WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 2, 2018) – Gunster, one of Florida’s oldest and largest full-service business law firms, today announced that Robert H. Fernandez has joined the firm as a shareholder focusing on election/ethics law and state and local bid-protests/public procurement. This expands the firm’s capabilities in elections and ethics law and in bid protests and public procurement.
Working out of the firm’s Miami office, Fernandez will join Gunster’s business litigation and government affairs practices. Throughout his career, he has represented businesses in bid-protest award disputes before the Miami-Dade County Commission and the City of Miami Commission and has counseled businesses on how to avoid them. He is also considered one of the leading lawyers in South Florida on representation of elected officials and candidates on election and ethics law issues. Fernandez was appointed by Governor Rick Scott to serve on the 11th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission and more recently by United States Senator Marco Rubio to the Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for the Southern District of Florida.
“Gunster believes strongly in making opportunistic hires when we identify great talent and Robert certainly fits this profile,” said Gunster managing shareholder Bill Perry. “He is widely recognized as a go-to attorney for election and ethics law, bringing a new dimension and expanded services to our clients while also strengthening our best-in-class business litigation team.”
Fernandez has spent his career working on a wide variety of commercial and business litigation matters such as breach of contracts, business torts, shareholder/member disputes, non-compete covenants and misappropriation of trade secrets in both federal and state courts. He also acts as outside general counsel to various entrepreneurial and start-up ventures advising on a variety of legal issues.
Prior to joining Gunster, Fernandez was a partner at a boutique Miami law firm and also served as Deputy General Counsel to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. He is active in the community serving on the board of directors for the Family Resource Center and is involved with the Cuban American Bar Association.
He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University.
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