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Stuart A. Davidson is admitted to practice law in the state courts of Florida, as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida and the Northern District of Texas, the Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Davidson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the State University of New York at Geneseo. He then earned his Juris Doctor degree, summa cum laude, from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center, where he graduated in the top 3% of his class. At Nova Law, he was an Associate Editor of the Nova Law Review, and was the recipient of Book Awards (highest grade) in Trial Advocacy, Criminal Pretrial Practice, and International Law.
Before joining the Firm in 2004, Mr. Davidson was an associate with the law firm of Geller Rudman, PLLC in Boca Raton, Florida, where he also concentrated his practice on the prosecution of class actions. At Geller Rudman, Mr. Davidson handled numerous cases on behalf of shareholders of public corporations whose shares were to be acquired through leveraged buyouts, mergers, tender offers, and other "change of control" transactions, as well as derivative lawsuits filed against corporate boards, seeking to impose corporate governance reforms aimed at protecting shareholders and eliminating corporate waste and abuse. Mr. Davidson also represented consumers in numerous cases in which allegations of consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices were alleged.
Prior to joining Geller Rudman, Mr. Davidson was an associate at a private law firm in Boca Raton, Florida, where he gained substantial experience in all aspects of securities litigation, including, among other things, SEC and NASD enforcement proceedings, securities regulatory proceedings by state and self-regulatory organizations, federal criminal securities fraud prosecutions, federal securities appellate litigation, and NASD customer arbitration proceedings, as well as acting as counsel for court-appointed receivers in complex federal securities and franchise litigation proceedings. In addition, Mr. Davidson is an experienced trial lawyer, having been a former lead assistant public defender in the Felony Division of the Broward County, Florida Public Defender's Office. During his tenure at the Public Defender's Office, Mr. Davidson tried over 30 jury trials, conducted hundreds of depositions, handled numerous evidentiary hearings, engaged in extensive motion practice, and defended individuals charged with major crimes ranging from third-degree felonies to life and capital felonies.
A substantial portion of Mr. Davidson's time is currently devoted to the representation of investors in class actions involving mergers and acquisitions and in prosecuting derivative lawsuits on behalf of public corporations. Mr. Davidson is also actively involved in prosecuting a number of consumer fraud cases throughout the nation. Mr. Davidson recently served as class counsel in Kehoe v. Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust, a consumer class action alleging privacy violations filed in the Southern District of Florida, which was settled for $50 million. In addition, Mr. Davidson currently serves as court-appointed co-lead counsel in In re Pet Food Products Liability Litigation, a multidistrict consumer class action pending in the District of New Jersey, where Mr. Davidson represents thousands of aggrieved pet owners nationwide against some of the nation's largest pet food manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
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