Eric D. Molina

Eric D. Molina joined the firm in 2001 and became a partner in 2007.  He is an experienced litigator whose practice is focused on complex Civil and Commercial Litigation, Real Estate Litigation, and creditor representation and collections in both state and federal trial courts.

Mr. Molina represents businesses and individuals in high stakes business disputes concerning, amongst other matters, company ownership and management, fiduciary responsibilities, contracts and accountings, professional negligence, copyright and trademark infringement, business torts, and dissolution.  He also litigates a wide array of real estate related matters, including title disputes and defects, residential and commercial evictions, residential and commercial mortgage foreclosures, easement and boundary disputes, and enforcement of brokerage and purchase agreements.  Mr. Molina further represents banks, businesses, and individuals in all manner of financial services and debt collection litigation.

Mr. Molina’s clients have included local, regional, and national banks; local, multistate, and national real estate investors and developers; title insurance companies; a federally chartered veterans service organization; agricultural landowners, producers, and distributors; property management companies and community associations; personal representatives and trustees; and an international auto inventory financing company.  He has also represented physicians, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals.

Mr. Molina was named a 40 Under 40 Award Winner by the Gulf Coast Business Review.  He has also been recognized as an “Up & Comer” by Florida Trend’s Legal Elite.

Mr. Molina is admitted to practice in all state and federal trial courts in Florida, the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.  He is also certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit Court Mediator.

Mr. Molina and his family are longtime residents of LaBelle, Florida, where Mr. Molina is actively involved in his church and community.

Representative Experience

• Successfully defended the nation’s largest veterans service organization and its employee in multiple state and federal actions against copyright infringement and tort claims, obtaining dismissals with prejudice and summary judgments on all claims asserted against them, and successfully prosecuted counterclaims for copyright infringement, cybersquatting, and defamation against the plaintiff that resulted in his designation as a vexatious litigant and imposition of filing restrictions against him in both state and federal courts, entry of permanent injunctive relief against him, and substantial awards of damages and attorney’s fees, totaling nearly $1.5 million, in favor of the clients.  The outcomes were affirmed in both state and federal appellate courts.
• Represented closely-held agricultural company in defense of minority stakeholders’ dissolution action that resulted in minority stakeholders’ exit from the company and the company’s continued ownership and operation of a nearly 6,600-acre farm.
• Successfully defended a multi-family and senior housing development and investment firm with developments throughout the Southeastern United States against claims for declaratory and injunctive relief for purportedly violating a drainage easement agreement.  The lawsuit was challenged as an unscrupulous effort to extort an exorbitant sum from the developer by threatening to delay its construction of a 327-unit luxury apartment complex in Southwest Florida with protracted litigation.  Shortly before a scheduled hearing on a dispositive motion, the parties reached a settlement, which required the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal with prejudice of its claims against the developer and payment of a substantial sum to the developer for its attorney’s fees and costs incurred in defense of the claims.
• Represented a multi-state development company as co-counsel in defense of a national bank’s efforts to foreclose its mortgage on the company’s large, multi-phase, Class A condominium and apartment complex in Fort Myers, Florida.  Throughout years of contentious litigation, notwithstanding the bank’s vigorous efforts to appoint a receiver to take control of the property, the client retained possession and control of its property and ultimately defeated the bank’s attempt to acquire the property through foreclosure by the implementation of creative and aggressive defense and financing strategies and solutions.
• Successfully prosecuted a mortgage foreclosure on a 100-acre hog hunting ranch that required defeating the debtor’s efforts to restructure or “cram down” the secured debt in a Chapter 12 bankruptcy.  Following a day-long evidentiary hearing, requiring expert testimony, the bankruptcy judge determined the debtor was not eligible for the protections and relief uniquely available to family farmers and required conversion or dismissal of the action, which ultimately resulted in relief from the bankruptcy stay, foreclosure of the lien, and recovery of the mortgaged property.
• Secured a summary judgment for a family-owned and operated partnership on landlocked property owner’s claims for statutory way of necessity, trespass, unjust enrichment, and wrongful ejectment.  After defeating the property owner’s claims in federal and state courts, the property owner conveyed his parcels to the partnership in exchange for the partnership’s withdrawal of its claims against the property owner for attorney’s fees and costs.
• Obtained a confidential settlement from a large, regional paving and sitework contractor, a local engineering firm, and the engineering firm’s principal in an action brought on behalf of a property owner for breach of contract and tort claims arising from a 29-acre excavation project.
• Secured a dismissal with prejudice of a regional farming operation’s claims against an international vegetable and flower seed company for breach of express and implied warranties, negligent misrepresentation, negligence, and strict liability.
• Obtained a voluntary dismissal with prejudice of a national bank’s claims against real estate investment and development companies for fraudulent transfer of assets and injunctive relief.
• Obtained a confidential settlement from a national bank after the entry of a judgment in an action for reformation and slander of title on behalf of a property owner whose title was improperly encumbered by the bank’s mortgage.
• Filed and negotiated a favorable resolution of a lawsuit on behalf of a mine owner and operator for legal access over a bank-owned commercial parcel for a haul route that was critical to the mine’s zoning and operation.
• Successfully represented multiple national banks whose security interests in residential properties were in jeopardy due to title defects that required curative action to preserve the banks’ liens and priority.
• Obtained a favorable settlement from an agribusiness in an action filed on behalf of a regional farm chemical producer and distributor for collection of an account receivable.
• Represented luxury residential high-rise condominium developer in ultimately successful defense of a real estate broker’s action to collect commissions in excess of $600,000.00.
• Represented international auto inventory financing company in enforcement and collection of defaulted loans. 
• Successfully represented government, institutional, and private lenders in scores of residential and commercial mortgage foreclosure and collection actions.
• Represented and obtained favorable outcomes for institutional and individual borrowers, including development companies, a hotel owner and operator, investment companies and individual investors, and residential and commercial property owners, in a myriad of mortgage foreclosure and collection actions.
• Routinely represent landlords and tenants in residential and commercial eviction and collection actions.
• Successfully domesticated and enforced numerous foreign judgments against individuals and entities in Florida.
• Contested and obtained favorable resolutions of creditors’ claims against estates in adversary proceedings filed by the creditors.