Jeffrey R.
Geldens

Jeffrey Geldens is an attorney in the Miami office of Roig Lawyers.

Jeffrey concentrates his practice on appellate litigation. He has extensive experience as an oral advocate in appellate matters as well as in written advocacy in the trial courts. Jeffrey has argued appeals in the District Court of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He also has experience arguing dispositive motions in Florida’s county, circuit, and federal trial courts. He also has briefed a successful opposition to U.S. Supreme Court certiorari review as counsel of record, in a case, he argued and briefed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Jeffrey brings to the firm a broad base of experience, from a career that includes work as an attorney in the Miami office of an international law firm, a state-wide law firm, a litigation boutique, and two stints in public service (as a law clerk and later as an Assistant Attorney General). In addition to his work for clients in private practice, Jeffrey’s experience includes serving as a law clerk to two of Florida’s appellate judges at the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami.

Jeffrey’s experience in appellate practice and knowledge of procedure ensures a valuable perspective on case strategy from the pre-filing stage to judgment on appeal. Via the firm’s civil litigation group, he assists clients in the trial courts involved in pending commercial litigation with discovery, dispositive motions, and other matters related to pursuing the case in the trial court and preserving claims for appeal. His experience includes work on cases addressing novel or complex issues of insurance coverage, business torts, contract interpretation, employment disputes, and corporate governance. His written advocacy for clients has involved a wide range of litigation issues, including discovery, pre-trial, and post-judgment issues. He has also worked with receiverships addressing securities and financial fraud, which were supervised by both state and federal courts. In addition, he has represented clients involved in disputes pending in arbitration forums such as the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). At the firm, he uses that experience to assist clients resolve disputes in arbitration. In his work on business matters, Jeffrey has also helped clients with matters related to their business transactions, such as leases, agreements, and corporate documents relevant to their business operations.

Jeffrey is a former Assistant Attorney General with the State of Florida, where he wrote and orally presented briefs in response to appellate challenges of criminal convictions. He was also counsel in federal habeas corpus cases pending in the Southern District of Florida and the U.S. Court of Appeals. At the Attorney General’s Office, Jeffrey briefed and argued cases addressing high-profile and complex factual and legal issues, including constitutional challenges, questions of first impression regarding the application of Florida’s criminal law, and the scope of post-conviction and habeas corpus relief. Before that, Jeffrey was co-chair of the appellate practice of a Florida firm, where he also acted as a strategy consultant and substantive motion practice specialist. He has been a featured speaker at continuing legal education courses and guest-lectured for a law school civil procedure course.

Ensuring Fair Play: Using the Common Law to Protect Against Unfair Competition from Former Employees, EMP. REL. L.J., Winter 2006, at 41 (with Brian L. Lerner)
FLORIDA CIVIL PROCEDURE (3D ED. 2014-2015) (LexisNexis) (co-author)

Florida Liability Claims Conference, “Joint and Several Liability”, Orlando, FL, 2005
National Business Institute, “Business Contracts A to Z”, Miami, FL, 2012