Mark A. Romance

Successfully defended a lead generation and dialing platform provider in a class action lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California, where plaintiffs sought to hold client liable for calls and  messages allegedly delivered by its independent realtor customers in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and sought over $250 million in damages for more than 150,000 potential class members; secured an order denying plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification after more than two years of litigation and the individual plaintiff then voluntarily dismissed within days of the order denying class action status

Served as lead trial counsel in Miami federal court trademark infringement case where a mass market manufacturer of makeup sold exclusively at Walmart and manufacturer's online store, sued our client, a high-end international manufacturer of cosmetics products sold in exclusive beauty stores and upscale department stores, for trademark infringement seeking over $7 million in damages representing disgorgement of profits; successfully secured a defense verdict after a non-jury trial and represented client in the affirmance on appeal

Served as co-counsel at trial for Fortune 100 product manufacturer in Massachusetts state court in 2018 in wrongful death lawsuit alleging product liability claims; jury returned a verdict for our firm’s client after a four-week trial

Represented international insurance brokerage firm in multi-day non-jury injunction hearing in defense of claims of violation of non-compete agreements by 25 individuals hired from a competitor

Retained by Ohio-based bank to prosecute 65 complicated residential foreclosure cases in four counties in Florida, involving mortgages the bank acquired from original lenders through the FDIC and involving numerous procedural defenses in order to ensure judgments were obtained with clear title; took over the cases from prior counsel and obtained final judgments of foreclosure through summary judgment or non-jury trial and handled the sale

Defended a Fortune 100 company in defense of numerous product liability claims filed throughout Florida’s state courts arising out of use of client’s safety products during alleged exposure to asbestos

Defended a Fortune 100 Company in a significant product liability claim, where a condominium building in Miami Beach, Florida, was constructed using a fire safety product that allegedly caused leaks in the building’s fire sprinkler system and the condominium association filed suit seeking damages to replace the entire fire sprinkler system and for costs associated with repairs previously made to the building; successfully obtained summary judgement for the client and on appeal where the judgment was affirmed

Successfully represented more than one hundred financial advisors with respect to alleged violations of non-compete, non-solicitation and trade secret violations when they were hired by financial institutions from competing firms, including typically allegations that a former employee has solicited customers in violation of contractual restrictive covenants and improper retention and use of confidential or trade secret information with alleged damages in the multi-million dollar range; resolved some cases before lawsuits were filed, while others involved defending claims seeking injunctions and monetary damages in court and arbitration proceedings

Defended seven former employees of international investment firm against claims of misappropriation of trade secret, breach of non-solicitation agreements and breach of fiduciary duty; served as co-counsel in temporary injunction hearing held in local court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where court denied firm’s request for a temporary injunction, and ultimately settled similar claims in FINRA arbitration proceeding for nuisance value

Successfully defended a  Florida food manufacturing company in defense of several employment claims, including alleged discrimination claims based on religion, race and disability, and alleged violations of wage and hour laws in federal court and in claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), obtaining dismissals and nuisance value settlements of the claims

Represented plaintiff in a claim for breach of an employment contract, where the client entered into an agreement with her employer for  a portion of her compensation to be based on the net profits on the sale of any portion of a 19-acre multitract parcel of land in Miami and the employer subsequently transferred title to 11 of the 19 acres to a developer in a joint venture, where he claimed that no sale occurred and there were no net profits in any event; the court in a non-jury trial entered judgment in favor of employee finding that the transaction was a sale and that the sale resulted in $1.6 million in profits, as well as awarding the employee her attorney fees and costs

Defended trustee owner of property against claims arising out of an alleged promise to sell a 120-acre tract of land, where claimant tried to block trustee’s sale to another purchaser, alleging specific performance, breach of contract, fraud and civil RICO; trial court granted summary judgment for trustee on all counts, affirmed on appeal, and determined that the lawsuit was filed in bad faith, awarding trustee his attorney fees

Represented a real estate broker seeking a real estate commission in an arbitration against a landowner, where the broker arranged for the turn-key sale of a former department store to be used as an office building; the landowner sold the property to a developer, who re-developed the property into an office building and transferred title to the school board; arbitrator awarded the broker a commission and prevailing party attorney fees

Represented the owner of undeveloped ocean front property in Juno Beach, Florida, in defense of a claim of specific performance of a real estate contract, where the significant issue was whether the seller waived its right to enforce a "time is of the essence" clause after purchaser failed to pay a required deposit; successfully obtained a verdict in favor of owner after non-jury trial

Represented brother and sister who challenged their father’s last will and testament against step-mother, siblings, and corporate trustee in a will contest involving multiple millions of dollars, on grounds that the will was procured by undue influence; settled at mediation on the eve of trial

Represented charity defendant in claim involving an attempt to enforce a lost or destroyed will, where the personal representative located a copy of a subsequent will, which substituted one charity beneficiary for another, that they attempted to enforce by reestablishing a lost instrument under Florida law after the decedent died; after discovery, and on the eve of trial, the case resolved with the charities dividing the bequest

Defended Fortune 100 company in federal court against claims of trademark infringement and violation of the Anti-Cybersquatting Protection Act, arising out of company’s ownership, but not use, of a website domain name that included plaintiff’s trademark; trial court granted summary judgment in favor of company holding that company did not use the trademark in commerce, there was no likelihood of confusion and that the claims were barred by laches, and the judgment was affirmed on appeal

Represented a technology company in state court to prosecute claims for specific performance of an internet marketing agreement, breach of contract and declaratory judgment arising out of a marketing services contract concerning website traffic; after non-jury trial, the trial court granted our client’s request for specific performance, ordered the defendant to deliver electronic information located on its computer servers, determined that the defendant had breached the contract and entered judgment in favor of our client for $271,000

Represented respondent in arbitration action in damages phase in claim, where claimant sought over $5 million in damages, for breach of distribution agreement involving Russian language television programming; arbitrator awarded damages to the claimant in an amount less than ten percent of its claim to our client's satisfaction

Successfully defended commercial tenant as to landlord's claim for alleged unpaid common area expenses in excess of $8 million; judgment entered in tenant's favor after trial on the merits and affirmed on appeal

Defended lender in state court action involving civil conspiracy claims arising out of lender's termination of revolving line of credit; trial court granted summary judgment for lender and judgment was affirmed on appeal in per curium decision