Peter Michael Hoogerwoerd

Peter Michael Hoogerwoerd is an accomplished litigator in both state and federal courts with eighteen years of experience in a broad array of civil litigation, criminal defense, transactional, and appellate matters.

Mr. Hoogerwoerd graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and a Minor in Economics in 1993. During his undergraduate coursework, Mr. Hoogerwoerd was a member of a national championship intercollegiate debate team, for which he was awarded an academic scholarship.

He earned his Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Miami Schools of Law and Business in 1998, where he received The University of Miami Alumni Association Award for Student Leadership.

Background & Interests

Mr. Hoogerwoerd was born in Redondo Beach, California, and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Chicago, Illinois. He is fluent in Spanish and is a member of the National Association of Underwater Instructors for scuba-diving.

Career Highlights

Labor and employment litigation: In addition to successfully representing both plaintiffs and defendants in his core areas of commercial, insurance, and labor and employment related claims, (see Giakoumakis et al. v. Maronda Homes, Inc., 2010 WL 557750 (M.D.Fla.) and Kozma v. Hunter Scott Financial, LLC, 2010 WL 724498 (S.D.Fla.), Mr. Hoogerwoerd has a proven record of success in a wide variety of litigated matters.

Civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act): Mr. Hoogerwoerd co-chaired a federal jury trial in a Civil RICO case in the United States Court for the Southern District of Florida winning a $13.8 million jury verdict for a business owner against former business partners alleging bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy, and theft of business profits. See, Farese v. Scherer, Case No. 9:00-cv-08950-DMM (S.D. Fla.)(D.E. 995). See also, "Reputed Mobster Wins $13.8 Million Jury Verdict," Miami Daily Business Review, Page 1, June 2, 2005.

Appellate litigation: Mr. Hoogerwoerd has appeared as appellate counsel in a variety of matters and is the Attorney of Record for two reported appellate decisions, Elite Protection v. Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, 874 So. 2d 615 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004), and Cartan Tours v. ESA Services, Inc., 833 So. 2d 873 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003).

Professional malpractice, securities, and financial services litigation: Mr. Hoogerwoerd successfully defended an accounting firm in shareholders' federal class action lawsuit in the United States Court for the Southern District of Florida alleging violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Rule 10b-5 17 C.F.R., §, and section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C., §78t(a), obtaining a dismissal with prejudice on all fraud counts alleged against the accounting firm. Chiarenza, et al. v. IBSG International, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:09-cv-22736-PAS (S.D. Fla.)(D.E. 82).

Insurance coverage: Mr. Hoogerwoerd has successfully prosecuted actions for declaratory relief against insurance carriers where the insurance carriers failed to meet their obligations under the insurance policies. Through vigorous litigation, Mr. Hoogerwoerd has obtained attorneys' fees for defending the underlying actions, as well as for the actions for declaratory relief. Mid-Continent Casualty Company v. Florida Contracting Construction Services, Donald Pliner and Lisa Pliner, Case No. 07-cv-21168-JLK, consolidated withFlorida Contracting Construction Services v. Colony Ins. Co., General Security Indemnity Co. of Arizona and Mid-Continent Casualty Company, Case No. 07-cv-22821-JLK (S.D. Fla.)(D.E. 32).

Construction defect litigation: Mr. Hoogerwoerd has authored several briefs in federal court on significant issues related to the ever-developing specialty of construction defect litigation, which have led to several important decisions related to surety bond issues and the indemnification of the parties to a construction contract. See, CC Aventura, Inc. v. The Weitz Company, LLC, et al., Case No. 1:06-cv-21598-PCH (2008 WL 1994807, 2008 WL 2699506, and 2008 WL 2699577 (S.D. Fla.)).