Charles Jimerson

Charlie’s recognition spans three categories that rarely show up on the same page: entrepreneurship, legal practice, and firm-building. Together, they reflect a sustained pattern of independent validation by national publications, state bar bodies, peer-review programs, and growth-economy benchmarks across nearly two decades.

Entrepreneurship & Business Leadership

• 2025 Jacksonville Business Journal “Ultimate CEO”
• 2015 Jacksonville Business Journal “Veterans of Influence”
• 2011 Jacksonville Business Journal “40 under 40”
• EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Florida Region Finalist (2017-2019)
• PS27 Foundation Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist (2025)
• Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow

Legal

• 2018 “Top 100 Most Influential Attorneys in Law and Business in the United States” by The Business Journals (national publication)
• 2022 America’s Top 100 Attorneys Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2016 Jacksonville Business Journal Ultimate Attorney award winner (inaugural class)
• American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) certified arbitrator
• Multi-year recognition in The Best Lawyers in America dating back to 2021 (Top 6% of attorneys practicing in the United States awarded with honor based upon peer review)
• Multi-year recognition as a Super Lawyer and Rising Star in Business Litigation by Super Lawyers Magazine dating back to 2007 (Top 5% of attorneys awarded with honor based upon peer review)
• Multi-year winner of Florida Trend Legal Elite Up and Comer Award dating back to 2007 (Top 2% of attorneys under age 40 awarded with honor based upon peer review)
• AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell (Peer rated the highest level of professional excellence) since 2009
• Multi-year listing of Top Attorneys and Legal Experts in Northeast Florida by Jacksonville Magazine, dating back to 2013
• Board Certified in Construction Law by The Florida Bar (2014-2026)
• 2013 Top-Rated Lawyer in Commercial Litigation by The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel magazine
• 2014 “Top 40 under 40 Litigation Lawyers in Florida” by American Society Legal Advocates
• 2015 “Top Attorneys in Florida” by Miami Magazine and The Miami Herald
• 2016 First Coast “Top 10 Attorneys Under 40” by Attorney at Law Magazine
• 2018-2019 “Top Lawyers in Florida” by Tampa Bay Magazine
• 2018 “Champion 8 – Top 8 Civil Litigators” by Attorney at Law Magazine
• 2026 Finalist, Law.com Legal Innovator Award

JB Award Recipient

• Firm recipient of 2015, 2017-2018, 2021, 2025-26 Gator100 award (100 fastest-growing, University of Florida alumni-owned or led businesses in the world)
• Firm recipient of awards for Jacksonville Business Journal “50 Fastest Growing Companies on the First Coast” 2013, 2017, and 2020
• Firm recipient of the 2025 GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch award, recognizing 50 of the state’s most successful second-stage growth companies.
• Firm recipient of awards for the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Law Firms in Florida,” 2019-present
• Firm recipient of Florida Trend Magazine “Best Companies to Work For in Florida” from 2015-present
• Firm recipient of awards for the Jacksonville Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work in Northeast Florida” 2013, 2014, 2020, 2023-present
• Firm recipient of awards for the Jacksonville Business Journal’s “Top Ranked Veteran Owned Businesses” 2013-2018
• Firm recipient of Law Firm 500 designation from 2016-2020, peaking at #28 Fastest Growing Law Firm in the United States in 2016
• Firm recipient of Jacksonville Magazine Companies With Heart award 2025.

• The Florida Bar
• The Jacksonville Bar Association
• The Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association
• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

• University of Florida, Levin College of Law, Juris Doctor
• Campbell University, Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, A.A; B.B.A
  Summa Cum Laude
• The University of Kentucky, Gatton College of Business and Economics, P.C. – Marketing
• Community College of Air Force, A.A.S – Meteorology

The matters below are a representative sample of Charlie’s most consequential engagements across more than two decades of business law practice. The categorized matters that follow provide deeper detail across each line of work. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

• $25M+ Arbitration Award Against National Litigation Team Won a $25M+ arbitration award, including specific performance relief, on behalf of an insurer in a fast-tracked dispute with a third-party claims administrator. Outpaced a seven-lawyer Foley & Lardner team through more than 2 million documents in less than a year of substantive proceedings, recovered $6.8M in undisclosed premiums prior to the final hearing, and delivered a complete win at trial on a compressed three-month schedule.
• $185M Lender Liability Recovery Recovered substantial damages for a construction materials supplier and its guarantors in a $185M lender liability action grounded in fraud in the inducement and post-modification fiduciary breaches. Settled on the eve of trial after four years of dispositive motion practice, more than 40 executive depositions, and the exchange of hundreds of thousands of documents, preserving the company’s ongoing operations and protecting personal guarantor exposure.
• Defeated Precedent-Setting Involuntary Bankruptcy Defeated a precedent-setting involuntary bankruptcy filing against a real estate developer and holding company with more than 40 subsidiary corporations, over a thousand affected employees, and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damages at issue. Multi-month trial resolved fraudulent transfer, preferential transfer, veil piercing, debt exemption, and creditor bad faith allegations in favor of the dismissed debtor.
• Faked-Death Insurance Fraud Recovery Represented a community bank in a nationally publicized eight-figure insurance fraud action against a borrower who forged collateral verifications and faked his own death. Pursued the borrower, competing creditors, and the life insurance company across two years of litigation, recovering all funds advanced for the bank.
• $1B Fortune 500 Service Warranty Registration Negotiated a highly advantageous consent order and obtained Service Warranty Association registration for a Fortune 500 conglomerate, with revenue implications estimated at more than $1B. Combined regulatory advocacy, transactional structuring, and consumer protection strategy on a matter that opened a new line of business at scale.
• $40M Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Defense Steered a large general contractor through Florida’s Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors process, including a no-monies-paid defense of more than $40M in claims of successor liability, mere instrumentality, alter-ego, and fraudulent transfer brought during the corporate wind-down. Resolved each claim category cleanly, protecting the wind-down’s economic outcome and shielding the principals from personal exposure that would have outlived the company.
• $600M+ Partnership Dissolution Served as co-counsel to business owners seeking dissolution of controlling partnerships in companies valued in excess of $600M, navigating overlapping ownership structures, governance disputes, and competing valuation theories on the largest partnership dissolution the firm has handled to date.
• $560M Shareholder Derivative Action Represented class-certified shareholders in a derivative action against the board of directors of a $560M food retail merger, alleging breach of fiduciary duty and corporate opportunity usurpation. Litigated complex governance and valuation issues on behalf of shareholders who otherwise had no individual leverage in the transaction.
• Eight- and Nine-Figure Sell-Side M&A Engagements Served as seller’s counsel across multiple eight- and nine-figure transactions, including the merger of a 100+ accountant regional firm with a national accounting and consulting firm, an eight-figure acquisition of a roofing contractor by a national private equity firm, the sale of a real estate appraisal firm to a global commercial real estate services and investment firm, and the acquisition of a credit union by a larger institution.
• $84M Construction Project Defense Represented a large general contractor on delay and defect claims arising from an $84M project, defending the contractor’s performance and protecting its position on a complex matter where workmanship, scheduling, and contractual interpretation were all simultaneously contested. Separately resolved $30M in workmanship and delay claims across multiple pending projects that were jeopardizing the contractor’s bonding capacity.
• Non-Compete & Restrictive Covenant Enforcement and Defense. Has prosecuted and defended temporary and permanent injunctions arising out of non-compete and restrictive covenant agreements across nearly twenty industries, including financial services, mortgage brokerage, medical practices, franchise management, government contract consulting, technology sales, staffing, fire restoration, swimming pool service, energy rating, and specialty trades. Whether the client is the company protecting key relationships, trade secrets, and competitive position, or the executive defending a transition to new employment, Charlie has run the playbook on both sides.
• Outsourced Volume Collections Platform Designed and built an outsourced volume collections platform for leading financial services entities, serving as senior lawyer overseeing legal architecture, compliance framework, and operational execution. Converted high-friction, individually-managed collections work into a productized, scalable service relationship governed by FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA, and FCCPA compliance protocols, demonstrating the same systemized service approach Charlie now applies through Jimerson Birr’s Longevity Legal Plans.

The matters below reflect a portion of Charlie’s work over more than two decades of representing businesses in their highest-stakes legal matters. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Bet-the-Company & High-Stakes Commercial Litigation

• Won a $25M+ arbitration award, including specific performance relief, on behalf of an insurer in a fast-tracked dispute with a third-party claims administrator over warranty and insurance contract administration. Outpaced a seven-lawyer Foley & Lardner team through more than 2 million documents in less than a year of substantive proceedings, recovered $6.8M in undisclosed premiums prior to the final hearing, and delivered a complete win at trial on a compressed three-month schedule.
• Recovered substantial damages for a construction materials supplier and its guarantors in a $185M lender liability action grounded in fraud in the inducement and post-modification fiduciary breaches. Settled the case on the eve of trial after four years of dispositive motion practice, more than 40 executive depositions, and the exchange of hundreds of thousands of documents, preserving the company’s ongoing operations and protecting personal guarantor exposure.
• Secured a $3.7M judgment for a client harmed by a series of fraudulent misrepresentations in a construction contracting transaction, holding the responsible parties personally accountable and recovering the full amount of damages alleged.
• Defended a publicly traded battery manufacturer in an eight-figure products liability and business tort action against a component part manufacturer, navigating complex causation, indemnity, and supply chain issues to a favorable resolution.
• Defended the primary shareholder of a global consulting and staffing company against multi-year derivative and direct claims brought by a vexatious minority shareholder. Allegations spanned breach of fiduciary duty, breach of operating agreement, constructive fraud, fraudulent inducement, tortious interference, defamation, and extortion. After protracted litigation, all claims were dismissed with prejudice.
• Obtained dismissal with prejudice for a publicly traded medical products supplier accused of widespread unfair and deceptive trade practices, defeating the underlying theory before it could reach class certification or substantive discovery.
• Represented a large publicly traded e-commerce company in a commercial landlord-tenant dispute against a national industrial, commercial, and residential real estate developer over the developer’s failure to timely deliver premises in a defect-free condition. Pursued damages and lease remedies that protected the client’s expansion timeline and operating capacity.
• Has defended companies against consumer class actions across the full statutory landscape, including FDCPA, TCPA, FCRA, EFTA, FCCPA, FUDTPA, and an expanding set of data privacy and data breach statutes. The work has covered debt collection abuse claims, TCPA autodialer cases, FCRA accuracy disputes, unfair contract term challenges, FTC enforcement-adjacent claims, and data breach class actions, with strategy built around early-stage resolution: standing challenges, ascertainability attacks, arbitration enforcement, and aggressive pre-certification motion practice. Track record reflects nuisance-value resolutions, dismissals, and defeat of class allegations in select matters.
• Filed a Petition for Certiorari with Florida’s First District Court of Appeal to preserve the constitutional right to a jury trial in an in rem action targeting an award-winning residential property, protecting the client’s due process rights, and forcing the underlying claim into proper procedural posture.
• Prosecuted and defended intellectual property infringement matters across trademark, service mark, copyright, and trade dress, including portfolio management, registration prosecution, consumer confusion disputes, cease and desist negotiation, and infringement litigation. Work has covered commercial brand enforcement, competitor disputes, and matters where the client’s market position depended on preserving or challenging an IP claim.
• Represented a yacht owner against an international maritime insurer in a complex coverage dispute involving overlapping jurisdictional questions, choice of law issues, and contested policy exclusions, securing a favorable resolution in a notoriously difficult coverage area.
• Successfully defended a port operator against allegations of breach of operating agreement and alleged violations of Florida’s Sunshine Laws governing public records and open meetings. Demonstrated the operator’s full compliance with contractual and statutory obligations and exposed overreach by the contracting port authority, preserving the operator’s rights, reputation, and operational footprint.
• Gained successful outcome for clients seeking enforcement of or defending temporary and permanent injunctions arising out of non-compete agreements in the mortgage brokerage, medical services, franchise management, government contract consulting, financial services, swimming pool service and repair, income tax preparation, construction equipment supply, medical equipment supply, fire restoration, energy rating, vascular surgery, cardiology, dentistry, construction engineering, staffing, technology sales, and beauty services fields.
• Has prosecuted and defended trade secret theft and misappropriation claims across multiple industries, including high-stakes federal court litigation involving the corporate expulsion of oppressed shareholders alongside trade secret theft claims, and a competitive trade secret dispute on behalf of a real estate brokerage and property management firm against a competing brokerage accused of stealing trade secrets and interfering with contractual relationships. The work has combined the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the Defend Trade Secrets Act, paired with restrictive covenant enforcement, tortious interference claims, and emergency injunctive relief, on matters where the client’s competitive position depended on moving fast and moving correctly.
• Has prosecuted and defended Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) claims across a wide range of industries and fact patterns, including widespread deceptive practices allegations against a publicly traded medical products supplier (resulting in dismissal with prejudice), highly contested industry-specific FDUTPA campaigns, and class action defense across overlapping consumer protection statutes. The work spans both sides of the FDUTPA dynamic: representing businesses defending against the statute’s broad reach, and representing clients pursuing it to recover for unfair or deceptive conduct that has damaged their operations or their customers.
• Defended a casino in a premises liability and negligence action arising from a patron’s claimed battery by an off-duty police officer working at the property. Built and executed the defense around the casino’s compliance with industry-standard security protocols, the rigor of its independent contractor vetting and oversight, and the absence of foreseeability or operational control over the officer’s off-duty conduct. The matter resolved without converting third-party criminal conduct into operator liability, which was the exact theory the plaintiff was pressing.
• Many matters above span eight- and nine-figure stakes, federal and state forums, plaintiff and defense postures, and several of the most demanding categories of business litigation, including class action defense, complex coverage disputes, products liability, deceptive trade practices, and constitutional appellate work. The common thread is engagements in which the outcome could not be made up by the next case.

Shareholder, Partner & Ownership Disputes

• Served as co-counsel to business owners seeking dissolution of controlling partnerships in companies valued in excess of $600M, navigating overlapping ownership structures, governance disputes, and competing valuation theories on the largest partnership dissolution Charlie has handled to date.
• Represented class certified shareholders in a derivative action against the board of directors of a $560M food retail merger, alleging breach of fiduciary duty and corporate opportunity usurpation. Litigated complex governance and valuation issues on behalf of shareholders who otherwise had no individual leverage in the transaction.
• Effectuated the ouster and full interest buyout of a minority member in a professional services LLC, then merged the reconstituted entity with a previous competitor to create a market leader in the industry. Combined shareholder dispute resolution, transactional structuring, and competitive consolidation in a single engagement.
• Led the ouster of a rogue Chairman of the Board of Directors at a nationally recognized flavored water manufacturer and managed the associated corporate restructuring, restoring the company to functional governance and protecting the equity of remaining shareholders.
• Defeated a squeeze-out attempt by an LLC managing member who used improper means and fraudulent corporate governance procedures in an effort to oust the company’s founder. Enjoined the improper conduct, then negotiated a buyout of the dissenting managing member that preserved the founder’s control and the company’s operations.
• Represented a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeons practice in a shareholder and employment dispute filed by a former partner of the practice, navigating overlapping medical practice, partnership, and employment law issues to a resolution that preserved the practice’s patient care continuity.
• Represented ESOP claimants against trustees for breach of fiduciary duty and stock price manipulation, recovering value for plan participants whose retirement equity had been compromised by trustee misconduct.
• Represented a law firm founding partner through a contested partner dispute that threatened the firm’s stability and the partner’s career, combining governance enforcement, partnership agreement analysis, and structured negotiation to reform the partner relationships and prevent a costly breakup. The work required simultaneous resolution across compensation, equity, succession, and reputational dynamics, all of which had to land cleanly for the firm to continue operating as a unit.
• Represented oppressed minority shareholders across multiple closely-held companies, securing just compensation through compelled share redemption proceedings, equitable reformation of governing documents, expert valuation collaboration, and creative negotiation strategies designed to unlock fair value despite controlling shareholder resistance.
• Compelled the assignment of state government contracts to a former employee launching a new venture post-transition, preserving the contract value the employee had built and enabling the new business to launch with its expected revenue base intact.
• Has built a deep practice resolving partnership disputes for closely-held companies across industries, including real estate franchises, air conditioning systems, financial management, commodities trading, mutual funds, insurance brokerage, and roofing companies. Engagements typically involve obtaining the expulsion of disputing partners, defending against expulsion attempts, restructuring ownership and governance, and protecting the operating business through fact-intensive partnership investigation, governance enforcement, and pressure-tested negotiation. The objective is consistent: resolve the conflict, remove the disruption, and preserve the company for the partners who are committed to its future.
• Experience covers both sides of the dispute: founders defending against expulsion, minority owners pursuing oppression remedies, boards facing derivative claims, and partnerships seeking to remove disruptive members. Engagements have included partnerships valued in the hundreds of millions and closely-held businesses where the equity at issue was the owners’ entire net worth.

Construction, Real Estate & Community Associations

• Represented a large general contractor on delay and defect claims arising from an $84M project, defending the contractor’s performance and protecting its position on a complex construction matter where workmanship, scheduling, and contractual interpretation were all simultaneously contested.
• Resolved $30M in workmanship and delay liability claims for a large general contractor across multiple pending projects that were jeopardizing the contractor’s bonding capacity. Negotiated a coordinated multi-project resolution that protected the contractor’s ongoing surety relationships and operational capacity.
• Drafted and negotiated construction contracts for owners, general contractors, and subcontractors on commercial construction projects ranging from $400,000 to $750M, including AIA general and supplemental conditions, prime contracts, subcontracts, and project-specific addenda built to the realities of each engagement.
• Represented a builder-developer in an easement dispute on a $40M private development, defending the developer’s rights and project economics in a high-stakes property dispute that threatened the development’s timeline and financing.
• Defended hotel chain owners in $1.5M construction defect and fraudulent lien discharge litigation arising from acoustics failures and substantial project delay claims, securing a resolution that preserved the chain’s operating economics and reputation.
• Defended a homeowners association in an eight-figure injunctive relief action and arbitration alleging violation of a right of first refusal in a bulk services agreement. Reached a favorable settlement shortly before the final arbitration hearing, protecting the association’s contracting flexibility.
• Represented multiple residential community associations in construction defect actions seeking recovery of millions of dollars in damages from water intrusion of building envelopes, holding developers and contractors accountable for deferred liability that homeowners had inherited at turnover.
• Recovered full project value for plumbing, drywall, and carpentry subcontractors on a large resort hotel construction project after every other subcontractor on the project had settled at 50-75 percent of contract and liened value. Built and executed a separate strategy that protected the represented subs from the discount that the rest of the project absorbed.
• Won multi-district litigation summary judgment for a general contractor and its executives accused of alter ego, mere instrumentality, and veil piercing claims. Concluded the case at the summary judgment phase after extensive evidentiary proceedings, motion practice, and protracted multi-year litigation.
• Overturned a public procurement award on behalf of a large electrical contractor, exposing improper bidder qualification and securing the project award for the client. Combined administrative law, procurement strategy, and aggressive advocacy to flip the outcome.
• Represented multiple homeowners associations through the developer turnover process, guiding boards from developer control to homeowner control while resolving construction defect claims, infrastructure deficiencies, governance gaps, and statutory compliance issues that had accumulated during the developer-controlled period.
• Provided comprehensive legal counsel to an Opportunity Zone Fund covering structuring, compliance, due diligence, transactional support, tax optimization, investor relations, and ongoing regulatory monitoring, supporting the fund’s deployment of capital into qualifying investments.
• Won summary judgment quieting title for a 94-year-old pro bono client whose marital homestead had been alienated by her daughter-in-law through duress and undue influence, restoring the client’s ownership of her late husband’s home.
• Representations have spanned every position on a project: owners, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, lenders, condominium associations, and homeowners associations. Project values have ranged from $400,000 to over a billion dollars. The matters include construction defect, delay and disruption, lien and bond, contract drafting and negotiation, public procurement, eminent domain, easement disputes, developer turnover, and construction-driven receiverships and wind-downs.

Banking, Lender Liability & Creditor Rights

• Represented a community bank in a nationally publicized eight-figure insurance fraud action against a borrower who forged collateral verifications and faked his own death. Pursued the borrower, competing creditors, and the life insurance company across two years of litigation, ultimately recovering all funds advanced for the bank.
• Took over four operating entities of defaulted hotel owners on behalf of a community bank through receivership and foreclosure on $6M of loans, navigating overlapping operational, regulatory, and creditor issues to protect the bank’s collateral value during the takeover.
• Defeated a tenants-by-the-entirety exemption claim on nearly $1M in garnished funds held in debtor bank accounts. Won a favorable judgment for the lender after multiple evidentiary hearings and extensive first-party and third-party discovery, recovering funds that the debtor had attempted to shield through marital exemption claims.
• Recovered substantial wired funds for a defrauded community bank in the so-called Nigerian Check Scam, pursuing the at-fault parties across multiple jurisdictions and demonstrating the playbook for recovery in international wire fraud against community-bank targets.
• Effectuated a deed-in-lieu transaction on behalf of a lender taking back over $12M in real estate assets, negotiating the documentation and closing process to deliver clean title and preserve the lender’s recovery position without litigation.
• Has prosecuted and defended fraudulent transfer claims, successor liability claims, and improper corporate wind-down actions across a wide range of creditor and debtor representations, including complex proceedings supplementary litigation, more than $40M in successor liability and alter-ego claims defended for a general contractor in a Florida Statute 727 Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors process, and Florida Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act actions pursued on behalf of creditors confronting debtors who had moved assets in avoidance of legitimate claims. The work combines forensic asset tracing, proceedings supplementary, charging orders, and post-judgment recovery into a coordinated strategy designed to neutralize debtor evasion tactics.
• Defended a bank against allegations of contract breach, negligent underwriting, and fraudulent misrepresentation arising out of a failed multi-million-dollar loan participation transaction, protecting the bank’s lending operations and reputation against claims that could have set damaging precedent for participation lending generally.
• Recovered a high six-figure judgment for a lender through aggressive post-judgment motion practice, charging orders against the debtor’s LLC membership interests, levies on company stock, and coordinated asset seizure across multiple holdings.
• Defeated the SBA’s denial of a substantial guaranty payment claim brought by a community lender, recovering the full guaranty payment after extensive regulatory dispute and demonstrating the lender’s compliance with SBA underwriting and servicing standards.
• Effectuated assignment of loan documents from an assignee loss-share bank as part of a bulk residential loan modification program following an FDIC transfer. Conducted title analysis across multiple tranches of secured assets to mitigate prior encumbrances and protect the modified portfolio’s collateral position.
• Designed and built an outsourced volume collections platform for leading financial services entities, serving as senior lawyer overseeing the legal architecture, compliance framework, and operational execution of the engagement. The platform converted what is typically high-friction, individually-managed collections work into a productized, scalable service relationship governed by FDCPA, FCRA, TCPA, and FCCPA compliance protocols, with the legal and operational design built to optimize recovery without exposing the financial institution clients to regulatory or litigation risk.
• Recovered more than $100MM+ in domestic and out-of-state judgment recoveries throughout career, deploying domestication of foreign judgments, garnishments, levies, charging orders, and asset seizures across complex post-judgment recovery campaigns.
• Representative experience covers community, regional, and national lenders, alongside private lenders and credit unions, across borrower default, collateral disputes, regulatory disagreements with the SBA and FDIC, fraud recovery, post-judgment recovery, foreclosure, replevin, deed-in-lieu, loss-share assignments, and lender liability defense. The recurring engagements involve situations where standard collection has failed, and the matter has become high-exposure, high-publicity, or both.

Corporate Transactions & Business Advisory

• Negotiated a highly advantageous consent order and obtained Service Warranty Association registration for a Fortune 500 conglomerate, with revenue implications estimated at more than $1B. Combined regulatory advocacy, transactional structuring, and consumer protection strategy on a matter that opened a new line of business at scale.
• Served as seller’s counsel in a multi-million-dollar merger of a regional accounting firm of more than 100 accountants with a national accounting and consulting firm, structuring and negotiating the transaction to maximize partner value and protect post-closing operating continuity.
• Served as seller’s counsel in a high eight-figure acquisition of a roofing contractor by a notable national private equity firm, navigating diligence, structuring, escrow, and post-closing transition issues that protected the seller’s economic outcome.
• Served as seller’s counsel in the multi-million-dollar acquisition of a real estate appraisal firm by a global commercial real estate services and investment firm, leading the transaction through diligence, negotiation, and closing on behalf of the appraisal firm’s ownership.
• Served as seller’s counsel in the acquisition of a credit union by a larger institution, navigating a transaction structure that brought together a substantial membership base, significant asset holdings, a workforce in transition, and meaningful seller equity, all under the credit union-specific regulatory framework that governs ownership transfers and member protections in this category. Credit union acquisitions are rare relative to traditional bank M&A and require coordination across the NCUA’s regulatory expectations, the membership’s governance interests, and the acquirer’s integration plan, all of which had to land cleanly for the transaction to close on its intended terms.
• Drafted state legislation and advocated for several Florida counties, championing reforms that produced property insurance rate reductions of up to 60 percent and saved residents hundreds of millions of dollars. Combined legislative drafting, coalition building, and statewide advocacy on a single high-impact policy effort.
• Serves as General Counsel to The Tim Tebow Foundation, advising on human resources, risk management, governance, contractual obligations, and liability mitigation across one of the country’s most recognizable faith-based foundations.
• Quashed a Petition for Quo Warranto challenging a City Commissioner’s right to office, defending the legitimacy of the elected officer and restoring procedural certainty to the local governing body.
• Absolved an insurer of allegations asserted by The Florida Bar pertaining to the unauthorized practice of law, fully resolving the regulatory exposure and preserving the insurer’s operations and reputation.
• Represented marina in liquidation of inventory in preparation for impending business sale, first chair for trials of breach of contract claims, achieving full recovery of amounts sought.
• Represented a Christian academy in challenging the Florida High School Athletic Association’s ruling that a star player accused of misconduct was ineligible to participate in the state football championship game. Built the case around due process, fairness, and the player’s constitutional rights, navigating the FHSAA’s procedural framework on a compressed championship-game timeline. The matter resolved on terms that protected the player’s career, the academy’s program, and the integrity of the appeals process.
• Terminated automotive franchise and dealer agreements for a client preparing to execute a corporate merger, navigating one of the most heavily regulated termination regimes in commercial law. Advised the client through every legal issue triggered by the impending transaction, including franchise compliance, dealer relations, manufacturer notification protocols, and contractual exposure, and litigated the disputed issues that arose from the termination process to a resolution that cleared the path to closing.
• Represented a guarantor of more than $30M in lending obligations through a complex loan workout with secured and unsecured creditors, alongside a coordinated corporate wind-down designed to limit personal exposure and resolve claims efficiently.
• Advised many companies and shareholders on asset protection and corporate wind-down processes, focusing on limiting liability exposure and defending against attacks by outside creditors and insider principals during corporate restructuring or dissolution.
• Transactional and advisory work has spanned eight- and nine-figure sell-side M&A, complex regulatory registrations, statewide policy advocacy, ongoing general counsel relationships, governance and asset protection counsel, election and administrative law matters, and structured corporate wind-downs. Clients have included family-held businesses, regional firms, national platforms, public officials, foundations, and Fortune 500 companies.

Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Workouts

• Defeated a precedent-setting involuntary bankruptcy filing against a real estate developer and holding company with more than 40 subsidiary corporations, over a thousand affected employees, and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damages at issue. Multi-month trial involved fraudulent transfer claims, preferential transfer allegations, veil piercing arguments, debt exemption disputes, and creditor bad faith allegations, all of which were resolved in favor of the dismissed debtor.
• Steered a large general contractor through Florida’s Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors process, including a no-monies-paid defense of more than $40M in claims of successor liability, mere instrumentality, alter-ego, and fraudulent transfer brought during the corporate wind-down.
• Closed a Bankruptcy Code Section 363 sale on behalf of a purchaser acquiring $1.4M of real estate assets free and clear of encumbrances from a defunct developer, navigating creditor objections, court approval, and clean-title issues at the bankruptcy court level.
• Initiated adversary proceedings on behalf of a large estate in a Chapter 11 filing and recovered illegal preference payments from creditors who had received transfers during the preference period, restoring meaningful value to the estate’s recovery pool.
• Represented the largest secured creditor in a Chapter 11 case, working with the debtor to strip inferior liens while maintaining substantially similar pre-petition loan terms in the confirmed plan. Consistently objected to plan filings until reaching a favorable structure that preserved the lender’s economic position.
• Resolved a bankruptcy preference action for a commercial builder facing more than $100,000 of exposure for less than $2,500 at the early stages of litigation, leveraging course-of-dealing and ordinary-course-of-business defenses to neutralize the claim quickly.
• Served as appellate counsel for a dismissed debtor on bad-faith involuntary bankruptcy filing issues, addressing complex questions of whether dismissal and abstention powers should preclude affirmative recovery for the wronged debtor.
• Represents assignors and assignees in all phases of Florida Statute 727 Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors actions, providing strategic counsel through the full corporate wind-down process for clients on either side of the assignment.
• Work in practice area has covered every seat at the table: defending against precedent-setting involuntary filings, representing the largest secured creditor in Chapter 11 reorganizations, prosecuting adversary proceedings to recover preference payments, closing Section 363 sales, defending preference actions, serving as appellate counsel on bad-faith filing issues, and representing assignors and assignees in Florida Statute 727 Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors proceedings.

Eminent Domain & Property Rights

• Recovered more than ten times the government’s initial offer for a commercial landowner in a highway signage and business damages eminent domain claim, building the valuation case that converted a low offer into substantial compensation.
• Recovered more than fifteen times the government’s initial offer for multiple community associations defending a taking of land that had been improperly characterized as wetlands. Combined regulatory advocacy with valuation strategy to drive a dramatically improved outcome.
• Serves as statewide eminent domain counsel for banks, distribution companies, retailers, gas stations, property development companies, and restaurants on takings related to road widenings, electric transmission line construction, pipeline construction, utility projects, water management projects, and other public infrastructure.
• Represents homeowners and business owners in defense of governmental land takings, securing fair compensation for condemnation and proving compensable taking through inverse condemnation proceedings when the government has refused to acknowledge the taking it has effected.
• Counsels communities of commercial condominium owners in eminent domain cases, focusing on assessment and pursuit of business damages claims arising from government takings and deploying valuation methodologies, economic analysis, and litigation strategies that maximize compensation.
• Representations have included homeowners, business owners, lenders, retailers, gas stations, distribution companies, property developers, restaurants, and community associations across road widening projects, transmission line construction, pipeline construction, utility projects, and water management projects. Outcomes have repeatedly come in at multiples of the government’s initial offer, with several in the ten-to-fifteen-times range.

Arbitration, Expert Witness & Professional Services

• Has presided over more than 100 commercial, consumer, construction, and employment law arbitrations as an approved and empaneled arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, bringing a neutral’s perspective and a litigator’s discipline to the resolution of high-stakes disputes.
• Provides expert witness testimony on the legal standard of care during trial and on appeal, offering analysis that helps courts understand and apply the appropriate legal standard at both the trial and appellate level.
• Provided expert testimony in a legal malpractice action regarding the effective date of corporate dissolution, addressing a technical and consequential issue at the intersection of corporate and professional responsibility law.
• Provided expert testimony in a legal malpractice action regarding the legal standard of care for a foreclosing attorney overseeing the disposition of assets through a commercial real estate receivership, an area where standard-of-care issues are frequently disputed and rarely well-developed.
• Defended multiple lawyers facing Florida Bar disciplinary proceedings on alleged rule violations spanning client-lawyer relationship issues, competence, diligence, communication, safekeeping of property, declining or terminating representation, supervisory responsibility, trust accounting compliance, and trust accounting procedures, securing favorable pre-suit and pre-trial resolutions.

Recent Media & Speaking

• “Rethinking the Billable Hour for Sustainable Law Firm Growth”, Guest, The Lawyer’s Edge Podcast (September 2025)
• “Charlie Jimerson on Grit, Growth, and Building a Modern Law Firm”, Guest, The Grit Podcast, Episode 34 (November 2023)
• “Successful Military Entrepreneurs”, Panelist, Syracuse University D’Aniello Institute for Veterans & Military Families Military Entrepreneurship Forum (February 2023)
• “Creating and Branding an Award-Winning Law Firm Culture”, American Bar Association Law Practice Magazine (July/August 2022)
• “Husel trial: Removing a judge from a case in Ohio is different from that in Florida”, The Columbus Dispatch (April 2022)
• “How to Protect Your Business From a Crippling Ransomware Attack”, Panel Moderator, Wells Fargo Center Auditorium (October 2021)
• Featured commentator on the Surfside building collapse and Florida condominium law reform: The Miami Herald (July 2021); NBC 6 South Florida (June and July 2021)
• “Answers for Jacksonville landlords: Reopening, employee rights, rent abatements and more”, The Jacksonville Business Journal (April 2020)
• “Legal Implications of the Pandemic for the Commercial Real Estate Sector”, Panelist, BOMA Jacksonville (April 2020)
• “Building on Veterans- Spotlight on Veteran Leaders in Our Community,” Panelist, The Jacksonville Business Journal (May 2018)
• “Good Guys- Guys Overcoming Obstacles to Diversity,” Panelist, Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association (April 2018)

Selected Earlier Publications & Speaking

Business & Firm Leadership

• “Keeping your bosses out of trouble: What fiduciary duties are owed by Directors or Officers of Insolvent entities”, ACC Newsletter (December 2018)
• “Executive and Operational Management 101”, The River Club (October 2018)
• “How to find and manage outside counsel in a way that adds value to your company”, Panel Moderator, ACC (February 2018)
• “Networking for Executives and Professionals”, Panelist, The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce (May 2018)
• “Tips and Techniques for Obtaining Work-Life Balance”, Jacksonville Lawyer Roundtable (February 2019)
• “Resolutions, Goals, and Goal Setting for Business and Personal Life,” Accounting Now, January 2019.
• “Bar Association Board Commitment and Accountability”, Jax Daily Record (February 2017)
• “Secrets to Success for Business Owners”, 12 Mavens CEO and Entrepreneur Network (January 2017)
• “Managing across generations,” panel moderator, CFO Leadership Council (October 2016)

Banking, Credit & Financial Services

• “What you need to know about CFPB compliance”, Florida Bankers Association E-Insights Newsletter (September 2016)
• “Loan Participation Agreements – Contract Drafting Perspectives for the Lead Bank”, Lorman Education Services (April 2017)
• “What Remedies Are Available to a Creditor Under the Florida Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act Chapter 726,” Lorman Educational Services (April 2017)
• “Law School for the CFO,” CFO Leadership Council (February 2017)
• “Lender Policies and Procedures for Subpoenas, Summons and Third-Party Demand Requests”, Lorman Educational Services (November 2016)
• “Sound Internal Credit and Collection Policies”, OnPay Solutions (April 2017)

Corporate Governance & Litigation

• “The Five Most Common Ways to Pierce the Corporate Veil and Impose Personal Liability for Corporate Debts”, Florida Bar Business Law Section Blog (February 2017)
• “It’s not over until it’s over: Service on a foreign corporation”, Florida Bar Business Law Section Blog (March 2018)
• “What Remedies Are Available to a Creditor Under the Florida Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act”, Lorman Educational Services (April 2017)
• “What In-House Counsel Need to Know When the Company’s Real Property is Scheduled to be Taken Via Eminent Domain”, ACC Newsletter (December 2017)
• “Discovery on Social Media, Cell Phones and E-Mails”, Panel Moderator, ACC (August 2018)

Bar Association Leadership

• Chairman and Master of Ceremonies, 13th Annual Raymond Ehrlich Trial Advocacy Seminar, The Jacksonville Bar Association (March 2015)
• “Bet the Company Litigation”, Panel Moderator, The Jacksonville Bar Association (March 2015)

Charlie writes and speaks regularly on legal industry innovation, business leadership, and the issues facing growing companies. Additional publications, speaking engagements, and media appearances available upon request.

Charlie has built a substantial portfolio of leadership and service across the organizations that shape Florida’s legal, business, and civic landscape. The relationships Charlie has built across Florida’s business, legal, and civic communities are part of how he serves clients. Two decades of board service, general counsel engagements, executive officer roles, and committee leadership across more than 60 organizations have produced a network that regularly turns into introductions, intelligence, and opportunities for the clients he advises. The list below reflects current and prior involvement and is illustrative rather than exhaustive.

Professional Associations (Legal)

• The Florida Bar (Business Law and Real Estate/Construction Sections, Florida Bar Fourth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee)
• American Bar Association (Litigation, Business Law, Construction Law sections)
• The Jacksonville Bar Association (Board of Governors, Sports Commissioner, Construction Law Section Chair, Litigation Section Chair, Erhlich Trial Advocacy Seminar Chair)
• The Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association
• American Trial Lawyers Association
• Chester Bedell Inns of Court
• Association for Eminent Domain Professionals

Trade Associations

• Northeast Florida Builders Association (General Counsel, Board of Directors, Governmental Affairs Committee)
• Construction Financial Management Association
• Associated Builders & Contractors
• National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP)
• Building Owners and Managers Association
• Urban Land Institute (ULI)
• Northeast Florida Association of Realtors
• Community Associations Institute (CAI)
• First Coast Manufacturers Association
• Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association
• National Association for Credit Management (SACM-JAX Chairman)
• Florida Bankers Association
• Credit Union National Association
• The Jacksonville Bank Advisory Board
• Risk Management Association (First Coast Chapter President; Florida State Chapter Board of Directors)
• Mortgage Bankers Association (Board of Directors- Jacksonville Chapter)
• Turnaround Management Association
• CFO Leadership Council (Jacksonville Board of Directors and Steering Committee)
• Association for Corporate Growth North Florida
• Florida Trucking Association
• Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association
• Clay County Chamber of Commerce
• The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce (Trustee, Public Policy Committee)
• Jacksonville Veterans Chamber of Commerce
• Florida Chamber of Commerce
• Young Presidents’ Organization (Board of Directors, Vice-Chair)
• Tiger 21 (Jacksonville Founding Chair)

Civic/Philanthropic Associations

• The Jacksonville Civic Council
• Leadership Jacksonville Alumni (Class of 2013)
• Rotary Club of Jacksonville (Rotaract Mentor, Membership Chair, Board of Directors)
• The Gator Bowl Association (Executive Committee)
• St. Vincent’s Foundation (Shircliff Society Founding Board Member)
• The Tim Tebow Foundation (General Counsel)
• Builders Care (General Counsel)
• Appointed Board Member, Task Force Movement, a public-private workforce initiative launched at the White House to support veteran, military spouse, and transitioning service member employment (2024 – 2025)
• The 200 Club of Jacksonville
• National Association of Veterans and Families (Committee of 100)
• The Jacksonville Public Education Fund
• The Jacksonville Historical Society
• The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Board of Directors)
• The Cummer Museum
• The Wounded Warrior Project
• Junior Achievement
• Girls, Inc.
• The University of Florida Alumni Association and local Gator Clubs
• The United Way (Small Business Council)
• Dreams Come True
• The ALS Association
• Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• Community Connections
• American Heart Association
• Boy Scouts of America North Florida Council
• Grit.org
• Hope Haven
• Ronald McDonald House
• Navy-Ortega League Youth Baseball Coach
• Westside Soccer and Florida Elite Soccer Youth Coach
• i9 Sports Youth Football Coach
• RPC League Youth Basketball Coach