against Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc. to arbitration over the plaintiff’s assertion that Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc. had waived its right to arbitration and that it should be estopped from asserting that right.

One of the tenets of the firm’s practice philosophy is that the same lawyers who litigate and try the case should handle the appeal.  Not only is this practice more efficient for the client, but it also makes better lawyers.  The early decision on how to present your case should be shaped by a view towards how to create a record defensible on appeal.  The firm’s attorneys have always been taught to analyze each tactical decision throughout the litigation not only from the perspective of the trial judge, jury, or arbitrator, but also from the often distant perspective of an appellate court.  A win is not a win unless and until the appellate court agrees.

Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz also has a busy appellate practice handling appeals related to matters for which it was not trial counsel.  Whether or not trial counsel made all the right moves, the fact is that judges, juries, and arbitrators do not always get it right.

The firm has experience at all levels of state and federal courts, as well as several arbitral forums.  We have appeared before the United States Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court, Florida District Courts of Appeal, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and numerous other federal and state appellate courts and administrative agencies throughout the country.  Recent decisions in appeals handled by the firm include:

• Poultry & Industrial Suppliers, Inc. v. Incubacol, S.A.S., 313 So. 3d 719 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020). The firm successfully obtained a partial reversal of a trial court order denying a motion to dismiss on the basis of forum non conveniens in a products liability matter. The appeals court unanimously held that the trial court did not conduct the required full forum non conveniens analysis of the alternative forum of Indiana notwithstanding the appellee’s arguments that no such analysis was required because our client was a Florida defendant in its home forum.

• Ferguson v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc., 733 F.3d 928 (9th Cir. 2013).  The firm drafted the appeal of the district court’s partial denial of our client’s motion to compel arbitration as to the plaintiffs’ claims for injunction.  We were able to obtain the reversal of the district court order for improperly following California’s preempted Broughton-Cruz rule.  This was the first 9th Circuit case that unequivocally held that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts Broughton-Cruz. Click Here to hear the oral argument

• Sequioa Education, Inc. v. Superior Court of Alameda County, No. RG11597698, 2013 WL 5615596 (Cal. Ct. App. October 15, 2013).  The firm successfully obtained the reversal of a California trial court order that had vacated a clause construction award in favor of our client on the grounds that the arbitrator’s interpretation of the agreement was insulated from review.
• Reed v. Florida Metropolitan University, Inc., 681 F.3d 630 (5th Cir. 2012).  The firm successfully obtained vacatur of an arbitral clause construction award where the arbitrator had ruled that he had the ability to conduct a class arbitration on the grounds that the contract did not bar class arbitration.
• Wolf v. Kennelly, 574 F.3d 406 (7th Cir. 2009).  The firm successfully appealed the district court’s ruling barring our client from obtaining an award of sanctions for the opposing party’s improper removal.  We were able to meet the high burden of proving that the district court abused its discretion by refusing to award fees when the removal was clearly foreclosed by established law.
• Lonestar Alternative Solution, Inc. v. Leview-Boymelgreen Soleil Developers, LLC, 10 So. 3d 1169 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009).  The firm represented condominium brokers in an action against the developer for failing to pay commissions.  We obtained the reversal of the trial court’s dismissal of the brokers’ action on grounds that the developer had breached the commission agreement.
• CFTC v. Wilshire Investment Management Corp., 531 F.3d 1339 (11th Cir. 2008).  In this 11th Circuit opinion, the firm obtained a reversal of an award of restitution in an enforcement action on the grounds that equitable restitution under the CFTC Act could not be based on customer losses.
• CFTC v. Erskine, 512 F.3d 309 (6th Cir. 2008).  The firm successfully opposed the CFTC’s appeal of a summary judgment order holding that the defendants’ forex transactions were outside of the CFTC’s jurisdiction.  Our firm drafted the brief and cooperated with co-counsel in obtaining an affirmance by the 6th Circuit.  This ruling, together with the rulings in CFTC v. Zelener, 373 F.3d 861 (7th Cir. 2004), and CFTC v. Wilshire Investment Management Corp., 531 F.3d 1339 (11th Cir. 2008) (see above), precipitated certain changes in the law in the Dodd-Frank Act.
• Melea, Ltd. v. Jawer SA, 511 F.3d 1060 (10th Cir. 2007).  The firm represented a Swiss fiduciary sued in Colorado.  In this appeal, we were able to obtain an affirmance of the district court’s order dismissing the case for lack of personal jurisdiction because the cause of action did not arise out of the company’s contacts with the state.
• Gables Club Marina, LLC v. Gables Condominium and Club Assoc., Inc., 948 So. 2d 21 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). Through this appeal the firm was able to vacate a purported default based on actions taken in the trial court that were unknown to our client.  We demonstrated that our client had acted with due diligence in asserting its defenses.
• American Financial Trading Corp. v. Bauer, 828 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). The firm was able to obtain the reversal of an order of dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction under Florida’s long-arm statute by hiring a commodity broker in Florida.