TAMPA, FL – The Tampa office of the law firm of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, has announced that J. Todd Timmerman has been named Managing Partner of the Tampa office succeeding Ernest J. Marquart.  Mr. Marquart served as Tampa Managing Partner for the last three years, and spent the last eight years on the firm’s national Management Committee.  Mr. Timmerman will continue to serve on the firm’s National Management committee. Julio C. Esquivel has been named to the firm’s national Management Committee.

Mr. Marquart will continue his state and federal court business litigation practice.  Mr. Marquart is AV® Peer Review rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named a 2010 and 2011 Florida Super Lawyer®.  Mr. Marquart has also been named a Top Lawyer by Tampa Bay Magazine.

In addition to his service as Tampa Office Managing Partner and member of the firm’s Management Committee, Mr. Marquart previously was head of the Tampa office litigation department and co-chair of the litigation department firm-wide.  Mr. Marquart has also served on the firm’s Professional Development Committee.

Mr. Timmerman is a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property, Corporate, and Litigation practice groups. He is Board Certified in Intellectual Property Law and co-chairs the firm's Intellectual Property Law Practice Group.  His practice spans a wide range of transactional and litigation matters for the firm’s clients.  He maintains an extensive intellectual property and information technology law practice, focusing on trademark, copyright, and patent counseling and protection, intellectual property licensing, intellectual property, information technology, and other business transactions, and intellectual property litigation.

Mr. Timmerman is certified as an Intellectual Property Law Specialist by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education.  Certification is the highest level of recognition by The Florida Bar of the competency and experience of attorneys in the area of Intellectual Property Law.  Mr. Timmerman is AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, has been recognized by Tampa’s Top Attorneys, Top Attorneys in Florida, as a Florida Super Lawyer® and in the Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition, and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the Litigation – Intellectual Property, Patent Law, and Trademark Law categories.

Mr. Esquivel is a partner in the firm’s corporate practice group and has extensive experience with mergers and acquisitions, securities law matters and general corporate law issues.  He has represented several successful companies (and their investors) from inception and guided them throughout the Companies’ life cycles, including in connection with growth strategies, restructurings, financings, joint ventures and exit events.  He regularly represents both private and public companies in numerous industries, including companies focused on health care, technology, manufacturing, energy, trucking and the telecom industries.  Having started his career with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance in Washington, D.C., Mr. Esquivel’s experience includes advising public and private companies in connection with private and public offerings, state and federal reporting requirements and corporate governance matters.  Mr. Esquivel also has significant experience with venture capital, private equity, joint ventures, licensing and distribution matters, and serves as outside general counsel to several clients.

* * *

Founded in 1925, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is a full service law firm with over 220 attorneys practicing in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio; Tampa and Sarasota, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina.