Biography: Business Crime Defence

Winner of the prestigious 2010 Daily Business Review award for 'Most Effective Lawyer' in Criminal Justice, Mr Shohat has handled some of the most notorious and high publicity criminal, tax and related civil cases in the US, including the 13-month 'Cotton Club' murder trial in Los Angeles as well as the City of Miami City Manager and, separately, an indicted county commissioner on federal corruption charges achieving, in both cases, what observers described as miraculous results.

His many jury acquittals include a criminal defence attorney charged with obstruction of justice; a commercial lawyer on money laundering charges; the postmaster general of Puerto Rico on sexual battery charges; and, this past year, an extraordinarily rare directed verdict of acquittal during jury deliberations of security personnel charged with obstruction of justice for shredding company records after a court preservation order in the Alan Stanford SEC investigation.

Mr Shohat also successfully represented Judge Larry Seidlin (of Anna Nicole Smith fame) in a State Attorney's Office kickback and elder abuse investigation. Mr Shohat successfully negotiated corporate pleas to the exclusion of criminal charges against company executives in a Miami cargo airplane crash case and a black market caviar-smuggling case.

Mr Shohat has represented lead or major defendants in some of the largest federal fraud cases including the lead defendants in the US$130 million premium sales 'diversion' case and the US$170 million Bankest 'factoring' fraud case. He also represented the in-house CPA in the US$80 million Cascade fraud case. Mr Shohat is currently representing the lead defendant in the alleged US$1 billion Mutual Benefits 'Viatical' fraud case as well as the engagement partner for the accounting firm in the notorious FBI 'Ponzi Scheme' investigation of imprisoned attorney Scott Rothstein and others.

For the last 25 years, Mr Shohat has been selected for recognition in Best Lawyers in America and annually receives recognition in Florida Legal Elite and Florida Super Lawyers (both the general and corporate counsel editions) and is rated a 'Top Lawyer' in The South Florida Legal Guide and Corporate Counsel. Mr Shohat and his firm have also handled a number of complex corporate internal investigations including the successful representation of a 50-lawyer law firm under criminal investigation in connection with its representation of an individual tried and convicted of fraud in connection with an IRS Sec 1031 Exchange Program.

Mr Shohat is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation as well as the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He has appeared on CNN, CBS, ABC, Larry King Live, Good Morning America, the Today Show, the Greta Van Sustern Show among others. In recognition of his civic activity, Mr Shohat was named The Michael Shores 2010 Citizen of the Year by the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club.