Tee Persad

Experience: Mr. Persad’s entire professional career has been focused on helping individuals and businesses resolve complex personal, business, and societal problems. As a law clerk to judges in Civil Court, Criminal Court, and Family Court he had the opportunity to learn from 5 judges, work on hundreds of matters of varying disciplines, complexities, and levels of risks, analyze complex procedural and substantive issues in federal, state and territorial cases, and work on complex trials. This experience has helped him develop the ability to identify, grasp and analyze complex procedural, factual, legal, business, and relationship issues. He has used this experience for over 25 years to help parties in complex business cases, class action consumer protection cases (including being a certified lead class counsel), complex family law cases, domestic cases, international cases, and cases involving businesses and government agencies, including foreign governments. He has represented clients in State and Federal Courts in Florida and other States (pro hac vice), and in the Territorial Courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands. His practice also includes representing businesses in transactional matters, including business growth and development issues, mergers and acquisitions, risk analysis and management, negotiations of deals, real estate purchase and sale, and reorganization issues. As an experienced arbitrator and mediator, including arbitrating and mediating simple and complex cases, he uses these dispute resolution skills to help his clients resolve conflicts without litigation.

Private Corporate Counsel: Mr. Persad’s practice also includes serving as a Private Corporate Counsel and Consultant to Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (“SMEs”), and Fortune 500 companies. In this role, he serves as these businesses’ Private Corporate Counselor, advising them on a range of legal, organizational, and leadership issues typically handled by in-house corporate counsel and business consultants and coaches.

Mediation & Alternate Dispute Resolution: Mr. Persad is also a certified mediator and mediates the following types of cases: Federal and State Commercial, Employment, Class Action, Consumer Protection, Tort, and General Contract Disputes; Complex Family Law Disputes; and Disputes Between Businesses and Government Entities. He is certified by the Supreme Court of Florida as a Certified Circuit Civil and Family Mediator, and by the Courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands to mediate all types of cases in that territory. His mediation experience started in law school, where he helped start the mediation and negotiation program and worked hand in hand with the professors and students to develop the curriculum and case studies used to train student mediators and help students develop their negotiation skills. As a law clerk to two judges in Family Court, he mediated property disputes between parties and helped to train subsequent law clerks on mediation. From 1995, his practice included mediating a variety of cases, from simple contract disputes to complex class action matters. As a mediator, he has helped parties successfully resolve complex family law matters, complex business law matters, complex employment matters, complex consumer protection matters, class actions, personal injury matters, and complex matters between multinational companies and government agencies.

Throughout his practice, Mr. Persad has also served as an arbitrator in cases as simple as lemon law cases to complex cases involving complex commercial transactions. 

Speaking Engagements and Topics: Mr. Persad lectures regularly on topics relevant to lawyers, mediators, and other dispute resolution professionals, where the attendees received continuing legal and mediation education credits. He lectures at National Corporate Counsel conferences, state conferences, including Florida’s annual Dispute Resolution Conference, local bar associations, Mediation Mastery Seminars, and Practice Mastery Seminars. His lectures include, but are not limited to the following topics: Business Skills for Lawyers; The Lawyer’s Professional Life Cycle; Conflict Resolution Models; Cultural Diversity; Leadership Skills for Lawyers (lawyers as leaders; the ethical duty to lead; becoming a world-class leader; the psychology of leadership; team leadership for lawyers; and tribunal leadership for lawyers) Civility, Professionalism and Conflict Resolution; Interest-Based Negotiation; Connecting and Influencing Others to Create Lasting Change; Master Steps for Lasting Change in Yourself; Master Steps for Creating Lasting Change in Others; Designing Your Reputation; Self Awareness and Becoming More Resilient; Managing Client Matters and Client Relationships; Value Analysis – How to Determine Your Hourly Rate; The Mediator’s Professional Life Cycle; How to Become a More Effective ADR Leader; and, Leadership Skills for Mediators (self leadership; social awareness and relationship management; managing change in yourself and others; and, the ethical duty to lead, energy leadership).