As a former banker and trained credit analyst, George Guerra has a well developed sense of how business works and how business professionals think. As a practicing lawyer for nearly 20 years, those skills have been critical in helping resolve countless disputes on an individual and industry-wide basis. He has represented clients in all forms of litigation in court and in arbitration with more than 40 arbitration awards and numerous court decisions to his credit.
Some of the matters he has handled include:
– Representation of a broker/dealer in an industry-wide action regarding the treatment of interest on advance bond refundings.
– Defense of claims by a minority trade group association of a multimillion dollar claims asserting mishandling of the association’s accounts.
– Defending a broker/dealer against multiple claims brought against the firm and a deceased registered representative.
– Representation of a securities clearing firm against claims stemming from conduct by the introducing broker/dealer’s registered representative.
– Prosecution of a manufacturer’s former senior executive in connection with the theft of trade secrets and certain corporate opportunities.
– Defense of registered representatives and broker/dealers in contractual disputes after the termination of the registered representative.
George is licensed in California and Florida but has represented clients in matters throughout the United States including New York, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and Washington D.C. He is AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and has been recognized by his peers in The Best Lawyers in America and Florida Trend magazine’s Legal Elite. He is a 1985 graduate of Boston College where he was awarded the Harry W. Smith Award for outstanding service to the university and was named in Who’s Who among American Colleges and Universities. He was awarded his Juris Doctor in 1991 from the Stetson University College of Law and, in that same year, was also the recipient of the International Academy of Trial Lawyer’s Advocacy Award.
He has been invited to speak on various occasions to industry groups on topics including Broker/Dealer compliance, arbitration and most recently as a guest lecturer at the University of South Florida’s Corporate Governance Series.