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.

Nhan Nguyen, MD, JD, MSF has been serving injured clients for over 13 years. With extensive knowledge of both law, medicine and business finance, lead attorney, Nhan H. Nguyen, MD, JD, MSF has the skill and experience to help clients navigate the complex areas of personal injury and insurance claims to help maximize damages in recovery - he has done this successfully for hundreds of clients for millions of dollars in settlement. A Vietnamese refugee immigrant from the Vietnam War, Dr. Nguyen grew up in Houston, Texas for the majority of his life and is an active contributor to the local community and youth. He volunteers as a coach for youth athletics and serves on many school and community volunteer boards and committees. With a work and professional philosophy blending eastern and western cultures, Dr. Nguyen aggressively pursues justice in a unique and compassionate way.

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.

Attorney Frank Cimler is a Cum Laude graduate of the University of Maryland where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and where he was a member of the Dean’s List, the President’s List and the honorary society of Alpha Sigma Lamda; he received his Juris Doctor degree from the New England School of Law where he was a member of the Dean’s List and the Honor’s Moot Court team and where he was selected to be included in “Who’s Who of American Law Students”. Attorney Cimler also obtained an LLM degree, an advanced law degree, in Banking Law and Finance from the Morin Center for Banking Law Studies at Boston University School of Law. Among other courses, Mr. Cimler has taught entertainment law at the Massachusetts School of Law and The New England School of Law; and he has been a guest lecturer at Northeastern University and a guest lecturer at Western New England School of Law. Mr. Cimler has also appeared on various legal panels in Boston, Los Angeles and New York. Mr. Cimler began his legal career as in-house corporate counsel to Fortune 500 NYSE companies such as Compugraphic Corporation (Agfa) the world’s largest digital typesetting company and then later with Prime Computer a Massachusetts based producer of mini-computers, which later acquired Computervision Corporation in 1988, creating the 2nd largest producer of computers known as CAD/CAM systems. Attorney Cimler was later appointed assistant secretary at Computervision Corporation. Mr. Cimler has extensive blue-chip legal experience in high technology, information technology and the entertainment industry among other practice areas. His client's have ranged from Fortune 500 Companies to the television show The Bold and The Beautiful, the #1 soap opera in the world, to President Barack Obama’s inaugural poet Richard Blanco, to David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, to Eric Williams of the Boston Celtics, to male and female models, to various members of multi-platinum rock bands e.g. Aerosmith, the J. Geils Band, The Cars, Godsmack, Motley Crue, Poison, Extreme, The Rascals, Meatloaf, The Outlaws and actors and actresses and Grammy award winning producers for artists such as Celine Dion and many, many others. Mr. Cimler has also managed artists such as the band, The Cars and Reeve Carney (star of Spiderman-The Broadway play, Showtime’s ‘Penny Dreadful’ and the Rocky Horror Picture Show). Mr. Cimler has also represented clients in the gaming world, which has led to products such as: GI Joe, Boggle and the Rolling Stones’ Voodoo Lounge, among others. In cooperation with Sir Bob Geldof, Mr. Cimler was instrumental in work which led to the 20th Anniversary Live Aid DVD, and the 2005 Live 8 concert in Barre, Ontario. In response to the Boston Marathon Bombings of 2013, Mr. Cimler was enlisted to be the TV Broadcast Producer and rights clearance attorney for The Boston Strong Concert telecast on ABC/WHEB. The concert featured dozen of artists, athletes, celebrities and comedians including Aerosmith, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, Carole King, New Kids on the Block, the band Boston, Extreme, The Dropkick Murphy’s, Boyz to Men, Bel Biv Devoe, country sensation Jason Aldean, the J. Geils Band, Dane Cook, Lenny Clark, Steven Wright and Poet Richard Blanco, and many, many others. The concert and telecast were conceived to raise money for the One Fund Boston, the charity created to assist and benefit the victims of the horrible Boston Marathon Bombings. Mr. Cimler was engaged by Live Nation, the nation’s largest concert promoter, to oversee the television broadcast including all of the legal requirements such as synchronized music licensing, composition clearances, artist appearances and related matters. That work led to an unprecedented 4 hour commercial free concert telethon telecast all to raise funds for the One Fund Boston. The Boston Strong Concert was the largest contributor to the One Fund and was instrumental in helping to raise $66 million dollars in 100 days. Mr. Cimler has also been a consultant to, and officer of, various publicly traded and private entities such as a fresh salsa company, record labels, publishing companies, music video broadcasters, digital encryption technology companies, adaptive finger print technology companies and celebrity rights management companies. Mr. Cimler is also a co-founder of the Rockin’ & Roastin’ Coffee company, along with Joey Kramer, the drummer from the band Aerosmith. Mr. Cimler is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the New York based Foundation for Gender Equality http://www.foundationforgenderequality.org/executive-committee/and and the Rockin’ & Roastin’ Coffee company. http://www.rockinandroastin.com/ Mr. Cimler is the founder of the firm Cimler Law, PLLC, a New England based law firm. Previously, Mr. Cimler was associated with the prestigious Boston based law firm of Choate Hall and Stewart and prior to that with the largest law firm in the State of New Hampshire, McLane- Middleton based in Manchester, NH.

With over four and a half decades of practicing law, Attorney Brian J. Woolf, Esq. brings a wealth of legal knowledge and vast experience to his practice, having advocated for countless defendants in criminal proceedings and assisted many individuals in securing compensation for significant and life-altering injuries. Brian offers comprehensive legal services across a broad spectrum of areas including criminal defense matters. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Brian moved on to complete his undergraduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, in 1972. He then furthered his education at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a master's degree in 1974, and achieved his law degree with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1977. Throughout his distinguished career, Attorney Woolf has been acknowledged for his professionalism and dedication to the field of law. His accolades include being named a Top Attorney in North America and receiving the Outstanding Service to the Criminal Defense Bar Award from the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He actively participates in several key legal organizations, such as the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Connecticut Bar Association. Attorney Woolf's dedication to both the legal field and his clients is reflected in his continued commitment to justice and excellence in every aspect of his career and community contributions.

Ms. El Fadel is a Junior Partner with KS Attorneys at law and currently heads up our Firm’s business development, business structuring, business funding and commercial civil trial departments. As such, Ms. El Fadel is experienced in most all areas of commercial business development, commercial civil trial and appellate representation and is licensed to practice in the Federal and State Courts of Florida and the State Courts of New Jersey. Ms. El Fadel’s educational accolades range from graduating summa cum laude from the Shepard Board Law School at Nova Southeastern University to serving as the past Notes and Comments Editor for the Nova Law Review, to serving as the Chairperson for Problem Research and Development committee for the law schools moot court program. Upon entering into the practice of law with our Firm, Ms. El Fadel quickly distinguished herself as a respected and tenacious trial advocate for our clients and most recently is noted for overturning a local government ordinance through her thorough and effective constitutional law representation of one of our Firm’s clients. Accordingly, Ms. El Fadel’s primary focuses of practice are business representation, complex commercial trial, mediation and arbitration, corporate finance and structuring, corporate funding and banking, finance, corporate disputes, employment discrimination, real property litigation and insurance disputes, medical office operations, policies and organization, medical collections and insurance billing disputes, medical PIP claims and litigation, foreclosure defense and pre-bankruptcy planning as asset structuring, family law, divorce and pre and post estate litigation. On her personal time Ms. El Fadel enjoy spending time with her family, reading the latest bestselling novels and participating in community events and hot yoga. Ms. El Fadel is licensed to practice law in the States of Florida and New Jersey in addition to being a licensed attorney to practice before the Federal Courts of the Middle and Southern District Courts in Florida.

Fred Bauman is a leading Corporate, Mining and Probate attorney. A Harvard Law School graduate, Mr. Bauman has been based in Las Vegas, Nevada since 2003. His clients include over 100 public and private companies of varying degrees of scale and maturity. Prior to forming Bauman & Associates, Mr. Bauman was Vice President and General Counsel of Sunterra, an international public resort company headquartered in Las Vegas (2003-2008). He was a Corporate Partner at Brown & Bain, a large Phoenix-based law firm with a high tech legal practice. Mr. Bauman joined Bell Atlantic (now named Verizon) in the 1980’s as a corporate attorney, then served as general counsel of Bell Atlantic’s computer business and, later, its financial services business. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he worked on Wall Street for six years, starting his legal career at Davis Polk, a large Wall Street law firm in New York City. FRED BAUMAN, LAS VEGAS MINING ATTORNEY Mr. Bauman is one of Las Vegas’ best known mining attorneys, and this expertise derives from his family mining business, which has owned mines in Arizona and Nevada for many years. He is highly knowledgeable concerning the legal needs of small mining companies. This has enabled Mr. Bauman to assist similar size companies in other industries. FREDERICK C BAUMAN, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA CORPORATE ATTORNEY Specific corporate and securities transaction types include mergers, acquisitions, corporate governance, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate secretarial, workouts, bankruptcies, litigation management, regulatory, consumer legal, real estate, intellectual property and employment laws. NEVADA – LEADING STATE FOR INCORPORATION Many of our clients are incorporated or organized in Nevada, which has become a favorite choice for business formation. We are a commercial registered agent, registered with the Nevada Secretary of State, and act as registered agent for a number of clients. FREDERICK C BAUMAN, NEVADA MINING ATTORNEY Nevada is the preeminent gold mining state. Nevada is also rich in lithium, which is key to green energy. Clients include companies active in both lithium and gold..

Dr. Kasraie is a founding member of Kasraie & Fodor, LLC. He has well over 30 years of legal and executive business experience in several industries, including banking, finance, energy, real estate, manufacturing, recycling, IT, and pharmaceuticals. He has resolved legal, financial, corporate, and political issues in the UAE, U.K., France, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Italy, Russia, Romania, Turkey, Poland, Republic of Georgia, Egypt, Morocco, Kuwait, India, Pakistan, Peoples' Republic of China, Taiwan, Canada, etc. He holds several degrees, including J.D. and Ph.D. in engineering. In the late nineties, Dr. Kasraie co-founded the law firm of Marchman & Kasraie, LLC. The firm was active in corporate and security law, international law, and family law. He was a managing member of the law firm. In 2012, he co-founded the law firm of Kasraie & Fodor, LLC with similar activities. In addition, Dr. Kasraie has been the Financial and Economic Advisor to City Governments in the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 1998.

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.