Petroleum Marketing Counseling and Litigation
Geoff Schwartz, Ken Tucker, Claude Walker, Bob Fingar, and Dan Kuhn, make up the firm's petroleum practice group. We have provided legal services to the Florida Petroleum Marketing and Convenience Store Association for 27 years. Petroleum marketing and its related businesses have their own set of unique challenges, many of which involve regulatory compliance. Over the years we have tailored the legal services we provide to help petroleum marketers successfully meet those challenges.
We endeavor to provide a complete array of legal services to our petroleum clients. Our lawyers have been at the forefront of the development of Florida's petroleum cleanup programs. These programs have served as the model for other cleanup programs throughout the nation. Since the development of Florida's cleanup programs in 1986, we have represented petroleum marketers, property owners, insurance carriers, and environmental consultants in a wide range of matters involving contamination cleanup and reimbursement, including the development of all Florida Department of Environmental Protection rules implementing the contamination remediation programs.
We have also worked closely with the Florida Department of Revenue in revising the fuel tax statutes and rules and the manner in which the fuel tax laws are administered. We regularly assist members of the petroleum industry in fuel tax and sales tax matters. Additionally, we have represented petroleum clients in a variety of regulatory matters before the Florida Department of Legal Affairs and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
An important area in which we assist petroleum marketers is the review and preparation of the wide variety of contracts, leases, franchise agreements, and the like that form the basis for the business relationships up and down the distribution chain. Likewise, we have also developed significant expertise in assisting marketers in buying and selling of petroleum properties and related assets. As a Florida Board Certified Real Estate attorney, Claude combines his real estate expertise with Ken and Geoff's years of industry experience to provide comprehensive representation of marketers in these often complicated transactions.
We also work closely with the lawyers in our litigation group to provide our petroleum clients with the best possible assistance in a variety of disputes ranging from defending landowners against contamination claims brought by state and federal agencies and third parties, to defending and prosecuting actions involving anti-trust, franchise law, contract claims, and insurance coverage claims for petroleum contamination.
Another important thing we have learned over the years is that petroleum marketers often have a simple question that can be answered by a simple phone call or an e-mail. That is why we have had the Petroleum Hotline (1-800-226-7091) available for years. At no charge to FPMA members, lawyers in our practice group are available by phone or e-mail to provide legal counseling in a variety of areas. With the Petroleum Hotline, talking to your lawyer has never been easier.
Biographical Sketches
Geoff Schwartz is a senior shareholder with the firm. Geoff received both his law degree and MBA degree from Florida State University in 1980. For the past 27 years, Geoff has provided a wide variety of legal services to members of the petroleum industry, not only in Florida but throughout the nation. From commercial transactions, large and small, to complex litigation in federal and state courts, Geoff's practice is tailored to meet the twenty-first century needs of petroleum marketers. Geoff regularly publishes articles in petroleum trade publications and conducts seminars on cutting edge issues important to the firm's petroleum clients. Geoff is AV® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Ken Tucker is Of Counsel with the firm and has concentrated in environmental law for over 30 years. His practice includes cleanup claims concerning contaminated groundwater, environmental permitting, and petroleum underground storage tanks regulation and compliance. He is environmental counsel to the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire control in Orlando. He was former Deputy Attorney General for the State of Florida, is AV® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and in 2006 was selected as an environmental Super Lawyer. Ken participated in the drafting of most of DEP's storage tank rules and statutes.
Claude Walker has been a shareholder with the firm since 2000. Claude's practice is concentrated in the areas of real estate, commercial transactions, wills and probate and petroleum. He is a Board Certified Real Estate Lawyer, and a 1979 graduate of Florida State University with a degree in accounting. Claude is a certified public accountant (inactive in 2004). Claude received his law degree from Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, located in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1983. Following law school he worked for Deloitte & Touche, (a Big "4" Accounting Firm) as a Senior Tax Consultant in the Tampa, Florida office. He subsequently entered the private practice of law and has been practicing primarily in the areas of real estate, taxation and estate planning for the past t 24 years. His real estate experience includes representation of clients in the sale, acquisition and financing of petroleum related sites, leasing of sites for the sale of petroleum products, and providing title insurance to owners and lenders for petroleum sites. He is certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in the area of real estate law. Claude is AV® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Bob Fingar is Of Counsel to the firm and has over 20 years representing storage tank facility owners and operators, other responsible parties, and cleanup contractors in compliance, real estate, insurance coverage, site remediation, and cleanup funding matters. On behalf of the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, he participated in the development of Florida’s state restoration funding assistance programs, the transition to private cleanup insurance, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Storage Tank regulation and Cleanup Criteria rules. He is a member of the Florida Bar, and in 2004-2005, served as Chair of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section.
Dan Kuhn has been an attorney with the firm since 2004, and has a strong interest in business and commercial matters. Dan has focused on business and commercial issues throughout his higher education, earning Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration degrees from Stetson University, as well as his law degree from Stetson University. Since joining the firm, Dan has been primarily involved in the firm's litigation section. Dan has worked on cases involving a wide range of issues, including insurance coverage issues, contract disputes, and commercial and business disputes.
