Atherton Galardi Mullen & Reeder PLLC

We are excited to announce that Scott Atherton, Joseph G. Galardi, and Martin Reeder have been selected by their peers to be recognized in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for their high-stakes commercial litigation practices.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers recognitions are compiled based on an exhaustive Purely Peer Review® evaluation. For the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, more than 23 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 80,000 leading lawyers included in the milestone 31st edition. Attorneys on this list are recognized not only for their legal expertise, but also for their ethics and professionalism of the highest standard.

To learn more about Scott, Joe and Martin’s practices, please visit: https://www.athertonlg.com/attorneys/

Please join us in congratulating Scott Atherton and Joseph Galardi for their inclusion in the 2024 Florida Super Lawyers list based upon their complex civil litigation practices. The “Super Lawyer” distinction is given to only 5 percent or less of lawyers in each state and it is the result of third-party nominations, independent research and peer evaluations. To learn more about Scott and Joe’s past cases and their practices, please click here [https://www.athertonlg.com/attorneys/]

Atherton Galardi Trial Victory

Congratulations to Atherton Galardi partner Joe Galardi for his trial victory on behalf of the seller in a hotly contested post-closing M&A dispute. Joe’s client founded a 401(k) third party administrator firm that served over one thousand multiple and single employer plans. Joe’s client sold the firm to a buyer in the same industry, but the buyer refused to pay the seller certain post-closing working capital adjustments and purchase price earn-out holdbacks. The buyer also asserted several indemnity and fraud claims against the client, seeking a return of one-third of the purchase price and additional damages for allegedly lost post-sale customer revenue. After a one-week bench trial, which included dueling accounting experts, the Court found in favor of Joe’s client on all his claims, awarding over a million dollars in damages plus attorneys’ fees; the Court rejected all the buyer’s claims. Congratulations to Joe on this hard-fought win, and to our new partner, Pete Maskow, who assisted with post-trial briefing. More information about the firm is available at: www.athertonlg.com.

Atherton Galardi Defeats Delaware Chancery Court Claim

Congratulations to Atherton Galardi partners Scott Atherton and Terence Mullen, and their local counsel Jesse Noa of Potter Anderson, for securing a dismissal with prejudice of a Delaware Chancery Court claim filed against their client, a pharmaceutical company which has FDA approval to sell a certain ADHD drug. In this high stakes licensing agreement litigation, the opposing party that licensed the right to sell the drug from our client filed a claim attempting to reform the parties’ agreement so it no longer had to honor a $16 million royalty guarantee and pay millions in additional future royalties to our client in perpetuity as the parties previously agreed. Although certain other claims between the parties remain pending in the Delaware Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division, Atherton Galardi defeated this Chancery Court claim with prejudice. Congratulations to Scott, Terry and the team on this victory. More information about the firm is available at: www.athertonlg.com.

Atherton Galardi Defeats Federal Court Injunction and Prevails in Arbitration

Congratulations to Atherton Galardi partners Scott Atherton and Brittany Tarazona, and their co-counsel Nicole Atkinson of Gunster, for their successful representation of a prominent regional Plaintiff’s firm in high stakes federal court litigation and arbitration. Those cases involved disputes over more than $50 million in attorneys’ fees derived from disability benefits claims filed on behalf of approximately 8,700 disabled U.S. veterans. Scott and team defeated a federal court injunction sought by the opposing party and subsequently prevailed in arbitration by securing a multi-million-dollar recovery and additional declaratory judgments which will require the opposing party to pay millions more in the future. Congratulations to the team on this win. For more information about Atherton Galardi’s practice areas, please visit: https://www. athertonlg.com/attorneys/.

Meet Our New Partner Pete Maskow



We are pleased to welcome our new partner Peter (Pete) Maskow to the firm. Prior to joining Atherton Galardi, Pete worked for a national litigation firm and served as an in-house litigation director for an international company. His experience as courtroom counsel, boardroom advisor, and business partner gives him a unique ability to deliver value to clients.

Please join us in welcoming Pete to the firm where he will continue representing clients in complex business cases, corporate governance disputes, class actions, and real estate litigation. To learn more about Pete or the firm, please click here: www.athertonlg.com.

Attorney Brittany Tarazona Promoted to Partner

The firm is pleased to announce that attorney Brittany Tarazona has been promoted to Partner. After serving as a judicial intern for U.S. District Court Judge Paul Huck and Judge Robin Rosenberg, Brittany passed the Florida and New York Bars and practiced litigation in the New York office of an Am Law 100 firm. Since joining Atherton Galardi, Brittany has focused her practice on complex commercial litigation, executive compensation disputes, and employment cases. She has done great work for clients in a broad range of industries, and we are delighted to have her as our partner.

Please join us in congratulating Brittany on this well-deserved promotion. To learn more about Brittany or the firm, please click here: www.athertonlg.com.

Atherton Galardi Wins Appeal for Sellers in M&A Litigation

Congratulations to Atherton Galardi partners Scott Atherton and Terry Mullen who, along with co-counsel Brian Spiro and Mike Caddell, secured an appellate victory on behalf of the sellers in a hotly contested post-closing M&A dispute arising from a merger transaction. The parties’ dispute centers on the sellers’ alleged post-closing indemnity obligations to the buyer arising from a third-party claim which sought damages in excess of $20 million against the buyer after the merger closed. While several disputes remain between the parties, Scott, Terry, and their co-counsel at Comiter Singer and Caddell & Chapman, won a ruling from the trial court confirming that the seller waived certain dispute resolution provisions contained in the parties’ merger agreement and successfully defended that ruling before Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal. Congratulations to the team on this victory. For more information about Atherton Galardi’s practice areas, click here: https://www.athertonlg.com/practice-areas/

Congratulations to Scott Atherton for co-authoring an article published in Evolution and Behavior, the official journal of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. Evolution and Human Behavior is an interdisciplinary journal, presenting research reports and theory in which evolutionary perspectives are brought to bear on the study of human behavior. The article, titled “Systematic error measurement: Treating item errors as data,” proposes a method of analyzing purported error data generated in scientific studies to more meaningfully verify the accuracy of studies and draw additional observations from data sets that are often disregarded under prevailing practices. Scott, a practicing attorney and former law school professor, contributed to the article along with Michael J. Beatty, Ph.D., Steven G. Shenouda, Ph.D., Debra L. Lieberman, Ph.D., and Faith K. Siem. The full article is available at [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S109051382300096X]

Congratulations to Atherton Galardi partner Martin Reeder and Ballard Spahr partner Charles (Chuck) Tobin for winning a series of trial and appellate court victories on behalf of CNN in a high-stakes litigation. Their clients, CNN, Anderson Cooper, and other media personnel, were sued in the case by a pediatric heart surgeon who asserted defamation claims arising from CNN's news coverage concerning certain infant deaths at St. Mary's Hospital. Martin and Chuck previously obtained a final summary judgment dismissing Anderson Cooper from the case. They subsequently eliminated the plaintiff's punitive damages claim against CNN on appeal and have now obtained another final summary judgment on behalf of CNN and all other remaining defendants. After more than 7 years of litigation, 70 depositions, and extensive trial and appellate proceedings, Martin and Chuck ultimately obtained total victory for all their media clients in this case. The plaintiff was represented by Clare Locke, the same firm that recently secured a $786.5 million dollar settlement from Fox News on behalf of Dominion Voting. Congratulations to Martin and Chuck for prevailing in this hard-fought, high-stakes case.

To learn more about our firm and its practice areas, please visit www.athertonlg.com

We are pleased to announce that our firm has been recognized as one of the 2024 "Best Law Firms" by U.S. News & World Report – Best Lawyers® for the West Palm Beach metropolitan area, earning a “Tier 1” ranking in commercial litigation. Our commercial litigation practice represents clients in corporate governance disputes, M&A litigation, securities fraud cases, executive compensation disputes, business breakups, noncompete/trade secret actions, and a wide range of business torts.

Firms included in the 2024 "Best Law Firms" list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Receiving a tier designation reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.

We are honored to receive this Tier 1 ranking and look forward to continuing our work vigorously representing both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial cases. To learn more about our firm and its practice areas, please click here: www.athertonlg.com.

Appellate Victory for Atherton Galardi Client in High Stakes Corporate Control Case

Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal has affirmed the trial victory Joe Galardi, Scott Atherton, and Alaina Karsten obtained on behalf of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, Inc. (the “Foundation”) in a $100 million corporate control case. Congratulations to Joe, Scott and Alaina, and their appellate co-counsel Stuart Singer, Sashi Bach, and Jesse Panuccio of Boise Schiller Flexner LLP, on this win. The appellant, Florida Atlantic University (“FAU”), was represented by GrayRobinson, P.A. Stuart argued the appellate case on behalf of the Foundation. FAU has now filed a further appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.

Atherton Galardi Gets Securities Fraud Claims Dismissed With Prejudice


Congratulations to Scott Atherton and Terry Mullen for obtaining a dismissal with prejudice of state and federal securities fraud claims asserted by an institutional investor against the Founder, Chairman and CEO of a public company. Those purported securities fraud claims arose from alleged misrepresentations regarding the value of the public company’s intellectual property, forward looking revenue projections, and manufacturing capabilities. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the plaintiff could not establish loss causation or otherwise connect declines in the company’s stock price to the misrepresentations the plaintiff alleged. For more information about the firm’s shareholder and securities disputes practice, please click here [https://www.athertonlg.com/practice-areas/practice-shareholder-and-securities/]

Four AGMR Partners Selected as 2023 “Top Lawyers”

Congratulations to AGMR partners Scott Atherton, Joe Galardi, Alaina Karsten, and Martin Reeder for their selection as 2023 “Top Lawyers” by Palm Beach Illustrated. They were collectively selected for Bet-the-Business Litigation, Business/Corporate, Labor and Employment, Appellate Practice, and First Amendment Law.

To learn more about AGMR’s practice areas, please click here https://www.athertonlg.com/business/

We are pleased to announce that Scott Atherton, Joseph G. Galardi, Alaina Karsten, and L. Martin Reeder, Jr. have been selected by their peers to be recognized in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for their high-caliber work in their respective practice areas.

Best Lawyers is one of the oldest and most respected peer-review publications in the legal profession. Attorneys on The Best Lawyers in America list are recognized not only for their legal expertise, but also for their ethics and professionalism of the highest caliber. The list has been published for over three decades, earning the respect of the profession, the media, and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals.

Please join us in congratulating Scott, Joe, Alaina, and Martin on their selection.

Congratulations to Scott Atherton for co-authoring a commentary published in Studies in Intelligence, a journal published by The National Intelligence University (NIU). NIU, formerly known as National Defense Intelligence College, is a federally chartered research university dedicated to offering advanced interdisciplinary degrees to U.S. citizens who hold Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS-SCI) security clearances and are employed by the U.S. Government in national security positions. The unclassified commentary, titled “Transformational Learning Theory and Alternatives to Obstacles in the Development of Intelligence Professionals,” identifies limitations inherent in Transformational Learning Theory practices currently recommended for certain national intelligence professionals, and offers alternative teaching methodologies to more effectively educate and train NIU students. Scott, a practicing attorney and former law school professor, contributed to the commentary along with authors Steven G. Shenouda, Ph.D., Debra L. Lieberman, Ph.D., Michael J. Beatty, Ph.D., and Craigory M. Brown, M.B.A. The full commentary is available at Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 67, No. 2 (June 2023)

Please join us in congratulating Scott Atherton, Joseph G. Galardi, and Alaina Karsten for their selection as 2023 Florida Super Lawyers based upon their complex civil litigation practices. More information about their practices are available here [https://www.athertonlg.com/attorneys/]

Victory for AGMR Clients Anderson Cooper and Dana Ford

Congratulations to AGMR partner Martin Reeder and Ballard Spahr partner Charles (Chuck) Tobin for their decisive wins on behalf of CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and CNN journalist Dana Ford. Cooper and Ford were sued in a hotly contested defamation case filed by a pediatric heart surgeon seeking substantial compensatory and punitive damages. The surgeon was referenced in a series of CNN news reports discussing safety concerns and infant mortality rates at St. Mary’s Hospital in West Palm Beach. After more than 7 years of litigation, the Court determined that the surgeon could not meet his burden of establishing that either Mr. Cooper or Ms. Ford acted negligently in their news reporting and entered summary judgments in their favor. Please join us in congratulating Martin and Chuck on this major win.

As 2022 comes to a close, we want to thank all our clients, friends, and referral sources for the opportunity to represent your interests this past year. Please click the following link which summarizes some of the matters we had the privilege of handling for you in 2022. We hope to continue serving you for many more years to come.

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Atherton-Galardi---2022-Executive-Summary.html?soid=1123123347384&aid=vtvl0Hc9Tqs

We are pleased to welcome associate attorney Nadine Edenfield to the firm. Nadine previously served as a judicial clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Sheri Polster Chappell, as a trial law clerk for Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit, and as a business litigation associate for a national law firm. Nadine is a “double gator,” having received both a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Florida. Nadine also obtained a M.A. in English Literature from New York University.

Please join us in welcoming Nadine to the firm where she will continue representing clients in business litigation cases, including corporate governance disputes, noncompete actions, and other complex civil claims. To learn more about Nadine or the firm, please click here: www.athertonlg.com.

We are pleased to announce that our firm was awarded a metropolitan “Tier 1” ranking in the 2023 “Best Law Firms” survey by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®. We received this top ranking for our West Palm Beach-based commercial litigation practice representing clients in corporate governance disputes, M&A litigation, securities fraud cases, executive compensation disputes, business breakups, noncompete/trade secret actions, and a wide range of business torts.

These rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. Clients and peers were asked to evaluate firms based on the following criteria: responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost effectiveness, integrity and civility, as well as whether they would refer a matter to the firm or consider the firm a worthy competitor.

We are honored to receive this Tier 1 ranking and look forward to continuing our work vigorously representing both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial cases. To learn more about our firm and its practice areas, please click here: www.athertonlg.com.

Atherton Galardi Proudly Supports the Women's Foundation of Florida

The Women's Foundation of Florida empowers women and girls to be leaders in their communities by investing in their ideas and helping positively affect the economic, political, and social status of women and girls across the state. Atherton Galardi is a proud supporter of the Women’s Foundation and was pleased to serve as the Grand Sponsor for the Foundation’s annual Raise the Bar (https://www.womensfoundationfl.org/rtb22.htmlfundraising) fundraising event. We are especially proud of our partner Alaina Karsten who serves on the Foundation’s committee and mentors many young women and professionals in the community.

For those who are interested in learning more about the Foundation, the resources it offers, or how to get involved, please click here: https://www.womensfoundationfl.org/get-involved.html

Federal Court Orders Partial Release of Trump Probable Cause Affidavit - Congratulations to Atherton Galardi partner Martin Reeder who, along with other media lawyers, prevailed on his client’s motion to unseal portions of the probable cause affidavit which was offered in support of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. A copy of the partially unsealed probable cause affidavit is available here:

Read the unsealed redacted Mar-a-Lago affidavit The Justice Department has made public a redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago affidavit.

Joseph G. Galardi & Scott Atherton have been selected by their peers to be recognized in the 29th edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for their high-caliber work in Commercial Litigation.

Attorneys on The Best Lawyers in America list are grouped by geographic region and practice area. They are reviewed by their peers on the basis of professional expertise and undergo an authentication process to ensure that they are in current practice and in good standing. The list has been published for over three decades, earning the respect of the profession, the media, and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals.

Please join us in congratulating Joe and Scott on their selection.

Atherton Galardi Media Client Permitted to Intervene in Trump Search Warrant Controversy

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhardt granted a motion to intervene filed by Atherton Galardi partner Martin Reeder on behalf of The Palm Beach Post in the Mar-a-Lago search warrant case. Martin, who regularly represents national, regional, and local news organizations, argued on behalf of The Post that the public has a presumptive right of access to warrant-related court records. These include the warrant itself which identifies the potential crimes the government is investigating, the probable cause affidavit which identifies the evidence the government relied upon to persuade the court to issue the warrant, and the inventory of property seized pursuant to the warrant. The warrant and the property inventory have now been released. Late yesterday afternoon, the government filed a memorandum opposing public access to the probable cause affidavit, arguing that public disclosure of the currently sealed affidavit will be detrimental to the government’s ongoing criminal investigation. A copy of the government’s opposition brief is available here: https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000182-a333-dc87-a5ea-e73f29010000 The court has invited the media to file a memorandum responding to the government's arguments by 9:00 a.m. Thursday, August 18, and set a hearing for 1:00 p.m. that same day.

Scott Atherton and Joseph G. Galardi have been named to Florida Trend’s prestigious Florida Legal Elite list. Less than 2% of active Florida Bar members practicing in Florida appear among the Florida Legal Elite. To qualify, the state’s top licensed and practicing attorneys are selected by their peers. Please congratulate Scott and Joe on their selections.

Welcome Back Brittany Tarazona! We are pleased to announce that Brittany Tarazona has rejoined the firm as an Of Counsel attorney. After serving as a Judicial Intern for U.S. District Judge Paul Huck and Judge Robin Rosenberg, Brittany practiced business litigation and employment law with the firm for four years. Brittany left the firm so she could move to New York with her husband who had been accepted into a highly sought-after orthopedic medical residency. After passing the New York Bar, Brittany primarily practiced management-side employment litigation in the New York office of an Am Law 100 law firm.

Please join us in welcoming Brittany back to the firm where she will continue handling complex business cases and employment law matters for our clients. The firm now has attorneys licensed in Florida, New York, New Jersey, and South Carolina. To learn more about Brittany or the firm, please click here: www.athertonlg.com.

Shareholders Scott Atherton and L. Martin Reeder have been selected to receive the AV Preeminent Rating® - Judicial Edition from Martindale-Hubbell for 2022. This is Martindale-Hubbell’s highest possible rating awarded to lawyers based on the confidential opinions of not only their practicing peers, but also members of the Judiciary familiar with their work. Please join us in congratulating Scott and Martin on their selection.

US Congress Passes Bill Banning Forced Confidential Arbitration

A product of the movement, the United States Congress has just passed a bill preventing companies from forcing certain claims for sexual harassment and assault into confidential arbitration unless the alleged victim agrees. This bill, which bipartisan lawmakers agreed was long overdue, gives alleged victims the power to pursue their claims in a public Court proceeding if that is their wish, while also preserving the accused’s right to fully defend themselves in Court. Should you have questions about arbitration agreements or sexual harassment/assault claims, please feel free to contact us at www.athertonlg.com.

Atherton Galardi Mullen & Reeder PLLC, is proud to sponsor the F. Malcolm Cunningham, Sr. Bar Association’s 2022 William M. Holland Scholarship Celebration. The annual signature celebration is named after the first African-American attorney in Palm Beach County and civil rights pioneer, William H. Holland. The event enables the F. Malcolm Cunningham, Sr. Bar Association to award Florida Bar examination course preparation scholarships to well-deserving 3rd year law students who are scheduled to take the July bar examination. For more information on supporting this organization, please visit https://cunninghambar.org/holland/.