Banking & Finance

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.

Mr. Vowell is an accomplished lawyer that has extensive legal experience in Family and Criminal matters. He is currently an attorney at Taylor Law Partners in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In addition to his legal experience, he is active in several different associations including the Arkansas Bar Association, American Bar Association, Carroll County Bar Association, and the Washington County Bar Association. Mr. Vowell graduated from the University of Arkansas with a J.D. degree in 1975, and admitted to the Arkansas state bar also in 1975. In addition to his legal degree, Mr. Vowell also graduated with a bachelors degree from the University of Arkansas in 1972. Stevan Vowell, JD is an expert in Civil Litigation; Criminal Defense (Federal and State); Divorce; Family Law; Domestic Relations; and Personal Injury.

Andrei Armas is a founding partner of Armas & Joseph. Mr. Armas specializes in consumer protection, including banking, credit, debt collection, and deceptive business practices. Over the last 10 years, Mr. Armas has successfully litigated and fought for consumers' rights involving identity theft, unauthorized transactions, debt collection and credit reporting. Mr. Armas has also successfully represented consumers with misrepresented services and goods, including through class action litigation.

With experience serving the public as an Assistant District Attorney, prosecuting minor traffic infractions and serious felony offenses, as public defender, providing legal representation to defendants with respect to both misdemeanor and felony accusations, as attorney for both petitioners, respondents, as well as an attorney for the child(ren), in Family Court and before local child and spousal support magistrates, and as a civil attorney representing clients in various forms of civil litigation, I am proud to announce that I have established my own office in Monticello, New York, dedicated to providing quality legal representation to the community I have been serving since 2006. Whether you are facing a traffic infraction, a criminal charge, or another legal issue, I am committed to providing you with quality representation that is accessible to you, especially in these times of economic difficulty. Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation and to discuss your legal needs.

Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC, is a full-service law firm in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, founded by the late William E. Boston and W.A. (Bud) Harwell in 1948. We have been serving Middle Tennessee and northern Alabama for over 70 years, and are recognized as an AV Preeminent-rated* law firm by Martindale-Hubbell. Because we have such a highly diversified practice, our attorneys regularly handle cases ranging from routine matters in general sessions courts to complex litigation in the state and federal courts. At bhd, we strive to get to know you so that we can tailor our approach to your specific needs. Our size makes us much more accessible than many larger firms and ensures your case always receives the attention it deserves.

Martin Garbus has a diverse practice that consists of individuals and companies involved in politics, media, entertainment, and the arts. His courtroom skills have earned him a distinguished reputation as a trial lawyer. Mr. Garbus is experienced in every aspect of litigation and trial, from jury selection to cross-examination to summation. He has argued cases throughout the country involving constitutional, criminal, copyright, and intellectual property law. He has appeared before the United States Supreme Court, as well as trial and appellate courts throughout the United States. He has argued and written briefs that have been submitted to the United States Supreme Court; a number of which have resulted in changes in the law on a nationwide basis, including one described by Justice William Brennan as "probably the most important due process case in the Twentieth Century." An international observer in foreign elections, he was selected by President Jimmy Carter to observe and report on the elections in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Mr. Garbus also participated in drafting several constitutions and foreign laws, including the Czechoslovak constitution. He also has been involved in prisoner exchange negotiations between governments. He is the author of six books and over 30 articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. Mr. Garbus is featured in Shouting Fire, an award-winning documentary film about his life and career. He received the Fulbright Award for his work on International Human Rights in 2010. In 2014, University College Dublin's' Literary and Historical Society honored Mr. Garbus with the James Joyce Award for Excellence in Law, which is also the same year Trinity College awarded him for his human rights and free speech work. Mr. Garbus has also taught trial practice at Yale Law School and Constitutional law at Columbia. He has also taught classes in Beijing, China, and Prague, Czech Republic. He has lived and practiced in China and Italy as well as the United States. He authored six books and numerous articles that have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and numerous legal publications. Mr. Garbus has given hundreds of speeches on various aspects of law before Bar Associations, corporations, law schools, and on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and other television and radio networks. Martin Garbus’ devotion to ethics, justice, free speech, and the law has garnered enormous respect within the legal community, commercial and corporate sectors, and beyond. His numerous honors include designation in Who’s Who in America, a Profile in the New York Times, inclusion in Who’s Who in Best Lawyers in America, awards from his law school and college, and praise from his numerous high-profile clients.

James “Jim” B. Goldberg received his Juris Doctorate in 1999 from the John Marshall Law School. He also received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Secondary Education from DePaul University. Prior to attending Law School, James was a High School teacher in the Chicago Public School System. James is a Lecturer at the Illinois Emergency Nurse Association (IENA) and Adjunct Lecturer at Capital Area School of Nursing (Springfield).

Carol Sales concentrates her practice in bankruptcy, insolvency matters, and commercial litigation. She has approximately 20 years of experience representing a wide variety of clients in all stages of litigation. Carol has also represented debtors, creditors, and parties in interest in numerous Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcy cases for individuals and businesses. She takes a personalized approach to counseling clients to achieve their goals in a cost-effective manner. Carol has been recognized as a Law Bulletin Media Leading Lawyer from 2021 to the present and Emerging Lawyer from 2018 to 2020 in the practices of Bankruptcy/Workouts and Business Litigation across the Chicagoland area. She co-authored the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s (IICLE) chapters on the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019; Representing Clients in Bankruptcy Cases; Chapter 11 Cases for Individuals and Small Business Debtors; Mechanics Liens in Bankruptcy; and Filing a Chapter 7 Petition and Exemptions. She obtained her J.D. cum laude from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. During law school, Carol was a lead articles editor for the John Marshall Law Review and a Distinguished Scholar Award recipient. She worked as an extern in the Circuit Court of Cook County for various judges hearing foreclosure cases and received an LL.M. in real estate law, with honors. Carol has been recognized as a 2026 honoree for Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers® List. This is Attorney Sale’s third year receiving this honor. She also was selected as a honoree for Crain’s Chicago Business 2024 Notable Women of Law.

Anastas Shkurti brings two decades of experience negotiating and closing complex transactions, including commercial loan documentation, loan modifications, forbearance agreements, asset-based lending, intercreditor agreements, workouts, corporate mergers and acquisitions, asset and stock buys and sales, factoring, equipment leases and sales, franchise agreements, IT service agreements, master agreements, employment agreements, and organizing new businesses. Anastas also possesses unique insight in all aspects of commercial real estate construction, bidding, development, land use, leasing, management, rezoning, and municipal law. His litigation experience focuses on complex data analysis, damage calculations, forecasts, modeling, projections, and expert witness preparation. By offering in-house services to several national companies, Anastas has developed a broad perspective for evaluating legal consequences of all aspects of business operations. Anastas also leverages his research and technological background to offer clients cost efficient legal services of uncompromising quality.

Robert E. Harig is an accomplished transactional attorney with extensive experience in general corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions, secured lending and commercial real estate. Bob has represented and advised many businesses in a variety of ways, including organizing new business ventures; structuring, negotiating and closing merger and acquisition transactions; advising clients on buy-sell agreements; and developing equipment purchase, distribution and supply agreements. Bob also has significant experience in representing banks and financial institutions on commercial loan transactions. He has successfully structured, negotiated and closed a substantial number of lending transactions, including revolving and term loan credit facilities, real estate mortgage loans, construction loans and asset-based loans. He has advised banks on restructuring and workout transactions and he counsels lenders on UCC, collateralization and other matters pertinent to their loan structures. In addition, Bob also has extensive experience in all kinds of commercial real estate transactions, including purchases, sales and leases. He has negotiated and drafted commercial real estate purchase agreements and ancillary agreements with respect to single and multi-tenant properties. He represents commercial landlords in the drafting and negotiation of office, industrial, and retail leases, including complex provisions related to tenant improvements, landlord work, rights of first offer and term extensions. Bob’s background in public accounting (CPA, 1992) adds value to his clients. Bob is also co-founder and president of Rosewood Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation which helps schools educate children with special needs.