Michael S. Freedland

Michael Freedland is a founding partner with Freedland, Farmer, Russo, Behren & Sheller. His entire career has been spent as an advocate on behalf of victims who have suffered serious personal injuries or wrongful death due to medical malpractice, motor vehicle accidents and pharmaceutical product failures.

Mr. Freedland is most noted as one of the first lawyers involved in the highly publicized Phen-Fen diet drug litigation, where consumers suffered catastrophic injuries due to fraud and deception regarding dangers associated with those drugs. Since then, Mr. Freedland has devoted significant time and effort to the protection of medical products consumers in a variety of drug product liability cases, including the representation of individuals injured from the use of Baycol, Vioxx and Fosamax, amongst others. In the courtroom, Mr. Freedland has conducted numerous jury trials and had the distinction of achieving a verdict in excess of $1 million before reaching the age of 30. Besides verdicts against physicians, he has also received jury verdicts against some of Florida's largest corporations. Mr. Freedland was also lead counsel in the highly publicized litigation against a radiologist in a delay of diagnosis of breast cancer case where the radiologist was found to have engaged in witness tampering. Most significantly, his professional achievements, expertise and core capabilities have resulted in aggregate recoveries on behalf of clients in excess of One Hundred Million Dollars ($100,000,000.00).

But Michael Freedland does not devote all of his effort and heart to the courtroom. He constantly devotes personal time giving back to the community in a variety of ways. He has served as President of the Weston Rotary Club, heading the group in numerous civic activities, including the giving in excess of $250,000 in scholarships to students from local high schools. His civic involvement also includes serving as on the Florida Democratic Party Executive Committee, and an unwavering commitment to open courts and the political process. This passion for our democracy was no more evident when he played a prominent role in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election litigation. His hard work and contributions have consistently played a vital role in the election of Democratic candidates to public office.

Michael Freedland also takes care to balance his busy professional career with the joys and duties of his home life. He is a devoted husband and father of two young children. The love and support of his family enable Michael to work so diligently to protect others and give back to our community.

Mr. Freedland was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1997. He received his Bachelors of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Miami.

Education
University of Miami, College of Law J.D. (1997)
University of Miami, B.A. (1994)

Professional Associations
Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers
American Bar Association
American Trial Lawyers Association
Broward County Bar Association
Florida Bar Association

Practice Areas
Personal Injury
Medical Malpractice
Mass Tort Litigation
Wrongful Death

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Gary M. Farmer, Jr

Gary M. Farmer, Jr., is a partner with Freedland, Farmer, Russo Behren & Sheller. Mr. Farmer has a diverse and wide-ranging practice background, including litigation and appellate practice on behalf of families and consumers who have been injured or damaged by wrongs committed by the nation's largest drug, tobacco and HMO companies.

Prior to the formation of Freedland, Farmer, Russo Behren & Sheller, Mr. Farmer worked in a variety of capacities. His past experience includes two years practicing eminent domain litigation with the Florida Attorney General. Mr. Farmer began his private practice of law with the insurance defense firm originally known as Bunnell, Woulfe & Keller, where he worked for five years. He later practiced with Carlton Fields, one of the largest firms in Florida, where he again concentrated on defense work, primarily medical malpractice defense and eminent domain litigation. In 1998, Mr. Farmer left Carlton Fields, changed his field of concentration to plaintiffs' practice and joined the firm that became known as Gillespie, Goldman, Kronengold & Farmer.

In November of 2000, Mr. Farmer was retained by voters and served as lead plaintiffs' counsel in the butterfly ballot litigation in Palm Beach County, Florida, which helped determine the 2000 Presidential Election. Subsequently, he was part of the legal team that tried the Martin County absentee voter case in Tallahassee, Florida. After meeting several nationally prominent lawyers in these cases, Mr. Farmer was asked to become involved in a group of class-action cases filed against the tobacco industry involving "light" and "ultra light" cigarettes. Mr. Farmer is lead counsel in a Florida class-actions filed against Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds.

Mr. Farmer has also been a leading advocate for HMO subscribers and is counsel on several cases that have helped reform Florida law regarding suits against HMOs. In the case of Greene v. Well Care HMO, Mr. Farmer essentially created a common law right of action against HMOs who wrongfully deny coverage for healthcare treatment or services prescribed by plan physicians. In addition to litigating healthcare coverage on behalf of individuals against HMOs, Mr. Farmer devotes a significant part of his practice to representing individuals in a variety of insurance coverage disputes against carriers, including disability claims, auto claims, and bad faith litigation.

Mr. Farmer represents consumers in a variety of cases against corporations that commit unfair and deceptive trade practices. Mr. Farmer has filed a class-action lawsuits against Tenet Healthcare Corp on behalf of uninsured hospital patients who have paid more than insured patients for same services, and on behalf of patients whose medical records were released by their doctors to a pharmaceutical drug company without the patients' consent or authorization. The drug company then used that information for marketing purposes - including the actual mailing of dangerous prescription drugs to unsuspecting patients without their authorization or consent. One of the patients was a 16-year-old boy who had never been prescribed medication or diagnosed with the condition for which the medicine was manufactured.

In this era of free flow of information and the corporate raiding of our rights and privacy, Mr. Farmer has become a vanguard in the area of consumer protection litigation. He donates time and money to lobby our state legislature to preserve our civil justice system, and is a leader in the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. Gary Farmer relishes his role as an advocate for individuals, consumers and families almost as much as his role of husband and father of two daughters.

Education
University of Toledo College of Law, cum laude, J.D. (1991)
Florida State University, B.A. (1986)

Professional Associations
Finance Committee Chair - Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers American Bar Association American Trial Lawyers Association
Board of Directors - Broward County Trial Lawyers Association Florida Bar Association
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice

Practice Areas
Consumer Class-Action
Drug Liability
Tobacco
Insured and HMO Coverage
Medical Devices
Medical Malpractice

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Anthony J. Russo, Jr.

Anthony J. Russo Jr. is the managing partner of Freedland, Farmer, Russo Behren & Sheller. For more than a decade, Mr. Russo has successfully litigated cases involving serious personal injury and wrongful death, handling thousands of cases in venues throughout the state of Florida.

Prior to joining Freedland, Farmer, Russo Behren & Sheller, Mr. Russo was a founding partner of Russo & Mitchell, where he practiced for ten years, focusing on plaintiff's personal injury and motor vehicle accidents

Born in Bronxville, New York, Mr. Russo attended Fordham University and received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from SUNY Albany. He received his Juris Doctor from Nova Southeastern University. Mr. Russo was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1995 and is also a member in good standing and admitted to practice in the states of New York and New Jersey.

Mr. Russo devotes his personal time to a variety of social, charitable and political causes. In 2007, he will serve as the President of the Weston Rotary Club. Mr. Russo has also been intimately involved for several years in serving on Rotary’s student high school scholarship committee, giving in excess of $250,000 of need based scholarships to students from the local Weston area high schools. He balances his civic and professional career with his family life devoting any excess time to sporting events with his wife and two children.

Education
Nova Southeastern University, School of Law J.D. (1994)
SUNY Albany, Albany, NY, B.A. (1988).

Professional Associations
Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers
American Trial Lawyers Association
Broward County Trial Lawyers Association
Florida Bar Association
Florida Lawyers Action Group
New Jersey Bar Association New York State Bar Association
President - Rotary Club of Weston

Practice Areas
Personal Injury
Personal Injury
Wrongful Death
Motor Vehicle Accident Litigation

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Stephen A. Sheller (Affiliated Attorney)

Mr. Sheller is the founder and managing partner of Sheller Ludwig & Badey which is one of the largest plaintiff’s personal injury and class action law firms in the Eastern United States (founded in 1977). He has been in practice since 1963.

Mr. Sheller maintains a national practice concentrating in areas of medical malpractice, toxic tort, medical device and drug product and complex catastrophic personal injury litigation. He represents clients in litigation throughout the United States involving drug product and medical device liability, medical malpractice, toxic torts, complex catastrophic personal injuries, and civil rights. He has been named a finalist in the 2003 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award given by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice “for discovering the light cigarette fraud and initiating the litigation strategy to remedy the deception.” This innovative legal strategy resulted in the $10.1 Billion verdict against Phillip Morris in Illinois.

Mr. Sheller often lectures on law in continuing legal education courses on behalf of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Insurance Defense Institute, The American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Trial Lawyers. He has chaired and/or presented lectures on breast implants, tobacco litigation and other product litigation at Mealey’s and Andrews Publications legal seminars.

Mr. Sheller has appeared on numerous occasions as a panel member on television legal education and information programs for lawyers and the public sponsored by Law Journal Television, the New Jersey Law Journal and the Pennsylvania Legal Intelligencer in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania on topics such as medical malpractice, tobacco, diet drugs, complex litigation, class actions, HMO’s and legal ethics.

He has been a special presenter and lecturer on law at The National Judicial College, Northeastern Law School, the 19th and 20th Conferences of the Tobacco Products Liability Project and other educational institutions. He has appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CNN, MSNBC, CBS’s Early Show, CN8’s It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle, and all major Philadelphia-area network news programs.

In November 2000, Mr. Sheller began the Palm Beach County, Florida litigation involving the 2000 U.S. Presidential election and the butterfly ballots. As a result, he was featured in national, regional and local media for his role as a lead attorney challenging the voting count. He appeared on CNN’s Burden of Proof with Greta Van Susteren, National Public Radio, Cable News Network, CBS, NBC, and ABC News, among many others, to discuss the 2000 presidential election calamity. Mr. Sheller was even seen on one news program debating, the then chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party. Mr. Sheller addressed the Broward County and Palm Beach County Florida ballots that he argued are unconstitutional, denying citizens their rights to vote. Sheller alleged that if a proper analysis were to be conducted, it would have been proven that Al Gore won the election by several thousand votes. Therefore, Gore should rightfully be President of the United States today.

Mr. Sheller’s publications include “The Physician and Hospital as Potential Defendants in Drug and Medical Device Claims” in the legal textbook Pharmaceutical Law published by Harrison Company in 2000 and Law Review articles such as the Temple Law Review article “The Consumers Interest - Is It Being Protected by the Public Utility Commission.”

Mr. Sheller is a member of the Drexel University Board of Trustees, past member of the Board of Trustees of Pennsylvania State University and past and present member of the boards of several other organizations and entities, concerned with law and education. Edward G. Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania, appointed Mr. Sheller to the Rendell Transition Team on Boards and Commissions.

Education
University of Pennsylvania J.D., L.L.B.
University of Pennsylvania B.A.

Professional Associations
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America
The Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association
Philadelphia Bar Association
Pennsylvania Bar Association
The American Bar Association

Practice Group Areas
Civil Rights
Consumer Class Actions
Defective Drugs
Medical Malpractice
Products Liability
Toxic Substances

Practice Areas
Tobacco

Related News

• $10.1 Billion Tobacco Verdict Paves Way for Philadelphia Counsel.

• 2003 DTC Conference Features Debate with Stephen Sheller, Ralph Nader, and
  Pharma Marketing Execs.

• Anthrax Scare Leaves Trail of Cipro Victims - Class Actions filed in Two States

• Consumer Protection Discussed by Stephen Sheller on Law Journal TV

• Controversial Marketing of Extended Release Prozac Sparks Major Litigation

• Controversial Marketing of Extended Release Prozac Sparks Major Litigation

• Florida Investigates Mailings of Prozac Samples to Patients

• Free Prozac in the Junk Mail Draws a Lawsuit

• Friends of Cape May Jazz Appoints Sheller to Board

• Illinois court finds fraud by tobacco company in case pioneered by Philadelphia Firm

• Judge Clears Way for Suit Against Tobacco Giant

• Lawsuit claims Baycol Maker Engaged in Predatory Pricing

• New Haven Advocate Reports Sheller Leading Cipro Case

• RJR Sued for Unfair Trade Practices for Marketing Low-Nicotine Cigarettes

• Sheller addressed the 19th Conference of the Tobacco Products Liability Project in San Francisco

• Sheller Addresses National Tobacco Conference

• Sheller Appears on Law Journal TV to Discuss PA Medical Malpractice Crisis

• Sheller Appointed to Rendell Transition Team

• Sheller Attorneys Involved in 2000 U.S. Presidential Election and Butterfly Ballot Investigation

• Sheller Discusses Malpractice Crisis on Law Journal TV

• Sheller Joins Lynne Doyle on “It’s Your Call” to Discuss Medical Malpractice

• Sheller Named Finalist for National Lawyers for Public Justice Award

• The Life and Death of a Vaccine

• The Wall Street Journal Reports Antibiotics Like Cipro Are Linked to Tendon, Psychiatric Problems

• Tobacco Company Blew Smoke with Low Tar Labels

• Wyeth’s Prempro Problems Galvanize Plaintiffs’ Lawyers

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Scott M. Behren

Scott Behren is a partner with Freedland, Farmer, Russo, Behren & Sheller. Mr. Behren practices in state and Federal Courts throughout the State of Florida focusing on commercial litigation and employment law. Mr. Behren is AV rated by the prestigious Martindale Hubbell law directory.

Mr. Behren’s broad commercial litigation practice includes such areas as real estate litigation, contract disputes, trademark and copyright matters, shareholder disputes in closely held corporations, collections, consumer disputes with creditors or collection agencies, franchise litigation, healthcare litigation and execution of judgments. Mr. Behren’s transactional practice includes drafting of shareholder agreements and operating agreements for corporations and LLC’s, filing of trademarks and copyrights, drafting and review of contracts and handling all legal aspects of the purchase and sale of businesses. As part of his commercial practice, Mr. Behren has authored articles for local publications, spoken on business law issues such as the breakup of closely held corporations (termed by Mr. Behren as the “business divorce”) and recently presented an all day Lorman seminar on Limited Liability Companies in Florida.

Mr. Behren focuses the remainder of his practice in the area of employment law. This focus area includes litigation of whistle-blower claims, wrongful discharge claims, wage and over-time claims, Family Medical Leave Act issues, litigation over non-compete agreements and discrimination claims (based upon pregnancy, sex, race, and religion). Mr. Behren’s employment practice also includes negotiation and drafting of non-compete agreements, non-solicitation agreements, severance agreements and employee handbooks. As part of his employment practice, Mr. Behren has authored articles for local publications, spoken on employment law issues and will be speaking in June 2007 at the National Employment Lawyers Annual Convention on issues relating to litigation of non-compete agreements.

Mr. Behren devotes his personal time to various social, charitable and political causes. Mr. Behren also spends time with his wife and two children and has coached several of his children's hockey teams.

Education
University of Miami, College of Law J.D. (cum laude)(1993)
Muhlenberg College, B.A. (magna cum laude) (Phi Beta Kappa)(1990)

Professional Associations
Florida Bar Association
Broward County Bar Association
National Employment Lawyers Association
Florida Chapter of National Employment Lawyers Association

Practice Areas
Commercial Litigation
Real Estate Litigation
Employment Law
Intellectual Property Law
Franchise Law
Consumer Rights Litigation

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