Fred A. Schwartz is one of the most experienced trial lawyers in the firm. He specializes in Federal white-collar criminal matters and complex commercial civil matters. He has tried well in excess of 250 jury trials to verdict. His longest trial was a 14-month Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) trial in the Southern District of Florida. He has tried both criminal and civil cases involving stock fraud, tax fraud, Medicare fraud, anti-kickback violations, bank fraud and money laundering. He has represented clients in significant matters against the United States Attorney’s Offices in over 25 Federal Districts, and opposed the Internal Revenue Service, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Schwartz also handles civil arbitration, including recent arbitrations in New York City, NY, Hong Kong, PRC, Fort Lauderdale, FL , West Palm Beach, FL and Los Angeles, CA.
Mr. Schwartz represents, and is outside General Counsel for, Visionary Vehicles LLC and V Cars LLC, companies controlled by Malcolm Bricklin, the original importer and distributor of Subaru and Yugo vehicles, in a $1.2 billion arbitration before the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center against Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., involving numerous violations of a relationship designed to jointly manufacture and import into the United States a luxury vehicle made in China. He further participated in the representation of these companies in a billion- dollar lawsuit against the Israel Corporation in Tel Aviv, Israel, arising out of the same transactions. Mr. Schwartz has recently tried a multimillion-dollar white-collar mail fraud and wire fraud case in the Eastern District of New York, and won a $2,000,000.00 judgment in a federal civil trial in Detroit, MI.
Mr. Schwartz has also recently represented clients in two civil cases in the Southern District of Florida, brought by the SEC. Also, he has represented a former Director of the Venezuelan state oil company in a criminal money-laundering case in the Sothern District of Texas involving tens of million-dollars alleged bribes by United States companies. Further, Mr. Schwartz has represented different clients in criminal anti-kickback Medicare fraud cases in the Eastern District of Missouri and in the Southern District of Texas. Mr. Schwartz was lead Plaintiffs’ counsel on a large, five year recently settled Civil RICO case in the Eastern District of Michigan: this case also involved a related trial in the Complex Business Division of Florida Circuit Court in Broward Conty, FL.
Mr. Schwartz has conducted in-house investigations for a number of corporations that were the targets of Federal investigations, often helping the corporations avoid any criminal liability.
Mr. Schwartz began his career in the Kings County, New York and then the Queens County, New York District Attorney’s Offices. In Queens, he was at various times the Chief of a Supreme Court Trial Bureau, the Narcotics Bureau and the Rackets Bureau. He was recruited by the Federal Government to come to Florida to join the Federal Organized Crime Strike Force. He rose to Deputy Attorney in Charge and Acting Attorney in Charge of that Strike Force. At the Strike Force he investigated and prosecuted an number of Organized Crime Families. Mr. Schwartz then left the federal government for private practice and was a partner in two small law firms before he joined the law firm which eventually became known as Adorno & Yoss, trying all of their federal criminal matters, and then branching out to trying complex commercial litigation. He was also brought in to first chair for trial matters which were being handled by other litigators. In 2011, Mr. Schwartz and a number of former Adorno & Yoss partners joined Kopelowitz Ostrow PA. Thereafter, in 2020, Mr. Schwartz joined the firm of Shahady & Wurtenberger, P.A.
Mr. Schwartz received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the then Bernard M. Baruch School of Business Administration of the City College of New York in 1965 and a Juris Doctor Degree from New York University School of Law in 1968. Mr. Schwartz is admitted to practice in the States of Florida and New York and is further admitted to practice in the United States District Court and Trial Bar of the Southern District of Florida, and the United States District Courts of the Middle District of Florida, Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, the Eastern District of Michigan, the District of Wisconsin and the United States Courts of Appeals of the Third, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits. Mr. Schwartz has also tried cases pro hac vice is over 25 other United States districts. Mr. Schwartz is a member of the American Bar Association, The Florida Bar, the South Palm Beach County Bar Association, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He has been an adjunct professor in criminal law at the University of Miami, Florida International University and Florida Metropolitan University.
Mr. Schwartz is interested in education. He served for 4 years as the Chairperson of the City of Boca Raton Educational Advisory Board. He also served as the Chairperson for the Addison Mizner Elementary School Advisory Council for 6 years, Co-Chair of the City of Boca Raton K-12 Education Task Force, member of the Education Advisory Committee for the then Florida State House of Representatives Majority Leader Adam Hasner. At present, he is a board member of Friends of Learning, Inc., a not for profit foundation which provides free tutoring for underprivileged students in Delray Beach, Florida. He has also served as a member of the board of the Spanish River Gardens Homeowners Association, and as Chairperson of the boards of the Palm, Hibiscus, Star Island Homeowners Association, the Crossings Overall Homeowners Association and the Crossings Patio Homeowners Association.
