THE EAST COAST ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS: LESSER,LESSER, LANDY & SMITH PLLC and JAMIE HUBER, PA

Barry Nelson and Mindy Mora Biographies

Barry Nelson Bio

Barry A. Nelson, a Florida Bar Board Certified Tax and Wills and Trusts and Estates Attorney, is a shareholder in the law firm of Nelson & Nelson, P.A. in North Miami Beach, Florida. He practices in the areas of tax, estate planning and administration, asset protection, fiduciary litigation, partnerships and business law. He provides counsel to high net worth individuals and families focusing on income, estate and gift tax planning and assists business owners to most effectively pass their ownership interests from one generation to the next. He assists business owners, physicians and other professionals in tax, estate and asset protection planning. As the father of a child with autism, Mr. Nelson combines his legal skills with compassion and understanding in the preparation of Special Needs Trusts for children with disabilities.

Mr. Nelson has been listed in Best Lawyers in America^® since 1995 and was named their 2015 Miami Trusts and Estates “Lawyer of the Year.” He has been named in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a leading estate planning attorney in Florida. Since 2010, he has been listed as one of less than 10 lawyers receiving their highest rating of “Band 1” in the Florida Estate Planning category. Mr. Nelson has been a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Rated Lawyer for over 25 years. He has been listed as a top Florida attorney in Florida Super Lawyers since 2006 and in The South Florida Legal Guide since 2005.

Mr. Nelson is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and served as Chairman of its Asset Protection Committee from 2009 to 2012. He is active in professional organizations and frequently serves as a consultant for other attorneys and certified public accountants on complex tax and asset protection issues. He has published numerous articles in professional publications and he lectures extensively for professional organizations such as ACTEC, the Florida Bar and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has presented at the University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, the Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute and the Southern Federal Tax Institute.

As the Founding Chairman of the Asset Preservation Committee of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar from 2004-2007 he introduced and coordinated a project to write a treatise authored by committee members entitled Asset Protection in Florida (Florida Bar CLE 2008, 2nd Edition 2011). Mr. Nelson wrote Chapter 5 entitled “Homestead: Creditor Issues.”

Mr. Nelson served as an adjunct professor for the University of Miami School of Law LL.M. in Taxation program from 1998-2009 and as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami’s Graduate Department of Accounting from 1978-1995. He is a past President of the Greater Miami Tax Institute.

Mr. Nelson is a co-founder and current Board Member of the Victory Center for Autism and Behavioral Challenges (a not-for-profit corporation) and served as Board Chairman from 2000-2008.

Mindy Mora Bi0

Biography for:
Mindy A. Mora
Partner at Bilzin Sumberg

Mindy A. Mora, partner in the Business Finance & Restructuring group at Bilzin Sumberg, focuses her practice on creditor´s rights, workouts, bankruptcy and commercial loan transactions, counseling high visibility clients in many major bankruptcy cases and restructuring efforts, both nationally and in Florida.  Mindy regularly represents secured creditors, debtors, committees, trustees, and purchasers of assets, as well as parties to all types of bankruptcy litigation.  In addition, Mindy serves as regional outside counsel for a nationally known CMBS special servicer, supervising their foreclosure and bankruptcy cases throughout the Southeast and Midwest.  Mindy also oversees her firm's issuance of closing opinions on bankruptcy and UCC-related issues, such as non-consolidation of single purpose borrowers with other entities.

In 2014, in light of her professional achievements, Mindy was named a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.  Mindy previously served as Chair of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar, which represents the interests of over 5,000 business lawyers within the State of Florida.  Mindy has been active in the development of Florida’s commercial laws, having chaired the Florida Bar Task Force that sponsored the 2007 revisions of the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors Statute (chapter 727, Florida Statutes).  She has also co-sponsored the 1997 revisions to Article 8 and 1999 revisions to Article 9, Uniform Commercial Code (chapters 678 and 679, Florida Statutes).  Mindy has often lectured and published articles about insolvency, restructuring and commercial lending.

Mindy has appeared on behalf of secured and unsecured creditors, committees, debtors, equity, trustees and purchasers of assets in numerous bankruptcy cases under chapters 11 and 7 including Florida Gaming Corporation, Cabi SMA Tower I, LLLP, Cabi New River, LLC, Cabi 301 LLLP, Cabi Downtown, LLC, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, LLC, ITG Vegas, Inc., Circuit City Stores, Inc., Tradewinds Airlines, Inc., America Capital Corporation, SunCruz Casinos, LLC, Atlas Air, Inc., In re Abraham D. Gosman, Viasource Communications, Inc., USA Floral Corporation, Universal Gym Equipment, and BMJ Medical Management, Inc., to name but a few.

Mindy is a member of the Business Law Sections of the American Bar Association and The Florida Bar Association, as well as the Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys, the Bankruptcy Bar Association of South Florida and the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation.

Mindy is a graduate of George Washington University, from which she received a B.B.A. with a concentration in Finance (1979).  She received her law degree from New York University (J.D., 1982).

Mindy has been listed in Chambers USA, Restructuring and Bankruptcy, in Band 1, since 2004, and in the Best Lawyers in America, Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights/Insolvency & Reorganization Law, since 2006.  She has been named one of the top 50 Women Florida Super Lawyers, one of the top 100 Florida Super Lawyers, and a top lawyer by South Florida Legal Guide since 2004.  Mindy is is rated as AV^® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5.0, Martindale Hubbell’s highest level of peer recognition for ethical standards and professional abilities.