Olive Judd, P.A.

What the firm handles

This Fort Lauderdale firm spreads its work across litigation, real estate, and estate planning, with a second office in Tampa. Olive Judd, P.A. represents corporations in class action lawsuits and multidistrict litigation. Many matters involve multi-million-dollar claims and close questions of fact and law.

The site lists four practice areas: complex commercial litigation, estate planning, real estate, and general litigation. That pairing sets courtroom work beside transactional work, so a client with a contract fight and a property closing can find both at one firm.

The two-office setup gives the firm a base on Florida's southeast coast and another on the Gulf coast near Tampa. Both offices work the same practice areas, so a client in either region reaches the same range of services.

Inside the litigation work

The litigation side reaches across many kinds of disputes. Case types include business and corporate disputes, securities and financial litigation, labor and employment matters, landlord and tenant disagreements, class actions, contract claims, and real estate litigation. The firm represents both plaintiffs and defendants. It handles pre-litigation assessment as well as cases that reach trial.

On the class action side, the firm defends corporations in multidistrict litigation. That process groups related federal cases before one judge for pretrial handling. It rewards a team that can manage large records and coordinate among many parties. In my opinion, the firm's stated focus on complex commercial litigation lines up with that kind of demand.

Securities, employment, and property disputes

Securities and financial litigation forms one strand of the caseload. These cases often turn on disclosures, the wording of financial documents, and the duties owed to investors or lenders. The firm handles this work for both plaintiffs and defendants, so it can act for a company facing claims or for a party bringing them. Cases like these can carry heavy document loads and expert testimony on how money moved.

Labor and employment disputes and landlord and tenant matters round out the litigation list. Employment cases can involve claims over pay, discrimination, or the terms of a departure, and they often start with an administrative step before a court hears them. Landlord and tenant disputes tend to move faster, since leases and payment records frame most of the questions. Contract claims run through all of these, because a written agreement usually anchors the argument.

How the team is built

Fourteen attorneys appear on the firm's roster across the Fort Lauderdale and Tampa offices. Several carry published biographies that set out their focus. The biographies use shareholder and partner titles for the firm's senior lawyers.

Founders and shareholders

Benjamin E. Olive is the founding partner and managing shareholder. He concentrates on complex corporate, commercial, and real estate related litigation. He earned a science degree from the College of William and Mary in 1997 and a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2000.

Robert B. Judd is a shareholder whose work centers on probate and trust matters, real property, trust administration, probate litigation, and estate planning. He holds a business degree from The American University and a law degree from Catholic University. Christian A. Petersen joined the firm in 2013 and handles complex commercial and construction litigation, contract and business disputes, real estate litigation, and creditor representation in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings. He came to the firm from a shareholder role in the business litigation group at Gunster.

Litigation and real estate attorneys

Kristy E. Armada works on business litigation, employment litigation defense, and real estate matters. She graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2002, and she speaks English and Spanish, which helps clients who would rather discuss a case in Spanish. Stephen V. Hoffman focuses on real estate and land use. His work covers transactions and development, property due diligence, land acquisition, closing and settlement, title insurance, and permitting, and he holds both engineering and law degrees.

Seven more attorneys fill out the roster: Mason A. Bo, James M. Buis, Kevin Z. Jacobs, Christian R. Leto, Victoria Grace Revier, Matthew C. Sanchez, and Evan A. Thomas. The site labels each as an attorney.

Real estate and estate planning

Away from the courtroom, the firm advises on real estate and estate planning. Robert B. Judd's practice covers estate planning and trust administration, along with probate litigation when relatives dispute an estate. Stephen V. Hoffman's real estate work runs to development and land use, areas that touch permitting and governmental approvals.

A typical real estate closing moves through several steps. The buyer's lawyer reviews title, checks for liens or easements, and confirms that permits and approvals are in order before funds change hands. Hoffman's background in due diligence and title insurance maps onto that work, and his engineering training can help when a project involves development or land use questions.

Real estate matters at the firm cover both transactions and litigation. A client might use the firm to close a purchase and return later if a title or boundary question turns into a dispute. That overlap between transactional and litigation lawyers can shorten the handoff when a deal goes wrong.

How these matters tend to proceed

Prospective clients usually want a sense of how such cases move. Commercial litigation opens with pleadings, then runs through discovery, where each side exchanges documents and takes depositions. Many disputes settle once the facts are on the table. The firm's stated use of pre-litigation assessment fits that pattern, since an early read on the merits can shape whether a case settles or goes forward.

Class action and multidistrict cases follow a longer arc. A court first decides whether a group of claims can proceed together as a class, a step that can shape the whole case. Multidistrict litigation then centralizes related federal suits before one judge, who manages shared discovery before any case returns to its home court for trial. Defending a corporation through that sequence calls for steady record-keeping and coordination among co-defendants, which is the work the firm names on its home page.

Estate planning follows a calmer route. A lawyer gathers a client's assets and goals, then drafts wills, trusts, and related documents. Probate and trust administration come later, after a death, when the plan meets the court. As a reviewer, I read the firm's pairing of estate planning with probate litigation as a sign it can handle both the drafting and any court fight that follows.

The litigation group represents both plaintiffs and defendants, and it works matters at the pre-litigation stage and through trial. The firm keeps that capacity in two Florida cities, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, and both offices draw on the same fourteen attorneys.