Areas of Practice

APPELLATE LAW

Mr. Reder served as an attorney for the Florida Supreme Court for seven years. When Justice Boyd was the Chief Justice during 1984-86, Mr. Reder served as his liaison with The Florida Bar, the Circuit Court Judges' Conference, the Florida Legislature, the Governor's Office, the Office of the State Court Administrator, the newly credited Judicial Council and various other committees and councils concerning Florida's judiciary. Mr. Reder also played an instrumental role computerizing the court system.

He has successfully represented many clients in Florida's appellate courts. He represented Thomas Miller in the infamous "stop sign" case, in which he succeeded in getting a reversal of three manslaughter convictions. He is one of the contributing authors to The Supreme Court of Florida and Its Predecessor Courts, 1821-1917, and one of the principal founders of the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society. He is a charter member of The Florida Bars Appellate Law Committee. He is presently a member of Appellate Rules Committee and is serving as chairman of the Amicus Curiae Subcommittee.

BUSINESS LAW

Mr. Reder has long been interested in the special problems confronted by businesses and represents many firms, locally and nationally. He has experience in negotiating and drafting contracts, forming corporations, collecting accounts and litigating cases. Mr. Reder has recently written an updated revision of Chapter 9 of the The Florida Bar's Small Business Practice Manual, entitled "Ownership Management and Control of Corporations."

His involvement with numerous community organizations exhibits his concern for local business owners and managers. Through his active participation, Mr. Reder serves both publicly and privately to contribute to the stability and healthy growth of the business community. He serves as legal counsel for Crime Stoppers of West Florida, Inc. and the Lynn Sowers Memorial Foundation, Inc. Both are nonprofit organizations working to reduce crime and assist needy families of law enforcement officials. Mr. Reder is past Chairman of the Northwest Area Council of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and had served on the Board of Governors of the Tampa Chamber. He was chairman of the Water Management Task Force. He served as a director for the Carrollwood Area Business Association and is currently on the Board of Directors and vice president of the Carrollwood Community Bar Association.

REAL PROPERTY LAW

While working for the Florida Supreme Court, Mr. Reder gained valuable experience concerning various aspects of real property law; particularly title insurers' liability, brokers' commissions, seller misrepresentations, and adverse possession. He has experience in real property law, drafting contracts, litigating cases and conducting real estate closings. He represents several homeowners' associations in the area. As a member of the Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund, Mr. Reder has access to legal and research sources to assist him in answering the most complicated legal problems and can issue title insurance policies.

Mr. Reder is currently under contract as an expert consultant with the Florida Department of Transportation concerning easement and road access issues.

PROBATE LAW

Mr. Reder has experience in probating estates and probate litigation. He counsels clients on estate planning and drafts wills and trusts to help them avoid probate costs.

Areas of Practice

Appeal of Nonfinal Orders Determining Possession

News

The main focus of my practice is now in foreclosure defense. I spend hours a day keeping up with developments throughout the state. The Florida Supreme Court has recently amended the Rules of Civil Procedure which now require that foreclosure complaints be verified. It has also recently ordered the chief judges of the judicial circuits to implement a mandatory mediation program. Hillsborough County has not implemented one yet.

In the Hartshorn case, I filed the initial brief arguing there is not time limit for seeking to set aside a summary judgment of foreclosure where the matter had been pursued by the wtrong entity. If we win, then all the mortgage foreclosure actions completed by Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) in the last several years are subject to being set aside.

Recently I was successful in defeating two attempts to obtain summary judgments of foreclosure. In one Judge Williams found there were disputed factual issues as to whether the plaintiff received delivery of a promissory note endorsed in blank before the filing of the lawsuit and whether MERS had the authority to assign its interest in the mortgage. She scheduled the matter for final hearing the week of June 14.

In the second case, Judge Cobb sitting in for Judge Bray also found there disputed issues of fact as to whether the promissory note was delivered and the mortgage assigned to the plaintiff before the suit was filed.