10 Carlton Fields Attorneys Elected to Shareholder

Carlton Fields is pleased to announce the election of 10 new shareholders in various offices, practice and industry groups at the firm’s 2019 Annual Meeting held in Miami, Fla. this month.
 
Associates elected to Shareholder:
 
Jordan D. August (Tampa Office) practices in the areas of taxation, estate, and business planning. He advises individuals and businesses on a variety of federal income, gift, and estate taxation, and state taxation planning and controversy matters. His practice focuses on providing tax advice and long-term planning to individuals, closely held companies, including partnerships, S corporations, and C corporations, limited liability companies, tax-exempt organizations, and trusts. He counsels high net worth individuals regarding their wealth preservation, estate planning, business succession planning, and charitable and family gifting needs, including multi-generational transfers of wealth. August earned his J.D., cum laude, and his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He also received his B.S. from the University of Florida.
 
Alexandra D. Blye (West Palm Beach Office) advises industry-leading institutional lenders and insurance companies on complex commercial real estate transactions, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, and complex commercial litigation. Her bankruptcy and insolvency practice focuses on creditors’ rights, distressed asset acquisitions, restructuring secured and unsecured debt, and director and officer litigation in commercial reorganizations and liquidations. In her real estate practice, Blye has closed more than $1 billion in national transactions involving the finance, purchase and/or sale of retail shopping centers, multi-family residential housing, office towers, corporate office parks, manufactured housing communities, industrial parks, and other commercial property. With broad transactional and litigation experience, Blye is uniquely qualified to counsel clients through all stages of the economic cycle, from deal formation through asset disposition. Blye earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Florida.
 
Justan C. Bounds (Atlanta Office) represents public and private companies, their officers, directors, and employees, and individual clients in a wide range of complex commercial disputes, including representing entertainers and Fortune 500 media clients in all manners of dispute resolution from constitutional to contractual to employment disputes, representing companies, officers, and directors in federal securities actions (both SEC enforcement and class actions), representing software companies in trademark, copyright, and licensing disputes, and representing creditors in sophisticated post-judgment collection actions to pierce the corporate veil and avoid fraudulent conveyances. Bounds earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law, his M.S. from Georgia State University, and his B.A. from the University of Georgia.

Scott E. Byers (Miami Office) focuses on the defense of financial services companies in complex federal and state court litigation, including class actions and multi-district litigation proceedings throughout the United States. Byers has experience in cases alleging fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, deceptive trade practices, violations of ERISA, and numerous other industry specific issues involving elevated exposure risks. He is regularly involved in motion practice and written appellate advocacy, having briefed issues for courts throughout the country, including the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Byers earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts.

Scott D. Feather (Tampa Office) is a commercial litigator who defends and prosecutes a diverse range of disputes, including complex matters, in both federal and state court, and in arbitration.  He represents national title insurance underwriters, lenders, creditors, developers and construction companies, and closely held companies, their managers, and members. Feather's commercial litigation experience includes general disputes between businesses involving contract and business-related tort claims, defending companies in class actions and officers and directors in derivative actions and merger challenges, and disputes between closely held companies and their members and officers. He earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from Stetson University and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Wake Forest University.

Jourdan R. Haynes (Tampa Office) counsels on a wide range of complex commercial real estate matters, with an emphasis on property acquisition; disposition; commercial leasing, including telecommunication leasing, and condominium and planned unit developments; and construction and permanent financing. He also represents note holders, servicers, and other financial institutions in a variety of loan transactions, loan sales, workouts, and dispositions of real estate. Haynes has handled numerous types of commercial and real estate transactions, and regularly represents clients in connection with mortgage and asset-based loans, loan workouts, and settlement agreements. His experience includes negotiating and drafting contracts, and due diligence review of property and loan portfolios. Haynes earned his J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law and his B.A. from Rollins College.

Katherine L. Heckert (Tampa Office) is a Florida Board Certified Specialist in Construction Law who advises and represents construction clients in mediation, arbitration, and litigation proceedings. She has experience resolving complex contract disputes, construction defect disputes, regulatory investigations, and lien and bond disputes. Her clients include nationwide home builders, general contractors, developers, public owners, large project owners, subcontractors, marine contractors, equipment lessors, condominium associations, steel fabricators, and heavy construction companies. Heckert earned her J.D., cum laude, from George Washington University Law School. She earned her M.P.A. and her Bachelor of Journalism, magna cum laude, from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Jason A. Morris (Atlanta Office) represents property and casualty insurers in litigation, mediation, and arbitration across the country. He counsels carriers on issues regarding claims practices and procedures, focusing on maximizing his clients’ business interests and often helping them avoid litigation in the first place. When litigation becomes necessary, Morris draws on his experience handling bad faith and coverage claims, disputes between insurers, and defending the financial services industry from consumer class actions, primarily in federal court. Morris routinely serves as defense counsel for insureds on behalf of insurers, using his industry knowledge to advance the interests of both carriers and insureds through efficient and timely claims resolution. He earned his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and his B.B.A. from Mercer University.

Yolanda P. Strader (Miami Office) handles a wide variety of commercial litigation matters from case inception through post-judgment recovery. Her experience includes representing banks, lenders, loan servicers, real estate management firms, receivers, hospitals, and law firms in matters involving class actions, real property disputes, business torts such as fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, business divorces, breach of contracts, creditor’s rights, and bankruptcy litigation. She also handles consumer finance issues implicating a number of statutory regimes, such as the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA), and Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). Strader earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law, and her B.B.A, cum laude, from the University of Miami.

Jennifer A. Yasko (West Palm Beach Office) focuses on both litigation and counseling in telecommunications and employment matters. Yasko represents wireless telecom carriers in nationwide litigation. On behalf of her telecom clients, she uncovers cell phone trafficking rings and fraud that costs the industry millions of dollars annually. She has filed dozens of suits in more than 20 federal district courts across the country and obtained large judgments and permanent injunctions for her clients. In addition, Yasko’s employment practice focuses exclusively on management side representation. She earned her J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law and her B.S. from the University of Florida.
 

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