Brett Alan Geer

I was notified of my FBBE Hearing and immediately hired Brett Geer. This was the best choice I could have made. Mr. Geer is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in these matters and will not sugar coat the process. Mr. Geer prepared me for the unknown and equipped me with the necessary tools to re...ceive clearance. I strongly encourage anyone who runs a ground in the waters of the FBBE to give Brett Geer a call.

The Florida Bar sent me a letter in March 2017 about some irregularities with my bar exam. Originally they wanted a response within a week, but I asked for an extension while I consulted a lawyer. I asked around and compared prices before I contacted Mr. Geer in May. It's not a good idea to answer an...y inquiries from the bar on your own. That goes for lawyers and potential lawyers. I paid the retainer in June and he went to work to try and resolve my issue. The case was dismissed by the FBBE in September 2017. Price/Cost: Mr. Geer is reasonable and a value add compared to other lawyers who represent applicants/lawyers in front of the FBBE. Understand that you may have to hire an outside expert or request materials from the FBBE. The hiring of expert witnesses and any printing of material related to the FBBE is not part of the retainer and I had to cover the cost. I was aware of that before I hired him as counsel. You usually sign an agreement for legal representation beforehand going over the specifics on what the retainer covers and what it doesn't. I still came out ahead. Advocacy/Representation: This was Mr. Geer's strong point. Being that we were short on case law regarding my situation, he quickly shifted his correspondence with the bar from legal writing to persuasive writing aided by discovery material from an IT expert. Since the FBBE can get bogged down with review of new applicants and complaints about current lawyers, it's easy for your case to get pushed to the back burner. Brett was persistent though and repeatedly asked for a resolution on the matter. If not for his continued advocacy, I might still be dealing with the matter today.

Attorney Geer represented me in an FBBE Investigatory Hearing in Tampa 10/2016. I do not yet know the results of this hearing, but regardless of the outcome, I am confident that his guidance and presence raised my chances for admission exponentially. If God forbid, I end up having to go through a for...mal hearing, I'd retain him again, to guide me through the process. He is seasoned and respected by his colleagues. I sent a tremendous amount of unsolicited information for him to review, and instead of being annoyed, he took the time to actually go through it all, selecting what he thought was appropriate and presented only the most relevant and helpful evidence. He prepared me for the most probable questions, and allowed me to ask him as many questions as I needed to. The scariest part about the hearing is the unknown, and he demystified it for me, giving me the confidence to go into this hearing with the right attitude. I had 8 different areas of concern that the FBBE wanted to discuss. He went through each issue pointing out what was probably not a big deal and focused on what he perceived were going to be my biggest hurdles. His fee was a fraction of what some others charge and often when that's the case, it's because an attorney relies on volume, in order to make a living. The average fee was 7500. My main concerns prior to this hearing were (a) that I would be arriving to Tampa and meeting him for the first time at the time of the hearing. If he was no good, I'd be stuck. (b) that our telephone contact prior to the preparatory meeting had been limited and (c) that because he has been doing this so long and seems to attend the FBBE hearings year round, the most important and frightening moment of my life could be written off as no big deal, or exceedingly "routine". My issues were complex and encompassed several different areas. We met the day before the hearing and Attorney Geer was well prepared for the meeting and had a very clear idea of what he wanted to cover. There was not a ton of contact or hand holding during the period between when I hired him and the time when I met him, but I realized there really was no need for this. Everything that needed to be handled could be handled the day of that initial meeting. As an aside, any time I reached out to him by email, he or his staff responded immediately. And in terms of getting lost in the shuffle, it wasn't a huge firm, like I expected. I have no idea how many clients he handles in a given day, but I may as well have been the only one on the schedule. I got the personal attention I felt I needed, and he recognized the complexity of my file, how important this was for me, and made clear it was just as important to him. He may as well have been fighting for his own admission. A word of warning. No matter how trivial your inquiry might seem, do NOT under any circumstances go to this initial FBBE hearing on your own. You will be so sorry you did not hire counsel. Many say that the lawyer is just decorative during the hearing and their role is limited to the preparation phase. NOT SO. Attorney Geer had my complete file, tabbed up, so that when I was asked something about a tax transcript he was able to flip to it immediately and show it to me. He took copious notes of matters that the panel members seemed unsatisfied with or that he thought warranted further explanation, and used the time allotted to make the final statement, to ask me questions about those specific things, carefully eliciting the information he wanted put before the panel in a way that attempted to put any unresolved concerns to rest. Left to my own devices, I would have used that time to say, "I am a law abiding citizen, not a hooligan. Please pick me." Do whatever is necessary to come up with the money to hire counsel, and use Brett Geer. Had I hired the guy who charges 10K, I could not have fared any better than I did, regardless of the final outcome. You're in good hands.

I hired Brett after receiving a notice of investigative hearing. I called his office and he answered and talked to me for quite awhile which was refreshing, other attorneys were too busy to talk and I had to wait for call backs. I had a 10-year old bankruptcy with a reaffirmed mortgage that I subsequ...ently fell behind on and lost to foreclosure. I also answered a question incorrectly on my law school application, made a typo on my bar application, and forgot to list one lawsuit on my bar application. Mr. Geer took my case with very little time to prepare (I received my notice and requested the next hearing date which was less than two weeks away). Both he and his wife helped me prepare for the hearing so I was well prepared for the questions they would ask and the hearing took about twenty minutes. Within a week of the full board vote I was admitted. In the meantime I second guessed my answers, and was so anxious but Brett and his wife always took time to reassure me. Sometimes that is priceless especially when everything you've been working for hangs in the balance! I don't recommend going to a hearing without counsel, the panel is composed of seasoned attorneys and others who could make any aspiring attorney nervous. Hire him and do it early. If I had hired him before submitting my application I probably wouldn't have had problems. The process is daunting, but Brett can make it easier. I highly recommend him, worth every penny!!