MARC A. HALPERN
CARLOS X. RODRIGUEZ
ANOUK M. VILLEGAS
CARLOS DE CESPEDES
PRISCILLA ZALDIVAR
BRANDON C. MANTILLA
MITCHELL A. CUSTER
Marc A. Halpern
PARTNER
Marc A. Halpern is a senior and founding partner of Halpern Rodriguez, LLP, a law firm specializing in community association representation, construction, and real estate.
Mr. Halpern is a Board Certified Specialist in Condominium and Planned Development Law. He is widely recognized as a leading expert in the field. Mr. Halpern is admitted to practice before all Circuit and District Courts throughout the State of Florida, The Supreme Court of the State of Florida, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Mr. Halpern has engaged in a significant number of Arbitration proceedings before the American Arbitration Association and the Arbitration Section of the Department of Business & Professional Regulation, Division of Condominium, Timeshares & Mobile Homes.
Mr. Halpern has been a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers, Miami-Dade County Bar Association, American Bar Association and acts a Guardain Ad Litem through judicial assignment. As a registered lobbyist with the City of Miami Beach, Mr. Halpern has appeared before the Miami Beach City Commission, Zoning Board, Historic Preservation Board and Design Review Board. In addition, Mr. Halpern has successfully argued before the Miami-Dade County Board of Rules and Appeals (BORA), and the Special Master Offices for the City of Miami and City of Miami Beach.
Mr. Halpern graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and received his Juris Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University. Since receiving his Juris Doctorate, Mr. Halpern has exclusively practiced in the area of community association representation. He has been a speaker at the University of Miami School of Law’s Ralph E. Boyer Institute on Condominium and Cluster Development and a variety of Community Association Manager (CAM) continuing education courses. Mr. Halpern has also been invited by numerous management companies to address groups of onsite managers on topics ranging from hurricane preparedness to responsible oversight of mutli-million dollar renovation projects. Mr. Halpern has chaired and supervised hundreds of community association meetings and has worked with boards of directors in all facets of community association operation.
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Fax: - Practice Areas
- Community Association Law
- Construction and Commercial Litigation
- Real Estate Litigation
- Professional Memberships
- The Florida Bar, admitted 1998
- Board Certified Specialist in Condominium and Planned Development Law
- United States District Court for the Southerm District of Florida, admitted 1999
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, admitted 1999
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 1999-present
- Dade County Bar Association, 1998-present
- Active Guardian Ad Litem through judicial assignment
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Education
- Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Juris Doctorate 1998
- The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology 1994
Carlos X. Rodriguez
PARTNER
Carlos X. Rodriguez is a senior and founding partner of Halpern Rodriguez, LLP, a law firm specializing in community association representation, construction, and real estate.
Mr. Rodriguez’ primary areas of practice include advising investors, individuals, financial institutions, commercial banks, condominium associations, and developers on all aspects of residential and commercial real estate, including: residential real estate purchases and sales; commercial real estate purchases and sales; residential and commercial lease transactions; commercial lending, including the preparation of loan closing documentation; mortgage lending regulations; title insurance; condominium law and homeowner’s association law; litigation, including landlord/tenant disputes, contract disputes, debt collection, mortgage foreclosure, and condominium lien foreclosures; and entity formation. He was awarded the “Fund President’s Circle ” award in 2008, 2016, 2017 and 2019 from Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund. Mr. Rodriguez also serves on the 2019 Fund Advisory Council. In addition, he is a licensed title insurance agent with Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, North American Title Insurance Company and First American Title Insurance Company..
- Practice Areas
- Residential and Commercial Real Estate
- Collections and Foreclosures
- Real Estate Litigation
- Community Association Law
- Bankruptcy Law
- Professional Memberships
- The Florida Bar, admitted 1998
- United States District Court for the Southerm District of Florida, admitted 1999
- Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund, Member Agent
- North American Title Insurance Company, Member Agent
- First American National Title Insurance Company, Member Agent
- Education
- Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, May 1998 Juris Doctorate
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida, May 1994 Bachelor of Business Administration
Anouk M. Villegas
PARTNER
Anouk is a partner at Halpern Rodriguez, LLP and heads the firm's construction group.
She has substantial experience in all aspects of construction law, consulting contractors and owners through each and every phase of construction projects. In addition to many years in private practice, Anouk spent roughly five years serving as in-house counsel to a large general contracting firm in South Florida. During such time, she immersed herself in every facet related to construction from negotiating multimillion-dollar contracts, to site preparation, completion, and construction defect related litigation.
Anouk joined Halpern Rodriguez, LLP in 2009 where she brought her insider’s perspective helping to effectively analyze construction contracts and counsel clients through dispute resolution. Anouk represents contractors, developers, design professionals, material suppliers and community associations in drafting, reviewing and negotiating contracts, contract enforcement, defect and warranty claims, and general counseling services.
Anouk attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations. Anouk eared her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Law.
- Practice Areas
- Construction and commercial litigation.
- Professional Memberships
- Florida Bar, admitted 1999
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, admitted 2001
- Dade County Bar Association
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America
- Education
- University of Miami School of Law, Juris Doctorate 1998
- Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, Bachelor of Arts in International Relations 1995
Carlos M. De Cespedes
PARTNER
Carlos M. de Cespedes has over seventeen years of extensive experience in the Real Estate Field representing financial institutions. Buyers and Sellers in complex real estate transactions.
Since the inception of his career, Carlos has specialized in all forms of real estate transactions, assisting clients purchasing and selling both residential and commercial real estate.
Additionally, Carlos has represented commercial banks, saving banks and capital companies in a variety of real estate and asset-based finance transactions, including commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing transactions, and commercial asset-based loan facilities, as well as representing lenders in loan restructurings, workouts and foreclosures.
- Practice Areas
- Residential and Commercial Real Estate
- Collections and Foreclosures
- Real Estate Litigation
- Bankruptcy Law
- Professional Memberships
- The Florida Bar, admitted 2004
- Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund, Member Agent
- North American Title Insurance Company, Member Agent
- First American National Title Insurance Company, Member Agent
- Education
- University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, Florida, Juris Doctorate 2004
- University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, Bachelor of Science in Finance and Minor in International Business 2000
Priscilla S. Zaldivar
ASSOCIATE
Priscilla S. Zaldivar focuses her practice on general community association and business litigation matters.
Her experience representing condominium and homeowners associations throughout South Florida includes general representation, handling vendor and owner disputes, negotiating and drafting contracts, preparing for and attending Board and ownership meetings, drafting, amending and interpreting governing documents, handling election disputes and assisting both the Board and management with the day-to-day operations of the community. In addition, Priscilla has experience handling many aspects of insurance related matters including insurance defense, coverage and bad faith litigation.
Priscilla is a member of the Florida Bar and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court of the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida. Priscilla earned her Juris Doctor cum laude from St. Thomas University School of Law. While there, she worked as an editor for the St. Thomas Law Review and has published various articles.
- Practice Areas
- Civil Litigation
- Real Estate Litigation
- Community Association Law
- Evictions
- Foreclosures
- Collections
- Professional Memberships
- Florida Bar, admitted 2014
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, admitted 2015
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- Dade County Bar Association
- Broward County Bar Association
- Education
- St. Thomas University School of Law, Miami Garden, Florida, Juris Doctorate 2014
- Florida International University, Miami, Florida, Bachelors of Arts in Political Science 2011
Brandon C. Mantilla
ASSOCIATE
Brandon C. Mantilla focuses his practice on general community association matters, commercial and construction litigation.
Brandon attended the University of Miami Herbert Business School, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with a second major in Legal Studies and graduating cum laude. Upon graduation, Brandon attended the University of Miami School of Law, where he served as an Articles and Comments Editor for Volume 29 of the University of Miami Business Law Review, earned a place on the Dean’s List, and published a note in the University of Miami Business Law Review before graduating cum laude.
During his time at the University of Miami School of Law, Brandon participated in the University of Miami Investor Rights Clinic, representing under-served investors in securities arbitration claims against their brokers before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He also served as a law clerk at a multinational infrastructure engineering and construction company reviewing and revising construction contracts and commercial leases before transitioning to business litigation and construction lien disputes.
- Practice Areas
- Community Association Law
- Construction and Commercial Litigation
- Professional Memberships
- Florida Bar, admitted 2021
- ASSOCIATE
- University of Miami School of Law, Juris Doctor 2021, Cum Laude
- University of Miami, Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Legal Studies 2018, Cum Laude
Mitchell A. Custer
ASSOCIATE
Mitchell Custer comes to Halpern Rodriguez from the State Attorney’s Office in Broward County. There, he gained experience managing a large caseload, sitting first-chair in proceedings ranging from routine hearings, to complex substantive motions, to first-degree felony jury trials, and more. He has experience managing cases from inception to resolution, always keeping an eye towards success at trial. At Halpern Rodriguez, Mitchell now dedicates his attention and experience to a more focused selection of cases, tailoring and applying his writing and litigation prowess to the fields of construction, commercial, and condominium law.
Mitchell graduated cum laude from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in criminology. He graduated from the Florida State University College of Law; there, he chaired the MLB Mock Arbitration Competition team for two years.
- Practice Areas
- Litigation
- Construction Law
- Community Association Law
- Professional Memberships
- The Florida Bar, admitted 2019
- EDUCATION
- Florida State University College of Law, Tallahassee, Florida May 2019 Juris Doctorate
- University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, May 2016 Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude