Current Employment Position(s)

Associate

Lawyer Overview

Michael Vitale practices in the complex business litigation group, specializing in business torts, contract law, appeals, real estate and land use litigation, complex litigation, construction litigation, intellectual property litigation and constitutional and federal civil tort defense.

Samples of significant representations include the following:

• In 2009, Mr. Vitale was part of a trial team that secured a $31.7 million jury verdict in a federal shareholder derivative action, and obtained a full dismissal of a fraud and tort state court action against a central Florida home builder. Mr. Vitale also secured a voluntary dismissal of a multimillion-dollar federal defamation suit against a major film distributor.
• In 2008, Mr. Vitale successfully authored a brief obtaining an appellate reversal on behalf of a Florida construction firm in a Small Business Administration (SBA) appeal of an adverse determination that a competing firm qualified for certain federal bid preferences. Mr. Vitale also assisted an out-of-state general contractor in preserving a near seven-figure federal court judgment throughout the appellate process.
• In 2007, Mr. Vitale assisted a commercial real estate developer in obtaining summary judgment in a class action lawsuit alleging breach of contract and various business torts in connection with a high-rise condominium project.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Vitale served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Patricia C. Fawsett, Chief United States District Court Judge for the Middle District of Florida. In this capacity, Mr. Vitale drafted numerous orders, opinions, judgments and legal memoranda, and advised the court on a variety of issues of Florida state and federal law.

During law school, Mr. Vitale served as the Symposium Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review, in which his note on emerging evidentiary issues in punitive damages litigation was published in the May 2005 issue. Mr. Vitale was also the recipient of the Vanderbilt University Law School’s William A. McDonnell Scholarship Award.

Areas of Practice

• Litigation: Commercial

Bar Admissions

• U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 2008
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida, 2008
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 2007
• Florida, 2005

Past Employment Positions

• Honorable Patricia C. Fawsett, Chief United States District Court Judge for the Middle District of Florida, Judicial Law Clerk

Education

• Vanderbilt University Law School, Nashville, Tennessee, 2005
  J.D.
  Honors: Dean's List
  Honors: Vanderbilt University Law School's William A. McDonnell Scholarship Award
  
  Law Review: Vanderbilt Law Review, Editor
• The Florida State University, 2002
  B.A.
  Honors: summa cum laude
  Honors: With Honors
  Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
  Major: American Studies
  Major: Political Science

Address

SunTrust Center, Suite 2300
200 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32801-3432

Phones

(407) 649-4083

Faxes

(407) 841-0168

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.bakerlaw.com