DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 3, 2013) -- Upchurch Watson White & Max is proud to announce the largest expansion in firm history in terms of mediators and service areas. As of Nov. 1, 2013, the Florida- and Alabama-based mediation group will add eight members to its distinguished panel of neutrals. New UWWM offices also are opening in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Charles (Chuck) Tetunic, who joins the firm as a shareholder, and five others will be based at Upchurch Watson White & Max's new Plantation, Fla., office as mediation counsel. Mr. Tetunic has been a full-time South Florida-based circuit/civil mediator since 1994, and he has mediated more than 6,000 cases, specializing in personal injury, medical malpractice, insurance claims and construction litigation.
The remaining five Broward County-based mediators also are highly experienced
and will serve as mediation counsel with Upchurch Watson White & Max. They are:
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Judith A. (Judy) Bass, who was a litigator for 25 years and began mediating full-time in 2003. She has mediated more than 3,000 cases and lists ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act), civil rights, discrimination and sexual assault/harassment cases as some of her practice areas. She is a Florida native who has found herself working all over the state, but she now continues to be based near her hometown, Fort Lauderdale.
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Dominic (Dom) Brandy, who, as a civil litigator, tried numerous cases in state and federal court representing both plaintiffs and defendants. Complex liability actions and construction litigation have been among his practice areas as a full-time mediator since 2003. He also is an approved instructor with the Florida Department of Financial Services-Education Section.
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Alvin Capp, a former city prosecutor for Plantation, Fla., who once served as a White House intern for President John F. Kennedy. He began his mediation career in 1987 and limited his practice to alternative dispute resolution in 2002, serving in more than 7,000 cases. His practice areas include employment/Fair Labor Standards Act and probate.
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Samuel (Sam) Heller, who in his pre-attorney days served in the U.S. Army as a guided missile fire control officer for the Air Defense Command. On retiring from trial practice in 1994, he devoted himself to helping individuals and businesses mediate their cases and to serving as a trial resolution judge, arbitrator and special master. He has mediated about 4,500 federal and state court cases involving a range of civil disputes.
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Bob Zwicky, who began work as a criminal defense attorney and has trial experience in felony and murder cases. He then spent over 12 years as a defense attorney litigating hundreds of personal injury cases and occasionally serving as special master in complex litigation cases. He has been a full-time circuit civil mediator since 2004, listing security, slip and fall and tort matters as some of his practice areas.
Former Circuit Court Judge
David Krathen, mediation counsel with UWWM since January, is relocating his Fort Lauderdale base to the new Plantation office after it opens for business on Nov. 4. That makes a total of seven mediators headquartered at the UWWM facility in
Suite 410 of the Royal Palm II at Southpointe, 900 S. Pine Island Road.
Longtime litigator
Charles A. (Chuck) Mancuso also is joining the mediation firm and will be based at the new West Palm Beach office,
Suite 541 of Clearlake Executive Suites, 500 Australian Ave. South. At 27, Mr. Mancuso was one of the youngest attorneys in the nation to successfully litigate a multiple wrongful death action for a recovery in excess of $2 million. He has litigated, as lead chair, more than 2,400 cases to completion.
The remaining mediator of the eight joining with Upchurch Watson White & Max effective Nov. 1 is
William (Bill) Zei, who intends to continue with his South Florida clients and gradually transition to an area nearer to his home in Tallahassee, which is new territory for UWWM. Mr. Zei was a onetime associate general counsel for the North Broward Hospital District. Since 2007, he has been serving statewide as a mediator, arbitrator and special master in all of the areas in which he practiced for 30 years as a trial attorney. Some of them are dental, medical and legal malpractice.
Upchurch Watson White & Max's new Miami office will take the place of its current location in Miami's Sabadell Financial Center. The doors of
Suite 507 of the Biscayne Building, 19 W. Flagler St., will open on Nov. 4. As a result of the move, UWWM principal
Rodney A. Max will be based at this new office, rather than the Sabadell Financial Center, as well as in Birmingham, Ala.
About Upchurch Watson White & Max
A nationally leading mediation specialty firm, Upchurch Watson White & Max is known for facilitating reasonable agreements to resolve complex issues. From offices in Florida and Alabama, Supreme Court certified attorney mediators with wide-ranging specialties serve as court-appointed and privately employed mediators, arbitrators and third-party neutral case managers, implementing innovative methods of alternative dispute resolution across the country. On the Web: uww-adr.com
