St. Pete law firm launches new business-focused practice group

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St. Petersburg-based law firm Englander Fischer has created a new regulatory and compliance practice group that will be headed by veteran attorney Dionne Fajardo, who brings 30 years of experience in the financial services industry to the role, in addition to 17 years of experience specifically in regulatory and compliance law.

Fajardo, according to a news release, has represented clients in cases that have gone to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry and Regulatory Authority and state securities and insurance departments. 

Englander Fischer attorneys John Waechter and Jon Mayhugh, the release states, will join Fajardo in the firm’s regulatory and compliance group.

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Englander Fischer has also expanded its business litigation team with the hiring of Kent Whittemore, who will work in the firm’s complex litigation section, handling class-action lawsuits as well as other types of business, commercial and insurance cases. Whittemore, the release states, is the former president of the St. Pete Bar Association, former president of the Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association, former director of the Florida Justice Association and director of the Southern Trial Lawyers Association.

Joelle Bordeaux and Gabrielle Bacetti, the release states, have also joined Englander Fischer, adding further depth to the firm’s litigation team. Bordeaux will handle commercial and business litigation matters in state and federal courts as well as in administrative agencies, while Bacetti, who had been practicing with Bordeaux, provides bench strength in the firm’s business litigation and transactional sections.

Englander Fischer, located in downtown St. Pete, was founded more than 40 years ago and has 20 partners and attorneys.