Lawyer exits partnership at 275-attorney firm to take lead role in consumer law practice
After a decade defending institutional clients in lending and debt-collection cases, Florida lawyer George Andrews decided it was time for a change.
So he gave up his partnership in 275-attorney Shutts & Bowen and his 21st-floor office. Last month he joined Loan Lawyers and he is now working out of a two-story building several miles from downtown Fort Lauderdale, in charge of his new firm’s consumer-protection group. It represents plaintiffs in litigation against creditors over alleged violation of federal and state laws, reports the Daily Business Review (sub. req.).
A former manager for a roofing and hurricane shutter company before he began his legal career, Andrews took night classes at Nova Southeastern University to earn his law degree.
He called his latest career move a return to his roots, and said his experience handling pro bono cases for consumers helped persuade him to make the move. Although the cases involved only relatively small sums, his representation was a major benefit to his clients, who faced issues such as eviction or the loss of a job without competent representation.
“I could never say when I was doing defense work that I was wearing the white hat,” Andrews told the legal publication. “Representing the consumer is wearing the white hat. The experience of representing somebody—being somebody’s advocate—is part of the beneficial feeling. That feeling was quite rare working for commercial institutions.”
