22 lawyers, 10 law practice areas at Gunster honored by Chambers USA in 2017

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (June 13, 2017) – Gunster, one of Florida’s oldest and largest full-service business law firms, is pleased to announce that 22 of its attorneys have been honored as 2017 “Leaders in their Field” by Chambers USA, a UK-based organization that identifies and ranks lawyers and law firms based on evaluation of applications and interviews conducted by its research team.

Gunster’s 2017 “Leaders in their Field” honorees and the practice areas they are being recognized for are:

David Atkinson Business Litigation	Greg Bader Banking & Financial Services	David Bates Corporate Law	Elaine Bucher Private Wealth Services	Rick Burgess Environmental Law	Jay Carmichael Immigration Law
Terry Cole Environmental & Land Use	Jim Davis Tax Law	Bill Hennessey Private Wealth Services	Tom Julin First Amendment Law	Bruce Lamb Health Care Law	Alan Lederman Tax Law
Mike Mitrione Banking & Corporate Law	Greg Munson Environmental & Land Use	Lynn Pappas Environmental & Land Use	Luna Phillips Environmental & Land Use	Martin Press Tax Law	Mariana Ribeiro Immigration Law
Lisa Schneider Private Wealth Services	Brian Seymour Real Estate and Land Use	Sara Tobocman Immigration Law	David Wells Business Litigation

In addition, 10 Gunster law practice areas were noted for the following in Chambers USA 2017 edition:

Banking & Finance:  “Clients describe them as 'an excellent team that works very well together.' Also 'The Gunster team is very effective in handling our needs. They are excellent at taking complex legal issues and boiling them down to practical solutions from our business. They are key to our success.'"

Gunster’s banking and finance legal team offers broad transactional and regulatory experience in the banking and finance arena, with significant activity on large-scale mergers and acquisitions; represents a range of institutional clients on complex commercial lending transactions including broker-dealers, investment advisers and consumer finance companies; also offers significant expertise in real estate finance and acts on both the borrowing and the lending sides.

Commercial Litigation:  According to Chambers editors, “The ‘terrific’ David Wells is regularly sought for his counsel in high-stakes litigation and is recognized for his strong abilities in professional negligence disputes and litigation arising out of the construction sector. He is also frequently called upon for his expertise in alternative dispute resolution.”

Gunster has a broad commercial litigation practice, noted for its strengths in antitrust, intellectual property, real estate and product liability disputes; also enjoys a very strong reputation for professional malpractice defense work; represents an array of clients including financial institutions and prominent accountancy and law firms.

Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions & Private Equity:  “Sources praise the team, saying: ‘They are all deeply experienced and efficient lawyers.’ Another source states the firm provides the ‘same quality as New York or DC firms’ but ‘at much lower cost.’"

Gunster has a full-service corporate practice with a strong Florida offering and established connections with larger national firms; is well-versed in mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and international transactions; represents clients across a wide range of industries, including aerospace, agriculture and financial services; deals with a broad variety of entities, from private startups to large public companies.

Environment:  “The team is praised by sources who say: ‘They work well together, provide sound advice, are available at any time and go above and beyond.’ A client says: ‘They are the most thorough and responsive law firm I have worked with in over 20 years.’"

Gunster’s environmental law team has a strong Florida base with a broad geographical spread, offering statewide expertise in water, air and land issues; is experienced in advising clients before the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the South Florida Water Management District; represents public and private clients across a variety of industry areas including food, real estate and manufacturing.

Health Care:  "’It's an excellent team that was able to gather the necessary resources when we needed it. They were able to work very efficiently and we were very impressed,’ according to one commentator who awards the team ‘five stars.’ Sources also consistently highlight the group's responsiveness.”

Gunster’s health care law practice features a broad team well versed in professional regulation matters in the health care field, including medical staff issues and government investigations; regularly handles dispute resolution for hospitals, as well as transactional work for a range of clients.

Immigration:  “Clients say: ‘The team is incredibly thorough, experts in their field and good to work with.’ One client notes that the team ‘really goes above and beyond to examine every aspect of the case, anticipate issues that may come up and has built-in contingency plans,’ adding: ‘We were fully prepared for any complications that might have occurred.’"

Gunster has highly experienced business immigration lawyers with extensive experience in both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa matters; adept at handling a variety of immigration issues for national and international clients, including those in Latin America; particular strength in customizing compliance programs and advising on the immigration consequences of mergers and acquisitions.

Private Wealth Law:* With offices located across Florida, the private wealth team at Gunster is able to provide a comprehensive range of services to HNW clients. The firm has "really great roots in Florida and really understands the local community," a source says, adding: "They do the whole gamut of private client work, which is really useful for clients, and everyone loves working with them." Another Florida insider adds: "They provide excellent service and are very good at finding creative solutions to legal problems."

The firm is recognized for its collegiate approach when dealing with private wealth matters and clients benefit from having access to a substantial trust litigation practice.

Lisa Schneider is "a strategic thinker and incredibly knowledgeable about the law," enthuses one source, who adds: "She can explain complex matters fully and in clear language." Schneider advises a range of high net worth clients on wealth preservation issues, and has a particular focus on business successions and planning for family structures. Clients say that she is "very thorough, really responsive and has a high level of technical knowledge."

Elaine Bucher focuses her practice on estate planning and administration, and is noted for her expertise in representing clients with complex and sensitive family situations. One source reports that "she really connects with clients on a personal level. She wants to get to know the whole family and their objectives to ensure all aspects are coordinated. Clients just love her so much and she is hugely responsive. Clients look to her as a trusted adviser." Another peer adds that "she always speaks in a language that the client can understand." Bucher also has experience in fiduciary litigation.

William Hennessey leads the firm's probate, trust and guardianship litigation practice and regularly acts on complex and high-value disputes for high net worth clients. "He has developed a reputation as an expert," notes one Florida insider, who adds that "he also has a great personality, which can facilitate the settlement of cases." He also advises on tax and business succession planning and is further praised as "an outstanding probate litigator."

Real Estate and Zoning & Land Use:  “One impressed client notes that the Gunster real estate group offers ‘an excellent cross-section of specialties that allow for a wide variety of cases to be accommodated.’ The source continues: ‘There are local specialists, statewide influencers and broad support staff to take on any issue or project.’"

Gunster has a broad real estate practice with experience covering a full range of matters including financing, leasing, acquisitions and development; also noted for its representation of clients in land use proceedings and real estate litigation; clients include owners, developers, investors and public bodies.

Tax:  “According to impressed interviewees, ‘the partners in charge are very detail-oriented, very competent and very skilled.’ One client labels Gunster ‘our go-to firm, particularly in tax.’"

Gunster fields a broad bench of experienced tax practitioners, well-versed in a wide range of tax and private wealth issues, with specific strengths in controversy, transactional and tax-planning work; the firm attracts a broad client base that includes startups, investment funds, family businesses and entrepreneurs.

* * *

* UPDATE 9/15/17: This Private Wealth Law description is from Chambers USA's 2017 High Net Worth guide, which wasn't released until Sept. 15, 2017. It replaces the 2016 Private Wealth Law description, which previously was included as a placeholder in this release when initially published.

Chambers & Partners has been ranking law firms and lawyers since 1990. Its editors and researchers speak to lawyers and clients, conducting in-depth telephone interviews, which provide wide-ranging and testable information on which the organization’s rankings and commentary rely.

# # #