Scott Topolski

New Jersey-based Cole Schotz has hired attorney Scott Topolski to lead its litigation practice in Boca Raton, further expanding the office it opened in Florida last year.

The Boca Raton office has grown to seven lawyers since launching in April 2016. Cole Schotz's administrative partner and general counsel, Glenn Kazlow, said the firm expects to hire more lawyers in the coming year in that office's existing practice areas, which include tax, trusts and estates, litigation and real estate. How many it will hire will depends on how things proceed, he said.

The firm would like to add corporate lawyers, as well, Kazlow said.

“We opened this office initially in the trusts and estates area and we have since expanded into real estate and now litigation as we see synergies with the work that is being generated with that office,” he said. “Scott has the skill set of commercial litigation and trusts and estates litigation, so that's a good match for the work that is being generated out of that office.”

The Hackensack, New Jersey-based firm had wanted to open an office in Florida for years to better serve clients who had moved to Florida while maintaining businesses in New York and New Jersey. It finally did so in Boca Raton in April 2016, with the arrival of tax, trusts & estates member Linda Snelling.

Topolski, who has been practicing for thirty years, was most recently a solo practitioner at Topolski Law Firm, which he operated for about three years. Topolski had previously been a shareholder at Buckingham Doolittle & Burroughs and at Roger Towers. He said he and Cole Schotz connected through a headhunting firm.

He said he brings to Cole a diverse set of business and probate clients for a practice that focuses on a wide range of litigation matters, including probate disputes, breaches of fiduciary duty, contested guardianship hearings, business disputes involving contracts and unfair competition, construction disputes and shareholder and partnership disputes.

“Cole Schotz affords me the framework and support to not only better serve my existing clients, but get back to doing more of the commercial and related litigation work that I did while I was at Buckingham,” Topolski said.

A certified circuit court mediator and qualified arbitrator, Topolski has lectured on insurance law and debts and judgments.

In addition to Topolski, the firm has called on its Hackensack tax, trusts and estates litigator Geoffrey Weinstein to spend half of his time each month in Florida, with his primary focus on tax controversy, which works well with the firm's New York and New Jersey-area clients who now work in Florida.

Many clients, while residents of Florida, derive income from business in New York or New Jersey, which creates tax liabilities, Kazlow said.

Scott Topolski

New Jersey-based Cole Schotz has hired attorney Scott Topolski to lead its litigation practice in Boca Raton, further expanding the office it opened in Florida last year.

The Boca Raton office has grown to seven lawyers since launching in April 2016. Cole Schotz's administrative partner and general counsel, Glenn Kazlow, said the firm expects to hire more lawyers in the coming year in that office's existing practice areas, which include tax, trusts and estates, litigation and real estate. How many it will hire will depends on how things proceed, he said.

The firm would like to add corporate lawyers, as well, Kazlow said.

“We opened this office initially in the trusts and estates area and we have since expanded into real estate and now litigation as we see synergies with the work that is being generated with that office,” he said. “Scott has the skill set of commercial litigation and trusts and estates litigation, so that's a good match for the work that is being generated out of that office.”

The Hackensack, New Jersey-based firm had wanted to open an office in Florida for years to better serve clients who had moved to Florida while maintaining businesses in New York and New Jersey. It finally did so in Boca Raton in April 2016, with the arrival of tax, trusts & estates member Linda Snelling.

Topolski, who has been practicing for thirty years, was most recently a solo practitioner at Topolski Law Firm, which he operated for about three years. Topolski had previously been a shareholder at Buckingham Doolittle & Burroughs and at Roger Towers. He said he and Cole Schotz connected through a headhunting firm.

He said he brings to Cole a diverse set of business and probate clients for a practice that focuses on a wide range of litigation matters, including probate disputes, breaches of fiduciary duty, contested guardianship hearings, business disputes involving contracts and unfair competition, construction disputes and shareholder and partnership disputes.

“Cole Schotz affords me the framework and support to not only better serve my existing clients, but get back to doing more of the commercial and related litigation work that I did while I was at Buckingham,” Topolski said.

A certified circuit court mediator and qualified arbitrator, Topolski has lectured on insurance law and debts and judgments.

In addition to Topolski, the firm has called on its Hackensack tax, trusts and estates litigator Geoffrey Weinstein to spend half of his time each month in Florida, with his primary focus on tax controversy, which works well with the firm's New York and New Jersey-area clients who now work in Florida.

Many clients, while residents of Florida, derive income from business in New York or New Jersey, which creates tax liabilities, Kazlow said.