Peter W. Bellas

Peter W. Bellas is a trial and appellate attorney whose practice focuses on complex commercial litigation including business torts, securities fraud, construction law, constitutional rights, franchise disputes, and professional malpractice. He has litigated matters where he has obtained multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements on behalf of clients and has successfully defended actions involving millions of dollars in exposure to clients.

Mr. Bellas also represents clients in eminent domain actions. He has represented private property owners against condemners and serves as eminent domain counsel for the largest franchisee of Popeye's Chicken. Mr. Bellas also has litigated over 100 eminent domain cases on behalf of the Florida Department of Transportation.

He also litigated several subrogation actions on behalf of insurance clients and their insured property owners in the wake of Hurricane Andrew. For example, on behalf of Federated Department Stores and its subsidiary, Bloomingdale's, Inc., Mr. Bellas was one of the principal members of the litigation team that sued various contractors, designers, and material suppliers to recover millions of dollars. Mr. Bellas also developed a novel theory against one defendant premised on the unsuitability of its product in Florida and the company's failure to comply with the local building code.

Mr. Bellas is "AV" rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He has been selected as a Florida "Super Lawyer" as well as one of the "Top Lawyers" in the state. Mr. Bellas serves on the Federal Court Practice Committee of the Florida Bar. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Dade County Bar Association, the Florida Bar's Eminent Domain Committee, the Florida Bar's Judicial Evaluation Committee, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Steering Committee of the Young Vizcayans, the Committee of 100, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and as an Adjunct Professor at Nova University.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Mr. Bellas is a member of the Florida Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Bellas attended the University of Miami School of Law where he received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1986 and received his Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in 1983. While in law school, he was an editor of the law review and president of the honor society.