Class Action

Tony has over 28 years of litigation experience in state and federal courts across the United States and has handled or managed thousands of cases under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Tony is a graduate of the University of Georgia where he received his undergraduate degree in political science and was inducted into the Pi Sigma Alpha political science honor society. During his tenure at UGA, Tony worked as an intern in the Governor’s Honor Program assisting with the prosecution of criminal cases in the Conasauga Circuit District Attorney’s office. After graduating from UGA, Tony attended law school at the Georgia State College of Law in Atlanta. During law school, Tony was an Associate Notes and Comments Editor on the Law Review and a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for Research, Writing, and Advocacy. He also worked as an intern for the Legal Clinic for the Homeless around the time of the Atlanta Olympics to survey the treatment of Atlanta’s homeless population leading up to the Olympic events. After graduating from law school in 1993, Tony worked as a litigation attorney for several Atlanta law firms in the areas of personal injury, products liability, and general litigation. His work included representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases and, subsequently, representing defendants through his insurance defense practice. Tony subsequently began his two decades long career in the field of consumer litigation, including representing a number of Fortune 500 clients and a national consumer reporting agency in individual and class action claims arising under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and other consumer protection statutes. Tony has been continuously rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell for over 17 years.

Squitieri & Fearon, LLP has been recognized by courts throughout the country for its high-quality and professional experience handling complex lawsuits, particularly in the fields of securities, ERISA, wage and hour, mass torts, shareholder derivative actions and antitrust claims.

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.

Peter A. Romero has practiced exclusively in the area of employment law for 16 years. Mr. Romero regularly represents both employers and employees in workplace litigation, including trial and appellate practice, administrative proceedings before the Department of Labor, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and New York State Division of Human Rights. He is highly experienced in complex litigation, including collective and class action lawsuits.

I grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, the younger brother of two sisters and the son of immigrants. My mom was born in Germany and my dad was a Gottscheer. Gottschee was once a settlement of Austrians in what's now Slovenia; a settlement of German speakers that existed for about 600 years until 1941 ​ I started my legal career working as a law clerk for the Hon. Judge Harry Hanna and the Hon. Judge Leo Spellacy and visiting Judges assigned to preside over civil Jury Trials. During my time with the Court, I gained valuable experience observing lawyers handling Trials and insight in how Judges preside over Trials. As a law clerk, I assisted Judges with legal issues arose during those Trials. ​ After working for the Court, I practiced law for more than 18 years with a large regional defense firm representing insurance companies and insureds in a wide-variety of civil lawsuits including cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, mass tort, retail and hospitality, trucking and commercial transportation, commercial litigation, creditor's rights, and condominium law. ​ A few years ago, I had an opportunity to represent a woman who suffered a wrist injury and a unique, but serious condition when an airbag caused abrasions on her neck and face. Over-the-counter medications used to treat the abrasions caused my client to develop an allergy to propylene glycol. When I first got involved, the insurance company for the individual who caused that accident offered a mere $5,000 and denied that her condition was related to the accident. After working on the case, I obtained a significant six figure settlement. I gained a satisfaction that made me realize I wanted to represent individuals and families.

I have proudly focused my law practice on helping consumers who are harassed or sued by abusive debt collectors.

Representation of parties in civil litigation in Philadelphia and surrounding counties and Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Pa. and before the American Arbitration Association; litigation of contract disputes including actions in the Supreme Court of New York, Manhattan and Montgomery County, Md. (admitted pro hac vice); construction arbitration; employment contract arbitration; class action consumer litigation; private mediation of contract disputes. Representation of plaintiffs in legal malpractice and accountant malpractice actions; expert witness in legal malpractice actions. All aspects of real estate practice including agreements of sale, mortgage financing, condominiums; cooperatives; leasing; sale-leasebacks; partnerships; limited liability companies; land development; land planning; easements; secured transactions; title insurance issues; cemetery law; served as Chairman of Abington Township (PA) Planning Commission. General corporate practice, including acquisitions and mergers; employment agreements; corporate documentation.

Attorney Keith Belt is an experienced trial lawyer who prides himself on quality client representation and maximizing his client’s financial recovery. Mr. Belt has more than 57 verdicts and settlements of $1 million or more to his credit. Mr. Belt has won jury verdicts in almost every conceivable kind of case including personal injury, products liability, outrageous conduct, environmental contamination, uninsured motorist, workplace accident, medical malpractice, business fraud, and breach of contract.

You are most likely suffering physically, emotionally, and financially. At the Odum Law Firm, we understand what you’re going through and we want to help you. We understand that your disability situation is unique and deserves to be treated as such. While Social Security Disability law is a large portion of our practice, we can help you with a wide variety of disability legal needs including Workers’ Compensation, Long-Term Disability, Arkansas Retirement Systems Disability, and Veterans' Disability. Your case will be handled with sensitivity, respect, and timeliness. Call us today to schedule a free consultation. We are happy to talk with you and provide you with an honest assessment of your case. Kevin Odum graduated from McNeese State University with a B.A. in Pre-Law in 1990. He received his Juris Doctor in 1993 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Since then, he has handled personal injury cases, which include auto accidents, medical malpractice, and products liability. He has also worked on hundreds of social security and workers' compensation cases from initial claim filing to the conclusion. In 2014, Kevin was voted Attorney of the Year by the VOCALS program with the Pulaski County Bar Association. He was also voted a Finalist in the Best of the Best-Attorney category by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2011.