James D Gassenheimer

Practice Areas

James Gassenheimer, a partner on Berger Singerman’s Dispute Resolution and Business Reorganization Teams, has extensive jury and non-jury trial experience in State, Federal, Bankruptcy court and domestic and international arbitration, having tried over 100 cases to jury verdict, final award or judgment. His practice focuses on a broad range of commercial litigation matters including shareholder disputes, fiduciary related litigation, real estate related litigation, business torts, bankruptcy litigation and insurance coverage. He is board certified as a civil trial lawyer by The Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has been for over 20 years and is the past Chair of the Civil Trial Certification Committee of The Florida Bar. James is a member of the Executive Counsel of the Trial Lawyer’s Section of The Florida Bar where he has chaired the Teacher’s Law Symposium and is legislative chair. He is an instructor at The Florida Bar Advance Trial Advocacy program.

Professional Memberships

- Chair of the 2022 Teachers Law Symposium sponsored by the Trial Lawyers’ section of The Florida Bar

- The Florida Bar Civil Trial Law Certification Committee, 2017 to present

- Member, Executive Council of the Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar, 2017 to present

- Miami-Dade Trial Lawyers Association

- The Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida

- The Federal Bar Association

- The Dade County Bar Association

Publications

- Gassenheimer, J. D. (2019, March 7). Courts Continue to Tighten the Reins on Expert Witness Testimony. South Florida Legal Guide. http://sflegalguide.com/berger-singerman.html

- Gassenheimer, J. D., & Levy Kushner, N. (2020, March 24). Florida Private Trials An Attractive Option During COVID-19. Law360. https://www.law360.com/articles/1256511

- Gassenheimer, J. D., & Perry, C. M. (2021). (publication). The Edge. Trial Lawyers Section of the Florida Bar. Retrieved from https://floridatls.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/TrialLawyers_TheEdge_Summer2021-v3.pdf .

Work Highlights

- Lead Trial Counsel to Charles Lydecker, Alan Florez and Ben Barbieri in the successful defense at trial of claims brought by Brown & Brown Insurance Company (BRO), seeking in excess of $145 million in damages for claims of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of restrictive covenants in their employment contracts and transition agreements, and for tortious interference with business relationships

- Lead Trial Counsel in trust and fiduciary duty litigation seeking control of the third-generation New York real estate moguls’ dispute control of the family fortune

- Lead Trial Counsel to Accent Technologies, Inc. and its directors in multi-million dollar claims for breach of fiduciary duty brought by The Florida Opportunity Fund.

- Lead Trial Counsel in precedent setting First Amendment litigation regarding constitutionality of mutual non-disparagement

- Successfully obtained an 8 figure settlement as Co-Lead Counsel to Chapter 7 Trustee Michael Bakst in Director and Officer breach of fiduciary duty claims for the estate of TM Health Care.

- Lead Trial Counsel and obtained a final summary judgement dismissing all claims for the Adler family and their technology company Kable-X USA LLC in claims for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty with an exposure of $11MM.

- Lead Trial Counsel to Ascendant Commercial Insurance Company in the defense of litigation brought under the RICO Act.

- Lead Trial Counsel to Liquid Hospitality obtaining a $4 million dollar award in an arbitration against ESJ JI Operations and ESJ Leasehold in a dispute over wrongful termination of Liquid Hospitality’s management agreement for the JOIA Beach Club restaurant at Jungle Island.

- Lead Trial Counsel in claims brought by EB5 investors against Las Olas Ocean Resort and its principals obtaining a six figure settlement to resolve $17 million dollars’ worth of claims.

- Lead Trial Counsel to David Grutman in real estate litigation matters.​​​​​​

- Lead Trial Counsel to the former owners of the SLS South Beach Hotel in the defense of claims for breach of representations and warranties brought by the purchaser.

- Lead Trial Counsel and obtained a full defense judgment for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. in an arbitration regarding certain leasehold interests.

- Lead Trial Counsel and obtained a trial judgment for Black Knight InfoServ, LLC in a commercial insurance coverage action and secured a $19.1MM judgment of indemnity and a $4.8MM judgment for fees and costs.

- Lead Trial Counsel to Trustee in the successful trial of a Probate Adversary seeking the removal of the Trustee and seeking damages for Breach of Trust.

- Lead Trial Counsel to real estate developer and hotel owner HFZ Capital Group in obtaining a defense verdict in its dispute with its franchisee seeking a $6 million breakup fee.

- Co-Lead Trial Counsel to Foundation Risk Partners Corp and its affiliates in non-compete and trade secret litigation with Brown & Brown, Inc.

- Lead Trial Counsel to a South Florida based real estate development company in an arbitration seeking specific performance of a $33 million-dollar acquisition in North Florida.

- Lead Trial counsel to a North Florida gasoline distributor in a multimillion-dollar franchise dispute with its supplier.

- Lead Trial Counsel to Chairman of the Board of Facet Technologies, Inc. in defense of alleged claims for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of a non-circumvent agreement.

- Lead Trial Counsel to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in an international arbitration with its business partner in a real estate investment dispute.

- Lead Trial Counsel to the co-personal representative of the estate of the late innovative and renowned architect, Norman Giller, in a real estate dispute between the estate and one of its beneficiaries.

- Lead Trial Counsel to Chapter 7 Trustee Christine Herendeen in a multimillion-dollar fraudulent transfer and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty litigation against Synovus Bank and Regions Bank.

- Co-Lead Trial Counsel to Soneet Kapila as Chapter 7 Trustee in the Universal Health Care bankruptcy in a multimillion-dollar breach of fiduciary duty litigation against the Warburg Pincus private equity fund.

- Lead Trial Counsel to Jeff Soffer and Turnberry Associates' affiliates in the defense of a multimillion-dollar securities, business tort and fraudulent transfer litigation in the Turnberry MGM Grand Towers bankruptcy matter pending in Las Vegas Nevada.

- Lead Counsel to Jeff Soffer, Florida Fontainebleau Hotel LLC and the LIV night club in litigation arising out of the bankruptcy of SFX Nightlife Entertainment, LLC.

- Lead Trial Counsel in the defense of a first-party insurance coverage matter involving $90 million in fidelity bonds.

- Lead Trial Counsel to Jeff Soffer in Director and Officer liability litigation in regard to the Fontainebleau Resort Las Vegas hotel project.

- Lead Trial Counsel for a Fortune 500 company in litigation relating to an international tax transfer pricing dispute.

- Obtained a defense verdict as Lead Trial Counsel for a NASDAQ listed Fortune 500 company in the jury trial of a case involving the breach of a finder's fee agreement.

- Lead Counsel to the Committee of Unsecured Creditors in a 2,900+ employee WARN Act class action involving claims exceeding $36 million.

- Lead Counsel to the plan proponent in the reorganization of the largest hotel in Pittsburgh, saddled with $80 million in claims, and which included the successful six-day trial of a contested matter against the hotel's secured lender, the Blackrock hedge fund.

- Lead Trial Counsel to a publicly-traded company in the defense of claimed breach of employment and stock option contracts, brought by the former CEO, CFO and President General Counsel to the Court Appointed Receiver in a $200 million real estate related receivership, handling complex foreclosure litigation, bankruptcy matters, prosecuting and defending claims for fraud, lender liability, lien priority issues and first and third party insurance claims involving over 20 separate and affiliated developers.

- Lead Trial Counsel to an institutional research boutique and brokerage firm that resulted in a mediated $8 million settlement of a claim for breach of a purchase and sale agreement with a publicly traded European based technology and database services company.

- Lead Trial Counsel representing a general contractor in a $675 million construction lien priority litigation filed as an adversary in bankruptcy court.

- Lead Trial Counsel to a Developer in breach of contract litigation with a home builder involving claims totaling $150 million.

- Lead Trial Counsel to a high net worth individual in a series of complex litigation matters that emanated from a thirty-year old family dispute and claims in excess of $420 million. The cases included the successful defense at the trial of claims for breach of fiduciary duty, lender liability and fraud.

- Successfully turned a contentious international arbitration dispute between the firm's client, a European Distributor of Environmental Products, into a business resolution that extended the client's relationship with its U.S. manufacturer.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

- Florida

- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

- U.S. District Courts, Northern, Southern and Middle Districts of Florida

Languages Spoken

- English

Education

Awards