Board Certified Marital and Family Law Trial Lawyer: Serving The State of Florida
PETER J. TROMBADORE, ESQ., B.C.S., MBA
Peter J. Trombadore, Esq., MBA
- Florida Bar Board Certified in Marital & Family Law (5% of Florida Family Lawyers)
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV Preeminent (Highest Rating, 10% of All Florida Lawyers)
- University of Miami, MBA
- University of Miami, BBA (Finance)
- Florida International University, JD
- National Family Law Trial Institute (Texas)
Mr. Trombadore is a board certified expert family law trial lawyer representing clients in all areas of marital and family law, including complex matters involving timesharing (custody), equitable distribution of marital assets and liabilities, business valuation, alimony, child support, establishment of paternity, post judgment modification, enforcement and domestic violence actions, prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements. He has obtained the AV Preeminent peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell which signifies that his peers have rated him as having the highest level of professional excellence for legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Mr. Trombadore founded the The Trombadore Law Firm, PLLC with the mission of providing the highest quality legal services at a reasonable cost to both women and men throughout the State of Florida who are engaged in the family court system. The outcome of a family law case often impacts the lives of the parties and their children for decades to come. In many instances, relationships with children, continuation of businesses, and the ability to live at the marital standard of living are at stake. As such, Mr. Trombadore takes on a limited number of cases each year to provide the level of service and attention required to litigate each matter in the best interests of his clients.
While Mr. Trombadore approaches each new case with the objective of reaching a reasonable resolution outside of court, when trial is necessary Mr. Trombadore will employ forensic accountants, business valuation professionals, forensic psychologists, social investigators, vocational evaluators, real estate appraisers and other expert witnesses as required to provide the Court with the evidence necessary to render an equitable outcome.
Mr. Trombadore earned his BBA in Finance and MBA from the University of Miami. He obtained his JD from the Florida International University College of Law in Miami, Florida and has graduated from the National Family Law Trial Institute Program in Houston, Texas. He is an active member of the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar and the Susan Greenberg American Inn of Court based in West Palm Beach, Florida. In 2017, Mr. Trombadore drafted comments to the proposed amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. Many of his comments were adopted by the Supreme Court of Florida.
Mr. Trombadore is licensed to practice law in state courts throughout the State of Florida and in the Southern District of Florida (Federal Court).
Jeffrey Molinaro, ESQ., B.C.S.
Jeffrey Molinaro, B.C.S., is a Board-Certified Specialist in appellate practice and serves as Of Counsel with the Trombadore Law Firm. Mr. Molinaro focuses his appellate practice in the areas of Family Law, Civil and Commercial Litigation, and Administrative Law.
Board certification is a voluntary program for lawyers, officiated by The Florida Supreme Court and administered by the Florida Bar. To qualify for board certification in appellate practice, attorneys must be licensed for at least five years, devote a certain percentage of their practice to appellate law, have handled all or a substantial part of at least twenty-five appellate cases in the last five years, receive judicial and fellow lawyer recommendations, attend continuing education courses, and pass a multi-hour written examination. As of 2021, only 209 of all eligible Florida Bar members are board-certified in appellate practice.
Mr. Molinaro has engaged in comprehensive and extensive appellate practice. Mr. Molinaro has litigated numerous appellate cases on a wide range of matters including administrative law, constitutional law, civil and criminal procedure, commercial litigation, business torts, commercial evictions, family law, nursing home negligence, personal injury, and first-party insurance. Mr. Molinaro has represented clients before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Third, Ninth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits, the Florida Supreme Court, and the Florida District Courts of Appeal.
Mr. Molinaro was born in Staten Island, New York and was raised in South Florida. He attended Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida where he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice in 2003. In 2010, Mr. Molinaro graduated magna cum laude and ranked third in his class from the Florida International University College of Law in Miami, Florida. While in law school, Mr. Molinaro had the privilege of working as a research assistant to Prof. Thomas Baker where he focused his research on Constitutional Law, Supreme Court Jurisprudence, and Federal Appellate Practice.
Outside the office, Mr. Molinaro is an active member of the Broward County Bar Association where he serves as co-chair of the Northwest Section of the Broward Bar. Mr. Molinaro also previously served with the FIU College of Law Alumni Association and the Broward Chapter of the FIU Alumni Association as President and Vice President of each organization. Mr. Molinaro is also a member of the Florida Italian American Bar Association and the National Italian American Bar Association.
Education
Florida International University College of Law
Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, May 2010
Florida Atlantic University
B.A., magna cum laude, December 2003
Bar Memberships
Florida
Supreme Court of the United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
United States Tax Court
Certifications
Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Appellate Practice
Representative Cases
· Lipkin v. Kheyfets, No. 4D2023-2716 (Fla. 4th DCA December 12, 2023). Successfully defended against a petition for writ of mandamus seeking to order the lower court to set a trial date. The issue before the Court was whether the lower court case was “at issue” where the Respondent below filed his notice of trial readiness simultaneously with his Answer. Petitioner on appeal voluntarily withdrew his petition in response to our response in opposition.
· Rotolante v. Rotolante, 367 So.3d 485 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023). Successfully obtained the affirmance of a judgment for his clients in a trust litigation case and a related judgment for attorneys’ fees. Also, drafted the written closing argument and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law at the trial level. The case involved the whether the equitable doctrine of trustee de son tort could be used to fill a trusteeship vacancy under Florida law. Our research had indicated that no Florida court had analyzed the issue. As a result, we drew our legal arguments from a series of cases from other jurisdictions dating back almost 200 years. The lower court fully adopted our legal arguments concerning whether trustee de son tort is an equitable remedy, the elements for proving trustee de son tort, burden of proof in establishing trustee de son tort, and when conduct is considered "wrongful intermeddling" such that the doctrine could apply. This decision was affirmed via PCA on appeal.
· Advanced Florida Medical Group, Corp. v. Progressive American Ins. Co., 364 So.3d 1131 (Fla. 6th DCA 2023). Successfully obtained the reversal of summary judgment in favor of the insurer on the grounds that the insured failed to submit to an examination under oath. The dispositive issue before the Court was whether, where the insurer alleged the insured “failed to appear” at her EUO with no other ultimate facts, but argued over objection at summary judgment that the insured in fact appeared, but “failed to submit” to an EUO in violation of the policy due to a disagreement over whether the insured had the right to videotape the examination using her own device, the lower court erred in granting summary judgment on an unpled affirmative defense. In reversing, the Sixth District explained that—although other Districts have used the terms "appear" and "submit" interchangeably—in the content of where an insured actually shows up at her EUO, an affirmative defense of "failure to appear" is not the same thing as "failure to submit."
· Progressive Select Ins. Co. v. South Florida Imaging & Diagnostic Center, Inc., a/a/o Branislav Hronsky, 331 So.3d 714 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022). Successfully obtained the affirmance of the granting of summary judgment for the assignee of the insured in an action for PIP benefits. The issue before the Court was whether the statute of limitations expired in a breach of contract action for an insurer’s failure to fully pay PIP benefits that was filed January 30, 2019, where the record reflected that the insurer: i) approved the claim on June 10, 2013; ii) made multiple partial payments on the approved claim through January 10, 2018; and iii) did not provide written notice of no further payments until the time at which it provided last payment.
· Bell v. Cross, No. 21-11064, 2021 WL 5544685 (11th Cir. November 26, 2021). Successfully obtained the affirmance of the granting of summary judgment in a False Claims Act case concerning services rendered in a skilled nursing facility. In affirming, the Eleventh Circuit clarified that in order for a clinical judgment in the skilled nursing setting to be “false” under the False Claims Act, it must be objectively false. The Eleventh Circuit explained that a reasonable difference of opinion among physicians reviewing medical documentation ex post facto is not sufficient on its own to suggest that those judgments—or any claims based on them—are false under the FCA.
· Daniels v. Department of Health, 301 So.3d 505 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020) & Cameron v. Department of Health, 301 So.3d 503 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020). In two separate original proceedings via Petitions for Review of Nonfinal Agency Action, successfully quashed emergency license suspensions issued by the Department of Health for the orders’ failure to comply with § 120.60(6), Florida Statutes.
· Saints 120, LLC d/b/a Cross Care Center v. Moore, 292 So.3d 1209 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020). Via Petition for Writ of Certiorari, successfully quashed a discovery order compelling disclosure of non-party patient identifying information in a nursing home negligence case on grounds that the discovery sought was irrelevant, would violate the non-party patients’ constitutional and statutory rights to privacy, and was compelled without patient notice in violation of § 456.057(7)(a), Florida Statutes.
· Federal Trade Commission v. Rensin, 771 F.App’x 84 (2d Cir. 2019). Successfully vacated a contempt order issued after a suggestion of bankruptcy was filed in the District Court on the grounds that the contempt proceedings constituted the enforcement of a money judgment by FTC and thus, fell outside of the “governmental unit” exception to the automatic bankruptcy stay provisions of 11 U.S.C. § 362.
· B&D Nutritional Ingredients, Inc. v. Unique Bio Ingredients, LLC, 758 F.App’x 785 (11th Cir. 2018). Successfully obtained the affirmance of the granting of summary judgment on claims of tortious interference and FDUTPA, and of claimed error in the amount of damages awarded to his client in his defamation counterclaim. In affirming, the Eleventh Circuit adopted Mr. Molinaro’s arguments concerning waiver and invited error.
· Siegel v. Cross Senior Care, Inc., 239 So.3d 738 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018); review denied, 2018 WL 3361051 (Fla. July 10, 2018). Successfully obtained an affirmance of the lower court’s granting of its nursing home client’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict in a nursing home negligence case on the grounds that insufficient evidence existed to establish that the facility’s alleged negligence was more likely than not the cause of the decedent’s death. In upholding the granting of JNOV, the Third District reaffirmed the principle that an expert witness’s opinion based on facts or inferences not supported by evidence has no evidentiary value.
· Building B1, LLC v. Component Repair Services, Inc., 224 So.3d 785 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017). Successfully obtained an affirmance of a judgment for his commercial real property tenant after a bench trial for breach of lease. As part of its opinion affirming judgment, the Third District provided an in-depth analysis of the ability of an administratively dissolved entity to defend against and assert claims in the trial court.
· Hom v. United States, 657 F.App’x 652 (9th Cir. 2016). Successfully obtained a reversal of summary judgment on behalf of the United States in a tax case. Among the various issues presented on appeal was whether offshore online poker accounts constitute reportable accounts necessitating the filing of a Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report (“FBAR”). In reserving summary judgment, the Ninth Circuit found that, based on an analysis of the statutory and regulatory code, online poker accounts did not fall within the definition of a “bank, securities, or other financial account” such that the filing an FBAR was required.
Publications
- Florida Civil Litigation Update: Major changes to the rules of civil procedure have gone into effect. Practitioners must be aware of the consequences for noncompliance, (January 21, 2025), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/florida-civil-litigation-update-major-9305743/.
- Administrative Law Update: US Supreme Court Clarifies When the Claims Period Accrues for Facial Challenges to Regulations Under the APA, Broward County Bar Association Barrister, July/August 2024, available at: https://www.browardbar.org/3d-flip-book/july-august-2024/.
- Apex Doctrine: To Facilitate Appellate Review, Apex Doctrine Orders Should Contain Explicit Factual Findings Concerning Each Parties’ Burden, Broward County Bar Association Barrister, May 2024, available at: https://www.browardbar.org/3d-flip-book/may-2024/.
- Certiorari Update: Sixth DCA Reminds Us of the Importance of Specifically Addressing Irreparable Harm When Seeking a Writ of Certiorari, Miami-Dade Bar Bulletin, January 2024, available at: https://www.miamidadebar.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/January-2024-Bulletin_compressed.pdf.
- Florida Litigation Update: Third DCA Clarifies When Joint Proposals for Settlement are Ambiguous and Addresses the Interplay Between Joint Proposals and Indemnification Agreements, (January 24, 2024), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/florida-litigation-update-third-dca-5277923/.
- Summary Judgment Update: Third DCA Holds the Continuance of a Summary Judgment Hearing Does Not Extend the Time to File Responses Under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510(c)(5), Miami-Dade Bar Blog, October 9, 2023, available at: https://www.miamidadebar.org/summary-judgment-update-third-dca-holds-the-continuance-of-a-summary-judgment-hearing-does-not-extend-the-time-to-file-responses-under-fla-r-civ-p-1-510c5/.
- Florida Litigation Procedure Update: Third DCA Clarifies Key Aspects of § 57.105, (September 26, 2023), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/florida-litigation-procedure-update-5264920/.
- Federal Litigation Update: The Eleventh Circuit Clarifies When Expert Reports are Required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B), (August 30, 2023), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/federal-litigation-update-the-eleventh-9754008/.
- Florida Nursing Home Negligence Update: Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal quashes denial of motion to dismiss nursing home negligence complaint that did not comply with section 400.023, Florida Statutes., (August 23, 2023), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/florida-nursing-home-negligence-update-3180512/.
- Florida’s “New” Summary Judgment Standard: Where Do We Stand Two Years Later?, Broward County Bar Association Barrister, June 2023, available at: https://www.browardbar.org/3d-flip-book/june-2023/.
- Tort Reform Update: Florida Passes Comprehensive Tort Reform that has Potential to Fundamentally Alter Civil Litigation in Florida, (April 13, 2023), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/tort-reform-update-florida-passes-9903359/.
- FinCEN Issues Final Rule for Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements Under the Corporate Transparency Act, (Oct. 24, 2022), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/fincen-issues-final-rule-for-beneficial-5376458/.
- D.C. Circuit: U.C.C. Article 4A Does Not Govern Judgment Creditors’ Claims to Sanctioned Company’s Funds Held by Intermediary Bank; Concurrence Calls for Clearer Standard, (Sept. 7, 2022), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/d-c-circuit-u-c-c-article-4a-does-not-8952931/.
- 1.510 Summary Judgment Update: Florida Courts of Appeal Continue to Clarify Florida’s New Summary Judgment Standard, (June 30, 2022), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/1-510-summary-judgment-update-florida-2215875/.
- Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals: We lack jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act to review sua sponte remand order, (April 5, 2022), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/eleventh-circuit-court-of-appeals-we-4082001/.
- Florida Litigation Update: Defendants in Civil Actions May Assert the Business Judgment Rule Without Pleading an Affirmative Defense, (March 8, 2022), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/florida-litigation-update-defendants-in-5185930/.
- Florida Supreme Court Makes Clear that Bargain-for-Exchange is a Defense to Unjust Enrichment, (Feb. 17, 2022), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/florida-supreme-court-makes-clear-that-6806397/.
- Florida Appellate Practice Update: Florida Supreme Court amends 9.130 to provide for interlocutory appeals of orders granting or denying motions to amend to add claims for punitive damages. Expansion of interlocutory appeals seems at odds with proposed civil trial streamlining efforts, (January 14, 2022), available at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/florida-appellate-practice-update-2129056/.
7777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida
