Jennifer Anne Gore Maglio | Partner/Shareholder

Jennifer Anne Gore Maglio brings her experience litigating complex commercial cases and representing a broad array of business, real estate and construction interests to the Maglio Christopher & Toale Law Firm.

PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Before entering private practice, Ms. Maglio served in the public sector as an Assistant County Attorney for Sarasota County, where she worked on a variety of land use and litigation matters as a member of the County's litigation section.  On behalf of the County, she successfully defended the County's Adult Entertainment Ordinance from challenge and successfully defended the County in a zoning decision on appeal.  Ms. Maglio was also active in defending Sarasota County in civil rights actions and labor and employment litigation.  Ms. Maglio provided advice and counsel to the County administration in the areas of public records and government in the sunshine laws.  She also advised the County Building Department in various matters.

After moving into private practice, Ms. Maglio's practice focused on the litigation of complex commercial cases and the representation of varied business, real estate and construction interests.  She has litigated multi-million dollar contract and trust disputes, appearing in federal courts in New York and Chicago on behalf of her clients.  In state court in Florida, she has represented businessman turned Congressman Vern Buchanan in his action regarding the financing and development of the local Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Ms. Maglio serves as counsel to several small to medium sized companies.  For these clients, she provides day to day legal advice as well as contract review and corporate planning services.  For her clients seeking to expand their business opportunities by becoming a franchisee, she offers advice on investigating franchises and negotiating franchise agreements.

As a member of the firm, Ms. Maglio has successfully litigated real estate disputes.  Most recently she obtained a state court judgment on behalf of a real estate investor who sued a seller for failing to complete the real estate contract.  Similarly, in a past case, she has successfully represented, through appeal, a client seeking to enforce a real estate contract against a defense which relied on the financing contingency clause. 

In the area of construction law, Ms. Maglio represents general contractors and subcontractors in lien foreclosures and construction disputes.  She also represents interior designers and home designers.   She regularly counsels her clients as to the negotiation of construction contracts.  In addition, Ms. Maglio has represented numerous homeowners and business owners in pursuing construction defect claims.  Her past clients in this area include condominium associations. 

Ms. Maglio has published articles on business law in the magazine, Business to Business. She also has been featured as a speaker at a number of seminars on various commercial litigation and construction law matters.

Ms. Maglio is licensed by The Florida Bar and the District of Columbia Bar. She belongs to the Real Property Probate and Trust Law section of the Florida Bar.  She annually attends the Florida Bar's Advanced Construction Law Seminar and Certification Review Course to keep current in her construction law practice. 

Ms. Maglio is admitted to practice law before all state and federal courts in Florida, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Eleventh Circuits and the Court of Federal Claims. Her other professional memberships include the Sarasota County Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, Real Property and Probate and Trust Section, and the Florida Association of Women Lawyers.  Ms. Maglio is a Barrister in the Judge John M. Scheb Chapter of the American Inn of Court where she served as the Program Chair for several years. 

EDUCATION AND SCHOLASTICS

Ms. Maglio received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Environmental Studies from New College of Florida, the honors college for the State of Florida.  As part of her degree program, she researched and wrote a double thesis combining issues from each of her majors.  Her thesis is titled Sea Level Rise in Southwest Florida, A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Policy Alternatives.  Her thesis is currently housed in the Jane Bancroft Cook Library at New College of Florida.  Prior to her graduation, Ms. Maglio defended her thesis in a baccalaureate before a committee of three professors.

Ms. Maglio initially attended the University of Miami School of Law as a recipient of the Dean's Honor Full Scholarship.  While at the University of Miami, Ms. Maglio served as the Secretary of the Environmental Law Society.  Her grades earned her a place on the University of Miami Law Review.  Despite her success at the University of Miami School of Law, Ms. Maglio had previously received a scholarship to the University of Florida College of Law and at the beginning of her second year of law school transferred to the University of Florida College of Law in Gainesville, Florida. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida College of Law with honors in 1996. While at the University of Florida College of Law, Ms. Maglio was the Assistant Editor for the Journal of Technology Law and Policy.  At both the University of Miami and the University of Florida, she was a member of the Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Ms. Maglio is a member of the Junior League of Sarasota. In that organization she has served as a member of the Nominating Committee, Placement Committee and Provisional Education Committee.  While on the Child Witness Room Committee, Ms. Maglio worked with the local courthouse to create a child friendly environment for children required to testify in court.  Rather than having to face alleged abusers, child witnesses in Sarasota County may now testify from the specially designed room via video.

Because of her love of literature, Ms. Maglio served on the Board of the Friends of the Selby Public Library for over 4 years, acting as that organization's Nominating Committee Chair for 3 years.  Together with the New College Library Association, the Friends of the Selby Public Library founded and built the popular Sarasota Reading Festival.  Ms. Maglio helped steer the Board through a critical and emotionally charged leadership dispute and assisted in brokering a settlement for the benefit of all involved.

Additionally, Ms. Maglio has been active in fundraising for the New College Foundation and the New College Library Association, serving as a member of the Action Auction, New College Clambake and the Mistletoe Ball Committees.  As a member of the Mistletoe Ball Committee in 2006, Ms. Maglio served as the Chair of the Library Wish List committee, raising thousands of dollars for books requested by the faculty and student of New College of Florida.

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

On a personal note, Ms. Maglio was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.  She was raised in Miami, Florida, witnessing great changes in that city over the years.  She now resides on the gulf coast of Florida, in Sarasota.