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Initially, he did defense work for companies accused of fraud and securities violations but switched to the plaintiffs side in 1996 to "sleep at night." He co-founded what's become Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, with offices in Boca, New York and Little Rock, Ark. Cauley Geller rolls out lawsuits alleging securities violations against companies.
Geller's often heard CEOs and CFOs complain the cases are frivolous and will be defended vigorously. "A year later, they're paying $20 million because they were caught. Companies don't settle frivolous suits for $20 million," says Geller, 35. He represented shareholders in a $38-million settlement in 2001 over WorldCom's acquisition of Tampa-based Intermedia. He's heavily involved in the current IPO-investment bank litigation. "It's going to be just enormous."
Last year, the Emory law grad was named one of the National Law Journal's top 40 litigators under 40. "Even though I'm a litigator, I'm a huge fan of trying to settle disputes outside the courtroom."
Paul J. Geller
Partner / Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman
Boca Raton
Biggest win: A shareholder action settled in 2000 against Prison Realty Trust, which led to $120 million for shareholders and forced corporate governance changes there.
Most gratifying win: A class action against American Family Publishers in 1999 over misleading mailings, forcing changes in its practices and $32 million in damages.
Most embarrassing moment at trial: "Luckily I haven't had one yet. That's a little cocky, isn't it?"
Favorite law movie/show: Legally Blonde.
Family: Wife, Leslie; sons, Jared, 4, and Dylan, 2.
My take-home last year was: "Are people really giving that? More than I ever thought it would be."
Hobby: Martial arts, currently miyama ryu ju jutsu.
True or false? I turn off my arguing skills when dealing with my family: "I try to."
If I wasn't a lawyer, I'd be a ...: Vet. "I'm a dog lover."
Judges are ...: "For the most part fair and even-handed."
True or false? I'm a showman: False.
I'm glad I don't do _____ law: Tax law.
So what does David Markus think when, as unluck would have it, the makeup of the pool of potential jurors appears highly unfavorable to his case? Says Markus: "You start thinking, how can I get a new jury?"
Last year, Markus won fame for just that in defending an ex-convict accused of possessing a handgun. Markus already had won Roderick Carter an acquittal on a drug charge. When he came up for trial on the handgun charge, the jury pool system was up to letter G, which in Miami meant a pool long on Hispanics and short on blacks. Markus argued it violated Carter's right to a jury of his peers and won a new trial.
Markus, 30, is no stranger to lawyering. A Miami native named last year to the National Law Journal's list of the top litigators under 40, he's the son of longtime local lawyer Stuart Markus and is married to commercial litigator Mona Markus, whom he met on his first day at Harvard Law. His partner is high-profile lawyer Milton Hirsch.
"I watch law shows. I read law books. I read famous openings and closing arguments," Markus says. "I love fighting." Carter eventually got a jury drawn from across the alphabet, and Markus got to hear his favorite words: Not guilty.
David Oscar Markus
Partner / Hirsch and Markus
Miami
Biggest win: A dismissal for a psychologist Markus says was falsely accused of molestation by a troubled teenage girl. "We were able to prove he was completely innocent."
Most gratifying win: His first in federal court, representing a 19-year-old Colombian on vacation accused of possessing counterfeit U.S. dollars. Markus argued the man didn't know they were fake. "The moment of truth was when I asked the case agent if the Colombian dollars I was showing him were false. He couldn't answer, and the jury acquitted."
Most embarrassing moment at trial: "I have so many -- my first trial, where a judge told me if I wanted to be taken seriously, I'd better be making serious objections. Of course I thought I was making serious objections."
Favorite law movie/show: The Practice.
My take-home last year was: "Do I want to tell you? I did better than I did at the public defender (office)."
Hobby: "All sports, both watching and playing."
True or false? I turn off my arguing skills when dealing with my family: True. "She's a lot smarter than me."
Family: Wife, Mona; daughter, Nicole, 8 months.
If I wasn't a lawyer, I'd ...: "Play center field for the Marlins."
True or false? I'm a showman: True.
I'm glad I don't do _____ law: Probate.
Both of Daniel J. Gerber's grandfathers were lawyers. Then his father became a doctor. Gerber himself only decided on law in college. "I did better in history, English and political science classes, which is ironic since the bulk of my practice is organic chemistry cases." Indeed, Gerber's big win came in 1997 on behalf of Sears pest control, which was being sued by a couple who alleged the products used in their home gave them brain damage. The case made Gerber's reputation for being able to explain complex scientific concepts to a jury. He's gone on to represent other pest control companies.
At age 39 in 2002, he made the National Law Journal's list of the top 40 young litigators. He's a partner at litigation boutique Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell. Gerber worked with firm founder E. Thom Rumberger to get Klansman David Duke's name stricken from the GOP presidential primary ballot in Florida in 1992. He's done much legal work for the GOP on reapportionment. He was in the ballot-counting battles for George W. Bush in 2000 in Osceola, Orange and Lake counties.
Raised in Broward, the 40-year-old UF law grad still calls on his dad's medical background for help. "I doubt there's a science case I haven't discussed with my father."
Daniel J. Gerber
Partner / Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell
Orlando
Biggest win: The Sears case.
Most gratifying win: For Orkin, in cases alleging consumer fraud.
Most embarrassing moment at trial: When he was a junior lawyer questioning a doctor, senior lawyers overwhelmed him with so many Post-it notes suggesting questions that he couldn't decide what to ask. "I finally looked up at the doctor and said, 'During surgery, do clients hand you Post-it notes like this?' "
Favorite law movie/show: My Cousin Vinny; 12 Angry Men.
My take-home last year was: "We don't
disclose that."
True or false? I turn off my arguing skills when dealing with my family: True.
Family: Wife, Donna; sons, Aaron, 2, and Ethan, 4 months.
If I wasn't a lawyer, I'd be ...: "A scientist studying the most arcane details about a species no one else knows about."
True or false? I'm a showman: True.
I'm glad I don't do _____ law: Workers' compensation.
Karen E. Terry, 33, has the academic track record. She finished her undergraduate degree at Duke University in three years. She worked on a master's in communications law and a law degree simultaneously at the University of Florida. She wrote a 240-page master's thesis on video game violence, First Amendment protection and regulation. She's a member of Mensa.
She's building the court record. A year after joining the Bar, she won a $1.8-million malpractice verdict and joined the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a group of attorneys with $1-million plus verdicts.
The Miami native knew from her school days she would be a lawyer. Her father, a Harvard MBA who got a Nova law degree, "drilled it into my brain" that a law degree was the more helpful education. In summers in law school she did defense litigation work but switched to the plaintiffs side on graduation, joining high-powered plaintiffs firm Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley in West Palm Beach. "There was more money to be made on the plaintiffs side, frankly," she says, and "I get more pleasure out of helping people."
Karen E. Terry
Associate / Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley
West Palm Beach
Biggest win: A $1.8-million medical malpractice win for a breast augmentation that went bad.
Most gratifying win: A $1-million win earlier this year for a Jamaican man seriously injured in a car accident.
Favorite law movie/show: My Cousin Vinny.
My take-home last year was: "I don't think I could tell you that."
Hobbies: Yoga, jogging, working out.
If I wasn't a lawyer, I'd be ...: "Probably a chief legal correspondent on TV. I like the limelight."
True or false? I'm a showman: True.
Family: "Single, looking."
I'm glad I don't do _____ law: Corporate law. "I'm glad I don't do anything nonlitigation."
Most embarrassing moment at trial: Couldn't think of one, but in grade school in an extemporaneous speaking exercise she had to hold forth on roaches and ice cream. "Instead of talking about the roach's tentacles, I talked about the roach's testicles. I had no idea that's what I was saying until I sat down."
Noteworthy
Alicia J. Schumacher, a Florida State law grad and shareholder at Bush Ross in Tampa who does commercial, construction and franchise litigation as well as labor and employment law. ... University of Florida law grad Madison McClellan, a partner at Willie Gary's firm in Stuart, who represented Roger Maris' family against Anheuser-Busch and won a $240-million trade secret theft case against Disney. ... Latasha A. Garrison, a University of Florida law grad and an associate in Jacksonville in Foley & Lardner's litigation department and labor and employment practices group.
