WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (August 18, 2014) – Gunster, one of Florida’s oldest and largest full-service business law firms, is pleased to announce that that Earnest DeLoach Jr. has joined the firm’s Orlando office as a shareholder.
Earnest DeLoach Jr. joins Gunster’s business litigation practice and will work out of the firm’s Orlando office. He is a native of Daytona Beach and has worked as a commercial litigator in Orlando for the past 15 years.
DeLoach counsels business owners and government representatives concerning litigation, transactional, business development, administrative and corporate formation matters. He has represented hundreds of clients in various forums, including trial by jury, bench trials, binding arbitrations, administrative hearings and appeals, and appellate oral arguments.
He most recently was a principal in Young DeLoach, a civil litigation firm formed in the 2010 merger of the firm he founded in 2006, DeLoach Law, with that of a college friend. Firm clients included Ford Motor Company, American Express, Progress Energy, Centex Homes, Lennar Homes, Orange County government, Walt Disney World, and more.
DeLoach also previously worked as an associate attorney at Shutts and Bowen in Orlando (2002-06) and has served as a hearing officer for Orange County Utilities (2010-13) and the 9th Circuit Civil Traffic Infractions (2006-08, 2009-11). His duties for the former included providing final determinations on appeals of violations of Orange County ordinances regarding water conservation, water reclamation and waste disposal.
He received his J.D. from Florida State University in 1999 (as a Virgil Hawkins Fellow), and received his B.A. in international affairs and political science from the University of Miami in 1996 (as a Isaac Bashevis Singer Scholar). At FSU, DeLoach was the first African-American to serve as the Student Bar Association president. At UM, he founded an organization designed to inspire and encourage African-American men, and worked part-time as an assistant district representative for U.S. Senator Bob Graham.
Previous honors achieved include being named Legal Elite Up & Comer by Florida Trend; Most Influential Men by Orlando Business Journal; 40 Outstanding Advocates Under 40 by the National Bar Association; and receiving the Eagle Award for Emerging Business by the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida.
DeLoach is authorized to practice in state and federal courts in Florida, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
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About Gunster
Gunster, Florida’s law firm for business, provides full-service legal counsel to leading organizations and individuals from its 11 offices statewide. Established in 1925, the firm has expanded, diversified and evolved, but always with a singular focus: Florida and its clients’ stake in it. A magnet for business-savvy attorneys who embrace collaboration for the greatest advantage of clients, Gunster’s growth has not been at the expense of personalized service but because of it. The firm serves clients from its offices in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, Stuart, Tallahassee, Tampa, The Florida Keys, Vero Beach and its headquarters in West Palm Beach. With more than 160 attorneys and 200 committed support staff, Gunster is ranked among the National Law Journal’s list of the 350 largest law firms. More information about its practice areas, offices and insider’s view newsletters is available at www.gunster.com.
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