Edward O’Sheehan is a partner in the Fort Lauderdale office of Shutts & Bowen LLP, where he is a member of the Business Litigation Practice Group and Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. Ed has over 19 years of litigation experience in consumer finance litigation, creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, condominium and homeowner association litigation, probate and guardianship litigation, insurance matters, and tax appeals. Ed also provides representation for clients in matters involving the The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
A former U.S. Marine, Ed is a Lieutenant Colonel and now serves as the Staff Judge Advocate for the Florida Army National Guard. He recently was named by the Office of the Public Guardian as Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for volunteering over 150 hours to represent the best interests of the wards in guardianship, abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, and foreclosure cases.
Ed has represented numerous mortgage loan originators, loan servicers, and investors in lawsuits, bankruptcy adversary cases, and contested foreclosures. He has represented banks and other finance businesses in state and federal court in law suits concerning the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act, and arising out of Consumer Finance Protection Bureau regulations.
Ed’s work in this area focuses on representing national and local companies dealing with distressed businesses and individuals. This entails obtaining money judgments and in rem judgments against property pledged as collateral and assisting clients in collecting on those judgments in post-judgment proceedings, including supplementary proceedings.
His work also often involves matters in the bankruptcy context, either based on an original filing in bankruptcy or a defendant/borrower declaring bankruptcy to seek further delay or restructuring.
Ed represents insurance companies in first-party and third-party litigation in state and federal court related to coverage issues, uninsured motorists, bad faith, and hospital lien issues. He’s advised insurance companies on federal and state requirements regarding the use of electronic signatures and electronic transactions and has represented insurance companies in claims handling, examination under oath, and litigation concerning electronic signature issues.
For real estate companies and property owners, Ed helps protest appraised property values that significantly raise taxes. One case involved a large South Florida hotel in an Ad Valorem tax protest. His work helped reduce the assessed value from $800 million to less than $200 million, resulting in significantly reduced taxes. Religious organizations also use his services to handle the tax consequences of gifts, as well as church governance and church law issues.
Prior to joining Shutts, Ed was in-house counsel for a large, national corporation. In this position, he was in charge of managing nationwide litigation and gained experience in handling the legal concerns of a large institution, including cost controls. While at the University of Miami School of Law, he served as the Articles and Comments Editor of the Inter-American Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Board.
A former active-duty U.S. Marine, Ed continues to serve as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) Officer as the Senior Defense Counsel with the 1565th Trial Defense Team of the Florida Army National Guard. He served 15 months in Afghanistan as part of a deployment with the 53rd Infantry Brigade of the Florida Army National Guard and handled court martials and other military legal cases. He also volunteers in his local community as an Assistant Scoutmaster in Sea Scout Ship 621 in Hollywood.
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