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(Shareholder)
gschaaf@becker-poliakoff.com
Professional Experience
Gary Schaaf is an experienced business litigator, and supervises the litigation department in the firm's Tampa Bay Regional Office, located in Clearwater, Florida. Mr. Schaaf has been a business litigator in the Tampa Bay Area since moving from Philadelphia in 1987, and is rated “AV” by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory - its highest professional rating - based upon the endorsement of his colleagues in the areas of professional conduct, ethics and ability. Mr. Schaaf has been selected by Florida Trend magazine as a member of the Legal Elite, which recognizes the top tier of attorneys practicing in Florida as chosen by their colleagues.
Mr. Schaaf has extensive experience litigating business disputes, real property disputes, contract litigation, probate and trust litigation, condominium and homeowners association litigation, mortgage foreclosure litigation, injunction actions, representation of creditors in bankruptcy, and banking litigation. His clients have included national and local financial institutions, multi-national, national and local businesses, governments, and individuals.
Mr. Schaaf has:
- Represented the FDIC, RTC and FSLIC in numerous complex litigation matters, including several federal court jury trials in which multi-million verdicts were obtained for the government.
- Obtained a jury verdict in favor of a Brazilian manufacturing company, in a suit concerning defective packaging machinery.
- Obtained a favorable opinion from the federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of a distributorship client, reversing a lower court ruling, and leading to a multi-million dollar settlement.
- Represented a national financial institution in its statewide trust business litigation, including favorable resolution of numerous contested causes of action.
- Provided ongoing representation to a quasi-public utility company as a creditor in multiple bankruptcies, including various adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court.
He has significant trial experience in the state and federal courts as well as appellate practice experience before Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and is admitted to the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Schaaf also has extensive experience as a Certified Circuit and Federal Court Mediator and training in arbitration by the Florida Bar.
Activities & Memberships
Mr. Schaaf has been a member of the Hillsborough County and Clearwater Bar Associations; is a past director of the Largo Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce; serves on the Board of Trustees of Community Action Stops Abuse, in St. Petersburg, Florida; serves as General Counsel to the Philippine Charitable Foundation, Inc.; and serves as a director of the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce, in Tampa, Florida. Mr. Schaaf is also a licensed real estate sales associate in the State of Florida.
Bar Admissions
Florida, 1987
New Jersey, 1986
Pennsylvania, 1986
Court Admissions
United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
United States Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Supreme Court
Education
J.D., Temple University School of Law, 1986 (cum laude)
B.B.A., Temple University School of Business Administration, 1983
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