Peter A. González

Partner

Pedro "Peter" A. González is a partner residing in our Coral Gables office, where he focuses the majority of his practice in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on business and real estate litigation, fraud-based claims, contractual disputes, commercial mortgage foreclosures, wrongful death, medical negligence, negligent security and premises liability claims. Mr. González has extensive experience in the litigation of disputes involving clouds on title to real property, including lis pendens and claims of lien, competing claims between buyers, sellers and brokers concerning real estate agreements, as well as commercial landlord-tenant matters, non-compete agreements, and cases involving catastrophic personal injuries and death caused by the negligence of individuals, businesses or government entities.

Mr. González also routinely represents and advises clients on transactional matters including commercial and residential real estate transactions, asset purchase transactions, non-compete agreements, contracts involving the sale and purchase of fine art and entertainment industry-related matters. He has represented domestic and foreign clients in the negotiation, contract, sale and closing of several of the highest priced luxury waterfront residential properties in South Florida, including properties located in exclusive Gables Estates, Key Biscayne, Palm Island, Star Island and other Miami Beach luxury waterfront communities. Mr. González has been featured in local and national print and television news media in connection with his work in both litigation and real estate matters. He has represented a variety of clients ranging from large corporations such as The Related Group of Florida, Blockbuster (Videos) Entertainment and Viacom, to more local small to mid-size companies such as Big Time Productions and Adrian Development Group, and numerous other businesses, families and individuals from Florida, throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America.

Mr. González heads the Firm's Cuba Practice Group, which closely monitors changes in U.S. and Cuba policy, studies new legislation and keeps track of amendments to existing laws that impact U.S.-Cuba relations. The Firm advises clients in various areas of interest to American companies, Cuban-Americans and others looking for professional guidance on Cuba-related legal issues, including strategic planning and positioning for success when U.S.-Cuba relations are normalized.

In the early 1990s, Mr. González was the Washington Intern for Freedom House, a non-profit, non-partisan human rights organization founded in 1941 by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie and other Americans concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy posed by Nazi Germany. He engaged in research on human rights conditions in Cuba, participated in a joint campaign with members of the United States Congress for the release of dissidents imprisoned by Cuban governmental authorities, and prepared materials for press conferences, congressional committee hearings and the United Nations Human Rights Commission meetings in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr. González also completed graduate coursework at Georgetown University on Cuba and the history of relations with the United States and the former Soviet Union under the tutelage of Dr. Brian Latell, and has participated in numerous conferences in New York, Washington, D.C. and Miami over the last 15 years on a wide range of Cuba-related issues.

Mr. González is a member of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), a non-profit and non-political professional organization with the primary mission of studying the elements and processes involved in a transition to democracy and a free market economy, with particular emphasis on the financial, economic, social, legal and environmental issues.

Mr. González began his career with the boutique Miami litigation and transactional firm of Arán, Correa & Guarch, P.A., established by former members of New York-based Kelley Drye & Warren. Mr. González then worked with the Miami office of Florida-based Walton Lantaff Schroeder & Carson until 1997, where he concentrated his practice in the areas of general commercial litigation, insurance defense and real estate matters. Thereafter, he successfully managed his own law firm, González & Associates, P.A., for ten years until forming SMGQ as a founding partner.

Mr. González is admitted to practice law in all Florida state courts, as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. González was born in Hartford, Connecticut and has primarily resided in Miami, Florida since 1971.

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Representative Trials & Litigation

  • Representation of a South Florida developer sued, after purchasing over $34 million in properties, by former employee claiming a 50% joint venture partnership interest under an agreement to develop condominium conversion projects. After nearly three years of litigation, including defeating plaintiff's efforts to disqualify Mr. González as the developer's chosen counsel, Mr. González successfully defended the developer and its affiliated entities from seven contractual and fraud-based claims through a one-week jury trial where the plaintiff sought over $2 million in alleged profits. All of plaintiff's claims, except the breach of joint venture agreement claim, were dismissed by the conclusion of the trial, and the jury verdict rejected plaintiff's main claim and found in favor of the developer's counterclaim for breach of employment contract.
  • Representation of a Florida real estate developer in a lawsuit filed by a New York investment group in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York over the alleged breach of a profit sharing agreement entitling the investor to all ownership interest in various entities owning over 4,000 acres of real property in Florida worth over $300 million. The New York litigation related to several other commercial real estate and foreclosure disputes pending in various Florida courts involving over $70 million in mortgage loans and other claims, and properties stretching across the state of Florida. Mr. González was lead counsel for all Florida litigation matters and retained the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as co-counsel for the federal case in the New York. After six months of fast-tracked litigation, the New York case was favorably settled on the eve of trial, with our clientmaintaining ownership and control of two real estate projects and non-payment of approximately $50 million to the New York investor.
  • Representation of a child and her parents in their claims against two physicians, a hospital and a nurse, arising from a shoulder dystocia and brachial plexus injury to the child at birth allegedly caused by the negligence of the defendant medical professionals. On the first day of trial a global settlement was reached with all defendants resulting in a structured settlement yielding over $2 million for the benefit of the child, separate and apart from the attorneys' fees earned and collected by Mr. González and his partner Gustavo D. Lage.
  • Representation of a husband and wife sued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for civil and criminal usury and fraud-based claims arising out of a promissory note, and pledge and security agreement, that plaintiff attempted to invalidate. Successfully managed to have the entire case dismissed, with prejudice, by U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Seitz, and obtained the entry of a final judgment imposing monetary sanctions against plaintiff and plaintiff's counsel for bad faith litigation.
  • Representation of a Florida partnership in the real estate development business involved in a dispute with the principal of one of the partners who recorded fraudulent and improper claims of lien and lis pendens against the partnership's property which unlawfully clouded title to the property. The case was litigated through trial and a verdict in favor of our client of $6.7 million was rendered by the court, which included punitive damages pursuant to Florida Statutes, Chapter 713. Successfully obtained a separate final judgment for significant monetary sanctions against opposing litigant and his counsel, jointly and severally, for bad faith litigation.
  • Representation of the husband and children of a woman killed in an accident involving a county bus in a lawsuit against Miami-Dade County for negligence and wrongful death. Successfully settled the case in an amount in excess of the sovereign immunity statutory cap on damages available to Florida government entities such as Miami-Dade County.

Other Transactional Matters

  • Representation of property owner involved in the entertainment industry in the acquisition of a commercial building located adjacent to parcels already owned by the client, involving new acquisition financing, refinancing of existing $9.7 million loan, and renewal and modification of various loan and mortgage instruments for property valued at over $20 million. As part of the global transaction, Mr. González assisted in the replatting of four distinct commercial properties into one contiguous parcel of land.
  • Representation of a client in the negotiation and contract for sale of an Old Master work of art valued at $150 million.
  • Representation of a luxury home developer in the acquisition, construction and development, sale and closing of a Miami Beach luxury waterfront residence, which at the time of closing represented one of the highest residential sales prices in the history of Miami-Dade County.

Professional Memberships & Civic Activities

  • The Florida Bar
  • Cuban American Bar Association, Member
  • Dade County Bar Association, Member
  • Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, Member Agent
  • Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of The Florida Bar, Member
  • Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section of The Florida Bar, Member
  • Trial Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar, Member
  • Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), Member
  • Knights of Columbus, Third Degree Knight

Bar Admissions

  • Florida

Education

  • J.D., The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law (1994)
  • International Law Certificate Recipient, Colegio Universitario (European Community Law Studies Program), Madrid, Spain (1992)
  • B.S., Florida State University (1990)

Foreign Languages

  • Fluent in Spanish
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