TAMPA – Carlton Fields is pleased to announce that Tampa shareholder Mark A. Brown was recently inducted into the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL).
ACREL is principally comprised of real estate attorneys. Brown’s extensive experience in real estate litigation led to his consideration and election into the College.
Admission to this organization is by invitation only after a rigorous screening process. ACREL’s distinguished, nationally-known lawyers have been elected to membership not only for their outstanding legal ability, experience and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice of real estate law, but also for their contributions to the real estate and legal professions through their practices, their legal writings, and their public speaking.
Brown has over thirty years of business litigation experience at Carlton Fields. His career has covered a broad range of complex commercial disputes in both federal and state courts, trial and appellate. Among other areas of business law, Brown has been the principal litigation attorney for several title insurance companies. As such, he has handled literally hundreds of real property disputes involving challenges to title, challenges to the priority and enforceability of liens, boundary and easement disputes, adverse possession claims, access issues, and fraud and forgery claims.
In addition, Brown has particular experience handling class actions and cutting edge litigation in the title insurance industry. He has been the lead trial attorney in four putative class actions alleging violations of RESPA, 19 putative class actions across the country alleging violations of title insurance rate regulations, a challenge to the constitutionality of Florida's title insurance anti-rebating statute (the "Butler" case), defalcation actions, "flip" transactions, and investigations by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Florida Department of Financial Services, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, and the Georgia Department of Insurance concerning title agent and title insurer market conduct.
Brown serves as Chair of the firm's Real Property Litigation Practice Group. He is a former Chair of the firm's Executive Committee, a former chair of the firm's Litigation Council, and a former member of the firm's Board of Directors. He received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Florida Law School in 1980 and his B.A. from Eckerd College in 1975 (he graduated college at age 18).
Brown joins Carlton Fields’ shareholders Robert S. Freedman, Richard C. Linquanti, George J. Meyer, and Roger D. Schwenke who are also members of ACREL.