Practice Areas:
Appellate Law
Appeals
Litigation Support
Employment and labor law
Land Use Law
Judicial Review of local governmental approvals/denials
Education:
Harvard Law School (J.D., 1988)
Amherst College (B.A., magna cum laude, 1985)
John Woodruff Simpson Fellowship for the Study of Law
Admitted:
Florida
U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Supreme Court of the United States
Publications:
Author, “En Banc Eleventh Circuit Vindicates Fairness of Cuban Spies’ Trial In Miami,” CABA Briefs, Cuban American Bar Association, Fall 2006
Author, “Is there Light at the End of the Quasi-Judicial Tunnel?” The Florida Bar Journal, Vol. XXVII, No. 1, November 2003
The Proverbial “Get Out of Jail Free” Card – The Ninth Circuit’s Treatment of Addiction Under Hernandez v. Hughes Missile Systems Co., The Florida Bar Journal, Vol. LXXVI, No. 11, December 2002
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell…At Work or in Court – The Conflict Between the Supreme Court’s Decisions in Oncale and Price Waterhouse,” The Labor Lawyer, American Bar Association, Vol. 18, No.3, Winter/Spring 2003, 18 the Labor Lawyer 337 (2003)
Co-Author, “Open the Window and Let Some Fresh Air In: The “Window of Correction” After Davis v. City of Hollywood, Stetson Law Review, Vol. XXIX, Winter 2000, No. 3 (co-authored with Joseph H. Serota)
Smith v. Midland Brake, Inc. – Writing Affirmative Action into the Americans with Disabilities Act? The Florida Bar Journal, Vol. LXXIII, No. 9, October 1999.
Sex-Or is that Gender? How the Federal Courts Have Failed to Develop a Unified Theory for Addressing Workplace Discrimination Claims Related to Sexually Related Status or Conduct 2004 Employment Law Update, Aspen Publishers, 2004
Financial Exposure – Is There Relief When a Plaintiff is Authorized to Pry Into a Defendant’s Financial Records? – Smart Business Miami, January 2006 (co-author with Arthur J. England, Jr.)
Awards & Recognition:
Board Certified in Appellate Practice by the Florida Bar
Selected, The Best Lawyers in America® in the practice area of Appellate Law, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011
Selected, “Florida Legal Elite,” Florida Trend magazine, 2007
Selected by Super Lawyers magazine, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010
Recognized as the “Best of the Bar,” South Florida Business Journal, 2003
Professional/Civic Activities:
Member, The Florida Bar Appellate Court Rules Committee
Chairman, The Florida Bar ACRC Civil Rules Subcommittee, 2005-2006
Chairman, The Florida Bar ACRC Amicus Curiae Subcommittee, 2004-2005
ViceChairman, The Florida Bar ACRC Amicus Curiae Subcommittee, 2002-2003
Chairman, Dade County Bar Association Appellate Court Committee, 2003-2004
ViceChairman, Dade County Bar Association Appellate Court Committee, 2002-2003
Member, Cuban American Bar Association
Co-Chair, Third District Court of Appeal 50th Anniversary Committee, 2004-2007
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Appellate Judges Conference - Council of Appellate Lawyers
Member, Defense Research Institute
Member, Federal Bar Association, South Florida Chapter
Board of Trustees, Supreme Court of Florida Historical Society
Board Member, Third District Court of Appeal Historical Society
Member, 11th Judicial Circuit Historical Society; Centennial Celebration Steering Committee
Presentations:
Featured Speaker, Trial Preparation CLE Seminar, “Preservation on Appeal,” Florida Bar Association Board of Governors Young Lawyers Division, Miami, Florida October 2009
Speaker, “The Opinion is Out…Now What?” Florida Bar Young Lawyers Section seminar, Miami, Florida, 2006, 2007, 2008
Participant, “Balancing Judicial Independence and Accountability, 2007 Florida Appellate Justice Conference
Presenter, “The Limits of Quasi-Judicial Actions: Whatever Happened to Ministerial Acts?” Zoning and Land Use in Florida Seminar conducted by Lorman Education Services, Miami, Florida, August 27, 2004
Panelist, “Issues in Development Review Processing: A Case Study of Unincorporated Miami-Dade County,” Zoning and Land Use in Florida Seminar conducted by Lorman Education Services, Miami, Florida, August 27, 2004
Miscellaneous:
Interviewed, “Foro 17,” a Spanish-language talk show in South Florida, WLRN, public television station, on the topic of the Cuban Spy case, March 31, 2006
Languages:
French, Conversational
Italian
Spanish
Edward G. Guedes
Partner
Broward Office (954) 763-4242
Dade Office (305) 854-0800eguedes@wsh-law.com
Mr. Guedes is a Partner with the Firm and a senior member of the Litigation Division. He concentrates his practice in the areas of appellate litigation, employment and labor law and land use law, and is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in the field of Appellate Practice. Mr. Guedes also has extensive experience with the implementation and application of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act. Mr. Guedes lectures frequently to local governmental employers and other attorneys in the fields of appellate litigation and employment and labor matters.
In addition to his legal experience, Mr. Guedes has worked with the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and various non-profit cultural organizations in Miami, including serving on the Board of Trustees for Business Volunteers for the Arts, participating in the Chamber’s Drug Free Workplace Committee, and serving as Co-Chairman of the Cultural Diversity in the Arts Subcommittee of the Cultural Action Committee of the Chamber. Mr. Guedes was appointed by the Dade County Board of Commissioners to serve on the MiamiDade County Independent Review Panel, which he chaired from 1997 until 2000. He also served as Vice President of the Miami Beach Hispanic Community Center, where he sat on the Board of Directors.
Mr. Guedes served as co-chair of the committee responsible for commemorating the 50th anniversary of Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal in 2007. Most recently, he was nominated by the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Florida.
Significant Representations:
- Successfully overturned on appeal multi-million dollar jury verdict against plastic surgeon in medical malpractice claim asserting negligent design and execution procedures.
- Successfully defended multi-national corporate manufacturer of breath-alcohol testing instruments used by law enforcement throughout the State of Florida against declaratory judgment action challenging corporation’s ownership of intellectual property associated with the instruments.
- Successfully defended at trial and through appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals a municipal charter provision setting forth an oath of office for elected officials. The oath was challenged on First Amendment grounds because it required the office holder to swear or affirm to support the constitutions and governments of the United States and the State of Florida.
- Successfully litigated on behalf of state and local governmental entities interpretation of vested rights statute conferring development rights on owners of more than 12,000 residential lots in the Florida Keys and affecting all Areas of Critical State Concern throughout the State of Florida.
- Successfully litigated and defended on appeal multimillion dollar class action for unpaid overtime waged under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
- Upheld multi-million dollar ad valorem tax exemption for municipal marina competing with privately owned marinas.
- Successfully defended against constitutional challenge authority of local governmental entity to regulate and restrict ownership of animals within community.
- Successfully asserted a constitutional challenge to a municipal ordinance precluding private country club from fencing its property over the objections of surrounding neighbors who asserted a historical right to a view onto and across the club property.
- Overturned on appeal denial of development approval for 300-unit trailer park in South Miami-Dade County.
- Overturned on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals lower court’s injunction halting all limestone mining in the Lake Belt region of South Florida.
- Successfully represented the Cuban American Bar Association as amicus curiae in en banc proceedings before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in connection with a panel opinion that had vacated the conviction of five Cuban spies operating in South Florida.
- Wide-ranging experience defending against civil rights claims asserted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the American with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992.
