Hirzel Dreyfuss & Dempsey, PLLC

PATRICK G. DEMPSEY, ESQ.

Shareholder

Practice Areas

Business and Commercial Litigation

Securities and Financial Litigation

Patrick Dempsey has practiced law in Florida since 2006. He handles complex commercial disputes for businesses, business owners, and individuals in Florida's circuit courts, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. His practice covers commercial and contract disputes, intellectual property, franchise litigation, securities and investment disputes, real estate and construction litigation, insurance coverage, executive employment disputes, and bankruptcy adversary proceedings.

He has tried jury and non-jury cases in Florida circuit courts, in California superior court, in federal district court, and in federal bankruptcy adversary proceedings, and he has represented clients in arbitrations under American Arbitration Association rules and before FINRA panels. He also handles the appeals arising from his own trial and litigation work.

Patrick was born in Miami and raised in Palm Beach. He attended Stanford University, where he served as systems administrator and Chief Technology Officer for an internet social networking company in San Francisco, and graduated with Distinction. At the University of Virginia School of Law he was Senior Production Editor of the Virginia Law and Business Review, served as President of the Virginia Trial Advocacy Team, and received the Lewis F. Powell Medal for Excellence in Advocacy.

He began his career at Greenberg Traurig, handling arbitrations and complex civil actions involving real estate, securities, construction defect, and corporate disputes. In 2010 he joined Kenny Nachwalter, P.A., a litigation firm in downtown Miami. He founded The PGD Law Firm in 2013, and in December 2015 joined with Leon Hirzel and Andre Dreyfuss to form Hirzel Dreyfuss & Dempsey, PLLC.

Patrick combines his legal practice with a programming and project management background. The firm handles document processing, database construction, and case analysis in house rather than exclusively through outside vendors, which controls cost in matters involving large volumes of electronically stored information.

Trial and Hearing Experience:

Sixteen-day jury trial, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County. Represented a health supplement and vitamin manufacturer and distributor in a matter involving more than thirty claims and counterclaims spanning intellectual property, tort, and contract issues, with $250 million in damages at issue.
Ten-day jury trial, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Alameda, Department 16. Representation of franchisee with multiple locations in Florida and California in the health/fitness sector.
Eight-day jury trial, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County. Represented condominium property owners on multi-million dollar damage claims against a construction company and the building's management company. Obtained an award of fees and costs as prevailing party.
Five-day bench trial, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County. Represented a general contractor against the owner of a residential development. Obtained an award of fees and costs as prevailing party.
Two-day bench trial, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Represented a franchisee in dispute over payment processing systems.
Jury trial, United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Represented an employer in an action under the Fair Labor Standards Act and obtained a defense verdict.
Trial, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County. Represented a national real estate development company on multi-million dollar claims concerning construction defects and mold growth in a property on Palm Beach Island.
Numerous other trial and complex hearing representation.
Arbitration and mediation experience includes proceedings under American Arbitration Association rules and before FINRA arbitration panels.

APPELLATE PRACTICE:

Patrick handles the appeals arising from his own trial and litigation work in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and in the Florida appellate courts. Decided federal appellate matters include:

Peterbrooke Franchising of America, LLC v. Miami Chocolates, LLC, No. 21-10242, 2022 WL 6635136 (11th Cir. Oct. 11, 2022). Represented the prevailing franchisee appellants. The Eleventh Circuit vacated summary judgment entered for the franchisor on its breach of contract and unfair competition claims and on the franchisees' counterclaim, holding that genuine issues of material fact remained as to whether failure to migrate to a required point-of-sale system was a material breach of the franchise agreement. The ABA Forum on Franchising has described the decision as an oft-cited decision in franchise disputes, and built a workshop on materiality in franchise disputes around it at its 2023 Annual Forum.
Represented the plaintiff-appellant in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in an appeal arising from a defamation action against Netflix, Inc., No. 23-10895 (11th Cir. 2023).
Herederos de Roberto Gomez Cabrera, LLC v. Teck Resources Ltd., 43 F.4th 1303 (11th Cir. 2022). Represented the plaintiff-appellant in an action under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act concerning Cuban property confiscated after 1959, against a Canadian mining company. In a published decision, the Eleventh Circuit held that personal jurisdiction under the Fifth Amendment is analyzed under the same minimum contacts standard that applies under the Fourteenth, with the United States as the relevant forum, and affirmed dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction. The decision has been the subject of academic commentary on the reach of Title III and on extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Boigris v. EWC P&T, LLC, 7 F.4th 1079 (11th Cir. 2021). Represented the plaintiff-appellant in an Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act appeal involving domain names resembling a registered mark. The court affirmed the judgment for the defendant.
Lamm v. State Street Bank & Trust Co., 749 F.3d 938 (11th Cir. 2014). Appeared for the defendant-appellee custodian bank. The court affirmed dismissal of claims concerning the bank's contractual and fiduciary duties with respect to securities later shown to be fraudulent.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS:

Business and Commercial Disputes

Represented numerous franchisees in complex litigation with franchisors in Florida State Court, California State Court, and Federal District Courts for the Southern District of Florida and Middle District of Florida.
Represented the plaintiff in a defamation action against Netflix, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Represented the plaintiffs, an aviator and the humanitarian organization he founded, in a defamation action against Netflix, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Represented multiple real estate developers in disputes with former business partners, including a matter in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County over the ownership and control of six residential developments, involving claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and accounting.
Represented former officers and directors of subsidiaries of a national residential development company in adversary proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, defending claims for breach of fiduciary duty and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty.

Intellectual Property

Represented an international consumer products company in trademark and Lanham Act disputes in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and in Florida circuit courts.
Represented the defendants and counterclaimants in a trademark action brought by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Represented the plaintiff in a trademark action against Amazon.com, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Represents the defendants, a music label and its publishing affiliate, in a trademark action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Securities, Financial, and Class Actions

Represented a publicly traded corporation and several of its officers in defending a putative securities class action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Represented three national retail stores in a nationwide consumer class action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida concerning digital copies of DVDs and Blu-rays.
Represented a third-party defendant in insurance coverage litigation between a financial institution and its insurer in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, obtaining a full dismissal of the client from the litigation.
Represented an airline fuel provider in class action litigation in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County, involving fraud and RICO claims brought by alleged customers.

Franchise and Bankruptcy

Represented multiple franchisees in core bankruptcy proceedings and adversary proceedings arising from the bankruptcy of an international restaurant franchisor.
Represented three investors in an adversary proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida involving claims for personal guaranty liability and related defenses.

Real Estate and Construction

Represented a development trust and its trustee in litigation in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, Lee County, involving multiple lenders, other development companies, the Florida Department of Transportation, and individual counterclaimants, concerning foreclosure rights, priority of interests, inverse condemnation, fraud, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Represented multiple real estate developers in claims under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act brought by purchasers seeking rescission and damages, in the Ninth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Judicial Circuits.

Publications and Presentations:

"Social Media in the 21st Century -- Legal Minefields in the Social Network," Accredited CLE Presentation and Publication of Course Materials, May 10, 2011.
"Introducing Internet Evidence: The Wayback Machine, Google Search Results, & Social Media," Accredited CLE Presentation and Publication of Course Materials, August 20, 2010.

ADMITTED TO PRACTICE:

Florida (2006) (Fla. Bar # 27676)
U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (2008)
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (2011)
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida

EDUCATION:

J.D., University of Virginia School of Law (2006)
B.A., Stanford University, (with Distinction) (2003)

Business and legal experience

Hirzel Dreyfuss & Dempsey PLLC (Shareholder, 2015-present)
The PGD Law Firm LLC (Managing Attorney, 2013 - 2016)
Kenny Nachwalter P.A. (Attorney, 2010 to 2013)
Greenberg Traurig LLP (Attorney, 2006 to 2010)
GroupEngines.com (Chief Technology Officer and Systems Admin, 1999-2001)

CONTACT:

Patrick G. Dempsey, Esq.
Hirzel Dreyfuss & Dempsey, PLLC
The Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Avenue, Suite 240
Coral Gables, Florida 33134

Telephone: (305) 615-1617
Email: dempsey@hddlawfirm.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/patrickdempseylaw