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Donald J. Baranski received his Bachelor of Arts in Humanities Pre Law, from Michigan State University. This was a triple major of American History, Philosophy, and Psychology. He then received a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy from Michigan State University. He then obtained his Doctorate in Law from Michigan State University College of Law. Baranski has been a licensed Attorney and Counselor at Law in the State of Michigan since 1988. He clerked for a trial judge for two years. He worked as a City Attorney, and as a public defender. Baranski has handled a general practice of law including: family law, criminal law, juvenile law, adoptions, contracts, real estate, landlord/tenant, probate estates, wills & trusts, guardianships and conservatorships, mental health law, social security disability, workers compensation, unemployment compensation, education law, collections and bankruptcy. Baranski has conducted jury trials and bench trials in District, Probate and Circuit Courts. Baranski is also admitted to the Western District of Michigan and Eastern District of Michigan Federal Courts.

Sheree Cameron is a highly respected Bankruptcy Lawyer in Raleigh, NC, with over 20 years of experience in helping individuals and families achieve financial relief. Known for her integrity and deep knowledge of bankruptcy law, Sheree is a trusted name in the Raleigh community. Her academic achievements are as impressive as her legal expertise. Sheree graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Tennessee and went on to earn her law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill on a full scholarship. Licensed to practice in all three districts of North Carolina, Sheree has helped clients throughout the state resolve their financial issues and start anew. Sheree’s clients praise her for her strategic approach and caring demeanor, reflected in her A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and over 120 5-star reviews. She’s helped countless clients facing creditor harassment, overwhelming debt, or wage garnishment get back on track financially.

Mark R. Osherow is a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Business Litigation with over 30 years of experience. He has practiced for most of those years in both state and federal courts throughout Florida. With significant trial and alternative dispute resolution experience, Osherow has taken countless depositions and served as first-chair in numerous trials, arbitrations and mediations. He serves as a legal advisor for his clients as they assess their business risks across a large segment of industry and service providers. Lawyer.com Member Questionnaire How did you build a successful practice? Throughout my early career, I was involved in class action litigation, complex litigation for major clients and product liability cases. I was fortunate to be involved in complex cases and, through that experience, to develop expertise in a variety of areas,” he says. Osherow learned early on that success as a litigator requires a very high level of commitment and tenacity. After 2006, my practice focused almost exclusively on business litigation and related areas such as real estate, construction and employment litigation. Osherow believes in leading by example, a philosophy he developed and has carried out through his over 30 years of practice. Osherow says he works to be a good listener. That skill, combined with his experience as a board-certified business litigator, allows him to respond quickly and effectively to client needs in diverse areas of the law. He believes in The Florida Bar board certification process. He says he is proud of his certification as a board-certified business litigation specialist, and frequently encourages his colleagues to apply. “I believe in team effort and in leading in a way that makes other people want to perform for you as a team. My philosophy has come down to this – the way I define a problem is whether somebody is going to remember in a day, a week, a month, six months, a year or five years from now. If they are not going to remember it in the long term, it is really not a problem; it is just a bump in the road. And 99.9 percent of things fall into that category, although at that moment they may seem like major issues. We work in a high pressure, stressful profession and it’s important that people know someone has his or her back,” he says. “I’d say the biggest challenge is getting a case to the point that the client fully realizes how cases are resolved. It is basically strategy. Most cases can ultimately be resolved. Finding those solutions that get the participants to a point where they are ready to resolve the case is for me one of the most interesting aspects of practicing law,” Osherow says. He helps clients to see that sometimes they are motivated more by hostility, anger, frustration or something else that interferes with their ability to focus on the practical business aspects of their situation. One of his primary goals is to motivate those clients to see their situation from a practical perspective rather than an emotional perspective, to see the situation as it really is – a purely business transaction. “Sometimes clients don’t think as rationally as they believe they are and sometimes when they think rationally they don’t necessarily weigh all the different aspects of the case. It is very important to help clients see the various motivations and causes that are influencing them to make a decision. Once we have done that analysis and we have gone through all of the specifics, then they can decide whether or not litigation is called for,” he says. Osherow sometimes faces a client who initially only wants to litigate, someone who doesn’t want or doesn’t realize that one of the key aspects of a case is an attorney’s ability to resolve or at least attempt to resolve the case before the client gets involved in expensive, time-consuming and often emotionally-draining litigation. He says it is crucial for a lawyer to help a client assess his or her willingness to take a case through the litigation process and trial. The client must also feel comfortable that their law firm is providing advice that is in their best interests, whether they go the distance through trial or seek alternative dispute resolution. “I always want our clients to understand the costs and risks of the decisions they’re making. For me, that is critical. I’m always advising clients about the next step, about what they need to know, what we should be doing, and advising them constantly on pre-litigation, litigation, settlement and trial issues,” he says. Osherow says that whether cases are rewarding or difficult, an attorney has to have an even keel as a litigator. He upholds a philosophy of trust when it comes to his clients’ interests. “My father taught me to never give up and my first boss taught me how to think like a lawyer, to be precise, and to be articulate in my writing. From those mentors and others, I have come to believe strongly in creating an environment where people can do their best.” What should clients look for in a lawyer? Do not rely on what is on a lawyer’s website alone. Speak to the lawyer and make sure your questions are fully answered and there is no run around or diversion in providing direct answers. That does not mean that every question is subject to an easy answer however. Make sure the lawyer has the competence to proceed with your case or its defense. Many inexperienced lawyers claim to be experts in matters that are really outside of their experience level or abilities. Many lawyers do not have the extensive training and experience to handle complex litigation but represent to the public that they have this experience. But they can be cost effective by charging lower rates. Sometimes you get what you pay for so be careful in selecting a lawyer who can at a minimum learn the issues and competently address your situation. Look for a lawyer who will represent you or your company vigorously and professionally and will take the time to learn all the critical issues involved in your particular matter. Check for prior cases handled by the lawyer and the actual experience the lawyer has in similar or related types of cases, recognizing that each case may well present distinct issues. Find out when the lawyer was admitted to the Bar and if they are Board Certified as a specialist in their particular area of practice, which can also help select a lawyer with the competency to handle a matter within their specialty. How important is local knowledge to the success of your cases? It is important to know the lawyers on the other side and the court rules and the reputations and differences in the way judges handle cases before them. This helps provide each client with valuable insight on how the case may progress in court. Where a case is in arbitration, where possible, it is critical to know the reputation of the arbitrators who may be chosen to hear the case.

Thomas Stagg, managing partner at Stagg Wabnik Law Group, LLP, focuses his practice on commercial, general and appellate litigation. He represents clients in federal and state courts in New York and New Jersey, as well as in Connecticut federal court, and has argued before New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, on behalf of international banking clients. Each year since 2003 Thomas has achieved an "AV" Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating, which is assigned to lawyers who have reached the height of professional excellence and who are recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity. He has also been selected annually as a New York Metro Super Lawyer since 2012. No more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected to Super Lawyers, which is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement made after a rigorous multi-phased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews. In 2012, Thomas was named by the New York State Bar Association as an Empire State Counsel® for providing more than 50 hours of free legal services to low-income individuals and in 2016 was awarded Top Legal Eagle in Litigation for Nassau and Suffolk Counties, which is assigned annually to only ten attorneys. Thomas has represented the firm's banking and credit clients in connection with Uniform Commercial Code matters and federal and state consumer credit statutes, including the Truth in Lending Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Electronic Fund Transfer Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. On behalf of corporate, municipal and private clients, he has successfully litigated numerous actions involving federal and state environmental laws, class action constitutional and land use issues. He has also served as counsel to a large municipality in its negotiations with New York State for a multimillion dollar grant and regularly represents clients in trust and estates litigation and administration matters. Thomas completed advanced commercial mediation training and is an active member of the Southern District of New York Mediation Panel and the New York State Commercial Division Mediation Panel in New York, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties. He has also been certified as a guardian ad litem by New York State. In addition, Thomas is registered with and has volunteered hundreds of hours to the American Bar Association's Military Pro Bono Project, a nationwide program that connects junior-enlisted servicemembers in need of pro bono legal help with volunteer attorneys throughout the nation. He is a 2015 recipient of the ABA Military Pro Bono Project Outstanding Services Award. After graduating from the State University of New York at Binghamton and St. John's University School of Law, where he was Associate Notes and Comments Editor of St. John's Journal of Legal Commentary, Thomas began his legal career with the Washington, D.C. based firm of Beveridge & Diamond. His publications include, as coauthor, "Contractual Protection: An Existing Remedy for Bondholder Distress." 4 St. John's Journal of Legal Commentary 2. He lectures on environmental lender liability and has served on the Long Island Sound Nonpoint Source Pollution Committee.

For much of the past decade, Jeff has been recognized annually by his peers as a New York “Super Lawyer” (one of the Top 25 in Westchester County), and selected as one of US News & World Report’s “Best Lawyers in America” in the area of commercial litigation. He has also been named a lifetime member of “Elite Lawyers in America,” “The Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum,” and “Top Trial Lawyers in America.” He is a Fellow in the prestigious Litigation Counsel of America, and a member of the venerable American Bar Association Foundation. Jeff’s versatility with a wide array of subject matters has led to his handling of many high profile, difficult cases. Among other matters, Jeff successfully led the defense in federal court of a boat-builder wrongfully implicated in the “Ethan Allen” tragedy on Lake George in which twenty persons perished, winning summary judgment on the client’s behalf; prosecuted a $4.5 million jury verdict in Columbia County against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI); argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court the landmark consumer fraud class action, Lee v. Basic Research, which resulted in a unanimous, 9-0 opinion overturning the lower courts’ decisions denying class certification; and argued before the Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court the precedent setting case of Tyler v. Michaels which declared unlawful the collection of personal identifying information in connection with retail credit card transactions. Jeff’s reputation for excellent results and dogged preparation, make him a formidable adversary, regardless of which side of the aisle any particular dispute may place him. Jeff is no stranger to the Courtroom, and has successfully tried to verdict a diverse number of matters, including securing a defense verdict for Madison Square Garden and Amtrak in a federal jury trial in the Eastern District of New York; winning a multi-million dollar jury award in a state court breach of contract action in White Plains; prevailing in a nine month real estate fraud arbitration in New York City in which he recovered a multi-million dollar judgment; and securing on the eve of jury selection tens of millions of dollars for clients with catastrophic losses. Jeff’s experience in the sports, media and entertainment industries has also allowed for his successful handling of a variety of matters including claims of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, breach of television Executive Production Agreements, royalty disputes, and artist-management conflicts. Jeff has advised television broadcast journalists, senior media executives and executive producers on a wide range of issues concerning non-competes, first amendment rights, and compensation and severance disputes. Jeff led the successful prosecution of the wrongful death action of Baltimore Orioles’ pitcher Steve Bechler, helped extricate former light heavyweight World Champion boxer Reggie Johnson from an onerous promoter’s contract, and counseled the Estate of Tito Puente, the Latin Salsa King, in a misappropriation of name and likeness litigation. Jeff also spearheaded the successful prosecution of the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) multimillion dollar breach of contract action against a sponsor of the US Open, as well as defended the USTA against a claim of disability discrimination which he successfully had dismissed, and successfully represented Heineken in a breach of contract action arising from a marketing services agreement. Jeff regularly counsels media and entertainment clients in contract negotiations, severance disputes, and intellectual property matters. Jeff’s skill with complex litigation has also helped the Firm to develop significant experience handling a diverse array of maritime and admiralty matters. Jeff has successfully defended boat builders, marinas, charter vessels, stevedores and other marine interests in both federal and state litigations throughout the Country. Among other successful outcomes, Jeff defended a marine terminal operator in a federal wrongful death action in Portland, Maine; represented a luxury yacht manufacturer in a premises liability action in federal court in New Jersey; defended a Manhattan sight-seeing tour operator against a personal injury claim; and handled a Society of Maritime Arbitrators (SMA) arbitration concerning the scope of a contractual indemnity between a terminal operator and a multinational transport company. The Firm’s experience includes handling claims arising under the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as well as prosecuting exoneration from and limitation of liability actions. Jeff is a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, a graduate of Columbia Law School and began his career as a litigator at Cravath Swaine & Moore. He lives in West Harrison, New York, with his wife Lauren, a pediatrician, and their two children, one of whom works in New York City and the other who is attending college.

Karl joined the Firm in 2004. He has published articles and has given numerous ICLE lectures in his short tenure. His areas of expertise include Creditor/Debtor's Rights, Bankruptcy, Guardianships, Foreclosure Law, Civil Litigation, Real Estate/Real Property and out of court workouts. He has extensive experience handling all aspects of debtor/creditor's rights, both in the New Jersey State and Federal Courts. In addition to prosecuting foreclosure cases for both private as well institutional lenders, he has also handled many contested foreclosures for Debtors, which often results in loan modifications and/or forbearance agreements and Deeds in Lieu of foreclosure. Mr. Norgaard effectively and efficiently resolves disputes between the parties with a common sense approach of analyzing the client's legal exposure and rights while always seeking to find an amicable resolution as soon as possible in an effort to curtail needless litigation.

Mr. Bruce’s legal career has focused on criminal litigation. For 37 years, Mr. Bruce worked as Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York. During this time, he was Chief of the Organized Crime and the National Security Divisions of the office and served as Senior Litigation Counsel before retiring in 2016. He has extensive experience in investigations, trials of complex criminal cases, including RICO, tax, mail and wire fraud, false statements, perjury, and narcotics cases in United States District Court, and in appeals to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Over the last 20 years of Mr. Bruce’s career in the United States Attorney’s Office, he served as an Office Evaluator for the Executive Office for the United States Attorney’s Office, participating, as a member of a teams of seasoned Assistant United States Attorneys, in peer evaluations of United States Attorneys’ Offices throughout the United States. In 1998, Mr. Bruce took a temporary assignment as the Resident Legal Advisor in the United States Embassy in Moscow, where he was the liaison between Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training and the Russian Procurator’s Office to set up and run training by U.S. prosecutors and law enforcement agents for their Russian counterparts. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Bruce also handled a complex ethics and misconduct investigation which involved an exhaustive review of two large scale narcotics prosecutions from another U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine if the lead Assistant United States Attorney in those cases had committed any violations of the law, acts of prosecutorial misconduct or ethical violations and prepared a report that was submitted to the Office of Professional Responsibility within the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. For four years prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Bruce worked with the Internal Revenue Service Office of District Counsel. During this time, he acted as in-house counsel to the Buffalo Internal Revenue District on tax examinations, collection matters and in ongoing criminal investigations. He reviewed results of criminal tax investigations to determine if they were factually and legally sufficient to be referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution. He also tried and briefed cases in the United States Tax Court. Since 1996, Mr. Bruce has also been an Adjunct Professor at the SUNY Buffalo School of Law. Since leaving government service, Mr. Bruce has become a member of the Erie County Bar Association Grievance Committee where he has been called on to review allegations of ethical violations by criminal defense attorneys. He has also been an on-air commentator for WGRZ, Channel 2, and WBEN Radio., providing commentary and insight on high-profile federal prosecutions.

Personal injury and criminal law is a complex collection of ever-changing legislation and case law. Many of those injured by a third party's negligence and/or facing allegations of criminal offenses may not understand their rights or how their lives will be impacted. Without the help of a knowledgeable lawyer, your rights could be prejudiced. As an attorney with more than 25 years of experience, I understand the critical nature of staying up-to-date with the changes to state and federal law. As your lawyer, I will uncover the details of your case, answer your questions, and help you build a tough strategy to battle the legal challenges you face. I can also help you navigate your way through New York’s complex legal system. Talk to me first before making any decision that could have legal implications.

Mr. O'Brien received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Walsh University and a Juris Doctor Degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Mr. O' Brien joined Ibold & O'Brien (formerly Petersen & Ibold) upon his admission to the practice of law in 2000. Mr. O'Brien is a member of the Geauga County, Ashtabula County and Ohio State Bar Associations. Mr. O'Brien practices in the areas of general litigation, criminal law, personal injury, real estate, business law, estate planning, probate and collections among others.

Jason focuses his practice on complex civil litigation involving business and real estate matters. In his business litigation practice, Jason has experience representing clients in matters involving the rights and obligations of shareholders, officers and directors, LLC members and managers, business partners, and other business stakeholders, the enforceability of restrictive covenants such as non-compete and confidentiality agreements, the collection of commercial debts, the application of state and federal laws governing consumer protection, unfair competition, trade secrets, copyrights, racketeering activity, and securities fraud, and a wide variety of other contract and business tort disputes. In his real estate litigation practice, Jason has experience representing clients in matters involving construction disputes (including owners, developers, design professionals, contractors and suppliers), commercial and residential landlord-tenant disputes, commercial and residential foreclosures, the enforceability of purchase-sale agreements, broker/agent entitlement to commissions, broker/agent duties and disclosure obligations, compliance with architectural / structural requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), condominium and homeowners association governance, equitable lien rights, title disputes, mortgage fraud, insurance claims and a range of other real estate related contract and tort issues. Jason also has experience representing clients in other civil litigation areas such as labor and employment disputes (including discrimination, wrongful termination and wage/hour claims), trust and estate disputes (including the duties of a trustee and matters of fraud or undue influence), and professional liability disputes (including malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty claims involving lawyers, accountants, real estate brokers/agents, insurance brokers/agents, design professionals such as architects and engineers, and healthcare providers such as hospitals and physicians). Jason is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). The CFE credential is conferred by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the world’s largest anti-fraud organization and provider of anti-fraud training and education. The mission of the ACFE is to reduce the incidence of fraud and white-collar crime and to assist ACFE membership in fraud detection and deterrence. Jason was born in Abington, Pennsylvania in 1982. He received a merit-based Founders Scholarship to attend Tulane University and graduated cum laude in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in both Business Management and Legal Studies in Business. Jason then earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law, graduating cum laude in 2007. During law school, Jason was selected to become a member of the Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board and later served as a Moot Court Board Vice President administering the 2006 Negotiation Competition. In addition, he won the Fall 2005 Advanced Moot Court Competition and was a finalist in a 2006 American Bar Association Regional Negotiation Competition. Jason is involved in a variety of local organizations including as a Board Member of the B’nai B’rith Justice Unit # 5207, a member of the Broward County Bar Association, and a member of the Tulane Alumni Club of South Florida.