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Features this Month: Katherine Ezell

Attorney of the Month

Concepcion Martinez & Bellido

Boutique Law Firm

Sanchez-Medina, Gonzalez, Quesada, Lage, Crespo, Gomez & Machado LLP

Law Firm of the Month

of the Month

of the M

Sanchez-Medina, Gonzalez, Quesada, Lage, Crespo, Gomez & Machado LLP

By Ben Norris

hen Roland SanchezMedina, Jr. and Peter A. Gonzalez decided to share o ce space a er both had broken away from large rms, the pair had no idea they were on the verge of building one of the most powerful additions to the Miami legal community in years SanchezMedina, Gonzalez, Quesada, Lage, Crespo, Gomez & Machado LLP (SMGQ). Approximately 10 years ago, Roland and I got to know each other very well as a result of mutual acquaintances and started to share Photo by Robert Klemm o ce space, said partner Peter Top row, Left to Right: Peter A. Gonzalez, Gustavo D. Lage, Joseph R. Gomez, Carlos M. Machado Gonzalez. Shortly therea er, Pablo Bottom row, Left to Right: Pablo S. Quesada, Roland Sanchez-Medina Jr., Emilia A. Quesada and Manuel L. Crespo. Quesada began sharing o ce space with us, as well. We basically started to date professionally and in a wide range of practice areas. It currently represents many realized it made good business sense for us to formally join forces highly recognizable clients such as JP Morgan Chase Bank, in January 2007, together with partners Christina Gonzalez and Aetna, Prudential, New York Life, Comcast, Regions Bank, the Emilia Quesada. University of Miami, Standard Parking Corp., and the FDIC. As the client base grew, Sanchez-Medina, Gonzalez and Quesada If you look at our roster of clients, its one any rm, no matter knew theyd have to expand their size and areas of expertise to the size, would be glad to have, Sanchez-Medina said. We are keep up with the increasing demand for their services. By early very proud of the clients we have developed and maintained. 2009, they realized they could not wait any longer and decided e rm o ers clients expertise in practice areas including to recruit local lawyers in town with whom they had maintained corporate and securities, real estate and lender representation, professional dealings in the past and believed would be rst rate civil and complex commercial litigation, insurance coverage and additions to their rm. ey were fortunate to bring in top legal ERISA defense, tax and estate planning, criminal defense, and talent in Gustavo D. Lage, Manny Crespo, Jr., Joseph R. Gomez government relations. SMGQ has developed a dedicated clientand Carlos Machado, all of whom joined as name partners in base in its own back yard and throughout the country, as well late 2009. ey have not stopped there. Since then, the rm has as loyal clients in Latin America and in locations as far away as brought in other top lawyers, continuing to broaden the rms Europe, the Middle East and Asia. legal o erings and expertise, and has built out a new, modern e rm is also one of a select few 100-percent minority-owned 10,000 square foot o ce in the heart of Downtown Coral Gables, rms in Florida, active in both local and national minority legal positioning itself for further growth and access to a signi cant and business organizations. Such exposure has allowed it to number of multi-national companies located nearby. showcase its breadth of practice and experience, and re ect what Today, SMGQ is an AV-Rated rm with 11 attorneys practicing a forward-thinking practice can accomplish for its clients.

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Roland Sanchez-Medina, Jr.

Peter A. Gonzalez

Pablo S. Quesada

Emilia S. Quesada

Taking a Dierent Path

Despite their separate strengths, the partners were linked by several common threads: they had all maintained distinguished careers at some of the most prominent law rms in Florida; they were all bilingual and in their 40s; and, equally as important, they all wanted to chart their own course. I think frankly we are more entrepreneurial than your typical rm, said partner Roland Sanchez-Medina, Jr. From that perspective, this environment and our size allows us to take on matters a larger rm might be unwilling or unable to take. Gonzalez said the partners didnt want to be the tail of the lion. ey wanted to be the lion. at meant having the freedom to move nimbly and act quickly without a chain-of-command getting in the way. We wanted to be able to move a little quicker and make certain decisions about things without going through the usual corporate red tape you tend to nd at larger rms, added partner Pablo Quesada. Running our own smaller rm o ered the exibility and independence normally not found at a larger rm with many more lawyers, many more partners, and many more competing interests. At the same time, since many of us were senior lawyers at national and international rms, our mind set was to bring a high level of sophistication, service, creativity, and competence to our practice. e di erence is that when clients hire us, they dont get a junior associate required to bill a set number of hours a year. ey actually get an experienced, high caliber lawyer at rates which are signi cantly lower than those of major law rms. is business model has helped us secure all types of clients, but, in particular, it has attracted quite a number of national companies, said partner, Joe Gomez. e rms lean operations allow it to o er services at more

reasonable rates, without foregoing the depth of experience and array of services; this has been the recipe to attract high pro le and national clients looking to save money on legal fees or maintain a reasonable legal budget during di cult economic times. At some of the larger rms our partners used to work at, the partner billing rates are now between $550 and $850 an hour, Crespo said. Our partner rates are lower. Our clients are receiving the same high quality work and service from lawyers with the same experience at lower rates.

The Partners: Unique Strengths and Depth Make a Stronger Firm

Roland Sanchez-Medina, Jr. focuses his practice in the areas of corporate and real estate law and holds an L.L.M. in taxation from NYU. Sanchez-Medina is a former president of the Cuban American Bar Association and has been selected as Legal Elite by Florida Trend Magazine and Super Lawyer in Law and Politics Magazine from 20062012. Peter A. Gonzalez practices primarily in commercial and civil litigation with an emphasis on business, corporate and real estate law, and also handles real property transactions. He also heads up the Cuba practice group, which monitors changes in United States and Cuba policy and stays up on laws that impact U.S.-Cuba relations. Pablo S. Quesadas primary areas of practice include corporate and securities, real estate and tax law. Before joining SMGQ, he served as regional counsel for VISAs Latin America and Caribbean region, and prior to Visa, was in the corporate and securities department of one of the worlds largest U.S.-based law rms. He maintains an AV Preeminent Rating and has been repeatedly recognized by his peers as a Rising Star and Up and Comer in the South Florida legal community.

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Gustavo D. Lage

Manny Crespo, Jr.

Joseph R. Gomez

Carlos Machado

Emilia A. Quesada is a commercial litigation partner, with specialized knowledge in insurance coverage, life, health, disability and ERISA, products liability and class action defense. Having honed her skills at some of the countrys largest rms prior to joining SMGQ, she maintains an impressive roster of Fortune 500 companies as clients, which she has fostered throughout her career. Gustavo D. Lage is a former prosecutor who brings extensive trial experience to the rm. Before joining SMGQ, he began his legal career at the Miami-Dade County State Attorneys O ce. He then worked at a large Florida-based rm and with another rm where he was a partner representing multinational corporations such as Ford and General Motors as well as professional athletes in civil, commercial and criminal litigation and trials. Manny Crespo, Jr. handles both transactional matters and civil litigation cases involving business disputes, property claims, and title issues, to name a few. He brings a broad background that includes personal injury litigation and criminal defense, areas of practice he enjoyed working on with his late father, the Honorable Manuel Crespo who was a Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge for many years. Joseph R. Gomez is a partner in the rms corporate, securities, tax law and commercial transactions practice and has an L.L.M. in taxation from the University of Miami. He has spent his career representing companies of all sizes in complex business, corporate, and tax issues. Prior to joining SMGQ, he was a partner with an Am Law 100 law rm. He is a former chair of the Corporations Securities and Financial Services Committee of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar and is a frequent

lecturer and author. He was selected as a Legal Elite by Florida Trend magazine in 2011. Carlos Machado has a background in several areas of commercial and civil litigation including wrongful death, personal injury and real estate disputes, but has focused the majority of his practice on commercial and residential real estate matters with an emphasis on lender representation. Machado also worked for larger rms and successfully ran his own rm for many years before deciding to join SMGQ. His clients include many regional and local banks. Im primarily the real estate guy at the rm, Machado said. I have focused my real estate practice for many years on representing banks in disputes and real estate transactions. Having such a broad base of talent has helped the rm maintain its client base and provide a fuller spectrum of professional services. While the rm started just as the recession was about to hit, o ering competitive and exible billing structures and a deep well of knowledge and experience to pull from has allowed SMGQ to grow signi cantly, even as other rms downsized. Lage says the rm will continue to expand and plans to hire additional associates and possibly take on more lateral hires to meet the rms increasing needs but it will do so at a more measured pace. Despite the ups and downs of the economy, we are con dent we can continue to grow and succeed provided we maintain a high standard of excellence and a service-oriented approach to the practice of law, says Lage.

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At a Glance
Sanchez-Medina, Gonzalez, Quesada, Lage, Crespo, Gomez & Machado LLP 201 Alhambra Circle, Suite 1205 International Law Certicate, Colegio Universitario, Madrid, Spain Coral Gables, FL, 33134 B.S. Florida State University 305-377-1000 Admitted to Florida Bar www.SMGQLAW.com Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of The Florida Bar, Member Practice Areas Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar, Member Civil Litigation and Trial Practice Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), Member Corporate and Securities Cuban American Bar Association Member Contracts and Commercial Transactions Gustavo D. Lage Tax and Estate Planning J.D. Florida State University College of Law Real Estate Law and Lender Representation B.A. Florida State University Entertainment, Sports and Art Law Admitted to Florida Bar Criminal Defense Cuban American Bar Association Member Government Relations Cuba Practice Group Carlos M. Machado J.D., Stetson University Attorneys B.B.A., Florida International University Manuel L. Crespo Admitted to Florida Bar J.D., Boston College Raul L. Perez B.A., Duquesne University J.D., Florida State University Admitted to Florida Bar B.A., Florida State University Vice President, Cuban American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar Director, Dade County Bar Association Chairman, Florida Bar Grievance Committee, 11K Cuban American Bar Association Member
Luis F. Fernandez J.D., Thomas Cooley Law School B.A. Michigan State University Cuban American Bar Association Committee on Cuba and Human Rights Admitted to Florida Bar and State Bar of Michigan Joseph R. Gomez L.L.M., University of Miami J.D., University of Miami B.B.A. University of Miami Admitted to Florida Bar Executive Council Member, Business Law Section of the Florida Bar Task Force Member, RE-RULPA Review, Tax Section of the Florida Bar (Article 5 Subcommittee) Committee Member, Third Party Legal Opinions Standards, Business Law Section of the Florida Bar Christina Diaz Gonzalez J.D Florida State College, magna cum laude International Law Certicate, Colegio Universitario, Madrid, Spain B.B.A. University of Miami, magna cum laude Admitted to Florida Bar Cuban American Bar Association Member Author: The Red Umbrella and A Thunderous Whisper (Random House/Knopf) Peter A. Gonzalez J.D., The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law

Emilia A Quesada J.D., Florida State University B.S., Florida International University Admitted to Florida and Georgia Bar Defense Research Institute, Member Commission on Women in the Profession of the American Bar Association, Former Commissioner (appointed by president of ABA) Corporate Counsel Women of Color, Sponsor and Member Cuban American Bar Association Member Pablo S. Quesada J.D., Florida State University B.B.A. University of Miami Admitted to Florida and Georgia Bar The Florida Bars Florida Business Corporation Act (Chapter 607) Project, Participant Shareholder Subcommittee (Working Group Co-Chair) Ocer and Director Subcommittee (Working Group Co-Chair) Cuban American Bar Association Member Roland Sanchez-Medina, Jr. L.L.M., New York University J.D., Boston College B.B.A. University of Miami Admitted to Florida Bar Cuban American Bar Association, Member and former President
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