Deborah Corbishley

Experience

Representative Matters:

Represented a restaurant group in resolving put option in prior settlement agreement after prior counsel conceded liability. Chixegg LLC v. Tocaya Holdings LLC, Case No. CACA 2021-017675 (Fla. 17th Jud. Cir.).

Argued and prevailed in a case winning affirmance of an order denying disqualification of counsel. 5350 Park, LLC v. Grycon, LLC, 336 So. 3d 802 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022).

Achieved reversal of an order compelling arbitration of shareholder disputes. Pezeshkan v. Manhattan Constr. Florida, Inc., 313 So.3d 948 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021).

Defended a financial institution on claims by SEC Receiver and class involving a multiphase ski resort and technology center in Vermont; promoters pled guilty to federal crimes. Daccache v. Raymond James & Associates, Inc., et al., Case No. 16-CV-21575-FAM (S.D. Fla.).

Won summary judgment for lawyers and firm on a lender’s claim that they aided and abetted a client’s Ponzi scheme; the promotor and others were convicted or pled guilty. Cordell Consultants, Inc. Money Purchase Plan v. Abbott, No. 11-80416-CIV, 2015 WL 11539507 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 9, 2015), aff’d 682 F. App’x 867 (11th Cir. 2017).

Litigated, tried, and argued a tax controversy involving a claim of right in the context of estate tax. This matter was one of at least eight matters from 1999 to 2015 on which we represented a seller of an aviation company, starting with the first breaches of security agreements, eviction from a related building; cancellation of an option to purchase the building; bankruptcy of the buyer and aviation company; and claims by the buyer, principal of the buyer, and tax authorities. Over the course of 15 years, defeated more than $100 million in tax claims and resolved all other claims favorably. Batchelor-Robjohns v. United States, 788 F.3d 1280, 1282 (11th Cir. 2015).

Practice Areas

Complex Business Litigation

Directors and Officers

Legal Malpractice & Professional Liability

Securities Litigation and Government Investigations

Career

Deborah Corbishley has been litigating complex commercial cases of all types in state and federal courts for more than 35 years, in bet-the-company litigation. She also has extensive experience representing lawyers and law firms in professional liability cases.

Debbie’s cases have involved common law and statutory business torts, contract disputes, fraud and conspiracy claims, state and federal securities law violations, fraudulent conveyances, class actions, and corporate and partnership issues. In many of these matters, she has coordinated with criminal, SEC, regulatory, bankruptcy, and tax counsel, or lawyers representing the same clients in other jurisdictions on related claims. She has also represented taxpayers in federal district court actions.

Debbie is also counsel of choice to represent local and national law firms and attorneys in connection with complex malpractice claims, third-party complaints, disqualification and sanctions motions, and grievance proceedings. She has represented lawyers facing allegations of fraud, conspiracy, aiding and abetting a Ponzi scheme, and RICO, as well as on common negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims. Her clients have been sued for mistakes or intentional wrongdoing relating to transactional work, intellectual property, real estate advice or documentation, securities filings or advice, bankruptcy representation, and other litigation. Law firm and lawyer clients also regularly rely on Debbie for counsel on ethics issues and preventative and risk management strategies.

Debbie is a member of the Miami-Dade Bar Association’s Professionalism Committee and the American Bar Association, where she has presented to the Legal Malpractice Conference, and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. She is also a member of the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and formerly served as the intake officer for the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida for complaints against clergy.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association

Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers

The Florida Bar

- Business Law Section

- Trial Lawyers Section

Florida Association of Women Lawyers, Miami-Dade Chapter

Miami-Dade Bar Association

- Professionalism Committee

Intake Officer for complaints against clergy, Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida

Life Member and Former Leader, Girl Scouts of the USA

Personal

Admissions:

Florida

New Jersey

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Awards

Education