Mark Romance

Practice Areas

Mark Romance, a seasoned trial and appellate attorney, represents diverse clients in complex civil litigation. Mark has extensive experience representing clients in cases involving multimillion-dollar claims in high-stakes litigation on behalf of high-net-worth individuals, corporations and fiduciaries. He has obtained numerous judgments for clients in complex litigation cases, including trial and pre-trial victories in arbitration and state and federal trial and appellate courts. Mark also serves as co-chair of the firm’s Fiduciary and Probate Litigation practice.

Mark has handled a diverse range of litigation matters. For example, he has successfully defended companies in product liability and consumer matters, including against class claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), He has tried cases to verdict in fraud, intellectual property, real estate, employment, non-compete and theft of trade secret claims.

In addition, Mark handles sophisticated estate and trust litigation in Florida, including representation of competing beneficiaries in will and trust disputes, personal representatives, trustees and curators in involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, protecting an estate during will and trust disputes and disputes over admission of wills and nomination of competing putative personal representatives.

Admitted in these jurisdictions and courts:

- State of Florida

- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida

- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

- U.S. Supreme Court

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association, Litigation Section, Pretrial Practice and Discovery Committee, Co-Chair; Commercial and Business Litigation Committee, Former Co-Chair

International Trademark Association (INTA), Leadership Committee

Florida’s Eleventh Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, Former Chair

The Florida Bar, Young Lawyers Division, Board of Governors, Former President; Board of Governors; Civil Procedure Rules Committee, Former Chair

Florida Supreme Court Professionalism Commission, Former Member

Dade County Bar Association, Young Lawyers Section, Board of Directors, Former Member

Publications

Co-author, "Tradition vs. Technology: Original Paper Wills Are Still Required," Daily Business Review, November 7, 2024

Co-author, "Tips for Navigating First-Time Trial Preparation," ABA Litigation Section Newsletter, October 18, 2024

Co-author, "Texas Ruling Puts Future of FTC Noncompete Rule in Doubt," Day Pitney Alert, July 10, 2024

Author, "FTC's New Rule Usurps Florida's Public Policy on Noncompete Agreements," Daily Business Review, May 14, 2024

Author, "Five Tips About Local Counsel Handling Out-of-State Cases," ABA Litigation Section Newsletter, April 30, 2024

Experience

Successfully obtained dismissal of class action claims filed in the Northern District of California, where plaintiffs sought to hold client liable for calls and messages allegedly delivered by its independent realtor customers in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and sought over $250 million in damages for more than 150,000 potential class members after securing order denying plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification after more than two years of litigation

Served as lead trial counsel in Miami federal court trademark infringement case where a mass market manufacturer of makeup sold exclusively at Walmart and the manufacturer's online store, sued our client, a high-end international manufacturer of cosmetics products sold in exclusive beauty stores and upscale department stores, for trademark infringement seeking over $7 million in damages representing disgorgement of profits; successfully secured a defense verdict after a non-jury trial and represented client in the affirmance on appeal

Served as trial counsel for Fortune 100 product manufacturer in Massachusetts state court in wrongful death lawsuit alleging product liability claims, where jury returned a verdict for client after a four-week trial; similarly, defended same Fortune 100 company in numerous asbestos product liability claims filed throughout Florida’s state courts

Represented international insurance brokerage firm in multi-day non-jury injunction hearing in defense of claims of violation of non-compete agreements by 25 individuals hired from a competitor

Retained by Ohio-based bank to prosecute 65 complicated residential foreclosure cases in four counties in Florida, involving mortgages the bank acquired from original lenders through the FDIC and involving numerous procedural defenses in order to ensure judgments were obtained with clear title; took over the cases from prior counsel and obtained final judgments of foreclosure through summary judgment or non-jury trial and handled the sale

Defended a Fortune 100 company in defense of numerous product liability claims filed throughout Florida’s state courts arising out of use of client’s safety products during alleged exposure to asbestos

Defended a Fortune 100 Company in a significant product liability lawsuit, where a condominium building in Miami Beach, Florida, was constructed using a fire safety product that allegedly caused leaks in the building’s fire sprinkler system and the condominium association sought damages to replace the entire fire sprinkler system and for costs associated with repairs previously made to the building

Defended seven former employees of international investment firm against claims of misappropriation of trade secret, breach of non-solicitation agreements and breach of fiduciary duty; served as co-counsel in temporary injunction hearing held in local court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where court denied firm’s request for a temporary injunction, and ultimately settled similar claims in FINRA arbitration proceeding for nuisance value; Successfully represented more than one hundred other financial advisors in separate cases with respect to alleged violations of non-compete, non-solicitation and trade secret violations with alleged damages in the multimillion dollar range; resolved some cases before lawsuits were filed, while others involved defending claims seeking injunctions and monetary damages in court and arbitration proceedings

Represented plaintiff in a claim for breach of an employment contract, where the client entered into an employment agreement where a portion of her compensation was based on the net profits on the sale of any portion of a 19-acre multitract parcel of land in Miami; Employer subsequently transferred title to 11 of the 19 acres to a developer in a joint venture and claimed no sale occurred and there were no net profits; court in a non-jury trial entered judgment in favor of employee finding that the transaction was a sale and that the sale resulted in $1.6 million in profits, as well as awarding the employee her attorney fees and costs

Defended trustee owner of property against claims arising out of an alleged promise to sell a 120-acre tract of land, where claimant tried to block trustee’s sale to another purchaser, alleging specific performance, breach of contract, fraud and civil RICO; trial court granted summary judgment for trustee on all counts, affirmed on appeal, and determined that the lawsuit was filed in bad faith, awarding trustee his attorney fees

Represented the owner of undeveloped oceanfront property in Juno Beach, Florida, in defense of a claim of specific performance of a real estate contract, where the significant issue was whether the seller waived its right to enforce a "time is of the essence" clause after purchaser failed to pay a required deposit; successfully obtained a verdict in favor of owner after non-jury trial

Represented brother and sister who challenged their father’s last will and testament against step-mother, siblings, and corporate trustee in a will contest involving multiple millions of dollars on grounds that the will was procured by undue influence; settled at mediation on the eve of trial

Represented charity defendant in claim involving an attempt to enforce a lost or destroyed will, where the personal representative located a copy of a subsequent will, which substituted one charity beneficiary for another, that they attempted to enforce by reestablishing a lost instrument under Florida law after the decedent died; after discovery, and on the eve of trial, the case resolved with the charities dividing the bequest

Defended Fortune 100 company in federal court against claims of trademark infringement and violation of the Anti-Cybersquatting Protection Act, arising out of company’s ownership, but not use, of a website domain name that included plaintiff’s trademark; trial court granted summary judgment in favor of company holding that company did not use the trademark in commerce, there was no likelihood of confusion and that the claims were barred by laches, and the judgment was affirmed on appeal

Represented a technology company in state court to prosecute claims for specific performance of an internet marketing agreement, breach of contract and declaratory judgment arising out of a marketing services contract concerning website traffic; after non-jury trial, the trial court granted our client’s request for specific performance, ordered the defendant to deliver electronic information located on its computer servers, determined that the defendant had breached the contract and entered judgment in favor of our client

Represented respondent in arbitration action in damages phase in claim, where claimant sought over $5 million in damages, for breach of distribution agreement involving Russian language television programming; arbitrator awarded damages to the claimant in an amount less than ten percent of its claim to our client's satisfaction

Successfully defended commercial tenant as to landlord's claim for alleged unpaid common area expenses in excess of $8 million; judgment entered in tenant's favor after trial on the merits and affirmed on appeal

Defended lender in state court action involving civil conspiracy claims arising out of lender's termination of revolving line of credit; trial court granted summary judgment for lender and judgment was affirmed on appeal in per curium decision

Education