We understand that dreams without action, discipline, and relentless determination never come true. We understand that goals without purpose, creativity, passion, and relentless work, will never be accomplished. And so, we created a Firm that is built on three fundamental premises:
i. There is no greater honor than to be asked by our clients to represent them in their time of need. This we will never forget. We will never take our clients for granted.
ii. Obtaining real justice is never easy, and so we will never rest on our laurels. We will always challenge ourselves to find the right path, the unique path, for each and every client.
iii. We know that without purpose and passion in our work, advocacy, and counseling, we will be no different than any other law firm. And so, each day, we will fight, and work, and prepare as if our clients’ cases are our own, because in reality, we know that they are.
Over time, we have learned that regrettably, justice is not always blind, or truly just. Guilty men go free. Corporate wrongdoers are not always held accountable for their financial carnage and plaintiffs without any real claims or injuries have received windfall verdicts. To us, this is not real justice.
Real justice is a belief. A goal. An aspiration for a recovery and result that is fair, and right, and equitable.
We will always believe in the ideal and will always fight for a just result for our clients. We will always fight to hold wrongdoers accountable, and we will always defend those that are wrongly accused. But either way, we will never be the firm that celebrates an absurd or unjust result, because we will always believe in the ideal.
We realize that our beliefs and convictions may sound unconventional to some, but it is this strict adherence and belief in “real justice” that separates us from the herd and helps us form trusting relationships with our clients, and fight with integrity, purpose, and passion in the relentless pursuit of just outcomes.
Chris was born and raised in New Jersey and is the proud product of a humble union family who understood the value of having pride in your work, fighting for what is right, always helping a friend in need, and never giving up. As a child, he played every sport that he could, and shoveled snow, cut grass, chopped wood, and delivered newspapers. In high school and college, he framed houses, landscaped, and worked with the Teamsters in a canning factory in order to put himself through school [...]
Read More Chris was born and raised in New Jersey and is the proud product of a humble union family who understood the value of having pride in your work, fighting for what is right, always helping a friend in need, and never giving up. As a child, he played every sport that he could, and shoveled snow, cut grass, chopped wood, and delivered newspapers. In high school and college, he framed houses, landscaped, and worked with the Teamsters in a canning factory in order to put himself through school.
After receiving his undergraduate degree, cum laude, in Finance, he completed a JD/MBA program, during which he worked as a law clerk, intern for the Florida Senate, and an equity research assistant. After practicing law for two years at a prominent law firm, he went back to school in order to obtain his LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown. While studying in Washington, DC, he worked on Capitol Hill for the office of United States Senator Bob Graham.
Today, twenty years after he passed the bar exam, he has developed extensive experience successfully prosecuting and defending complex consumer, commercial, securities, financial, and accounting matters, including class actions and arbitrations, from inception through resolution in jurisdictions and forums around the country. His diverse education (Finance, MBA, JD, and LL.M. in Securities Regulation), professional experience on Wall Street (Solomon Brothers - Equity Research), and Capitol Hill (Sen. Bob Graham), along with success prosecuting, defending, and settling large commercial litigation matters, have provided him with a unique professional foundation to serve as a mediator, consultant, and advocate.
Working together with his colleagues, Chris has successfully defended and prosecuted numerous large commercial litigation and arbitration matters. He has successfully defended investment banks, financial advisors, large domestic corporations and their executive officers and directors in a wide variety of commercial litigation and arbitration matters. He has also successfully represented shareholders of publicly traded corporations, and injured consumers, which has resulted in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars. For example, he has served a prominent role in numerous class actions including: In re Beazer Homes USA, Inc. Sec. Litig. (N.D. Ga. $30.5 million settlement); In re Liquidmetal Techs., Inc. (M.D. Fla. $7 million settlement); In re Omnivision Techs., Inc. Sec. Litig. (N.D. Cal. $13.7 million settlement); In re AFC Enters. Sec. Litig. (N.D. Ga. $15 million settlement); Macy’s Inc. ERISA Class Action (S.D. Ohio $8.5 million settlement), Dougherty v. Cerra, et al., (Kanawha County, West Virginia $1.5 million settlement); In re Teco Energy, Inc. Shareholder Litig., (13th Judicial Circuit, Hillsborough County); and Reid, et al. v. Unilever United States, Inc., et al. (N.D. Ill. $10.25 million settlement).
Chris also understands his obligation to share his knowledge and give back to his community. And so, he regularly lectures on issues pertaining to complex commercial litigation. In this regard, he has given CLE presentations and lectures on securities fraud class actions; drafting amended complaints in securities fraud class actions; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; exposures and litigation issues facing participants in the subprime lending market; institutional investor responsibility and advocacy; corporate governance; fraud detection and prevention; and fiduciary responsibilities and obligations of public pension fund trustees. Additionally, Chris has devoted a significant amount of time to local charitable, civic, and community organizations and programs such as Tampa Connection, Junior Achievement, A Gift for Teaching, Bayshore Little League, Children's Dream Fund, SJE Dads' Club, Kentucky Colonels, the FBI Citizens' Academy, and coaching youth sports such as baseball, softball, soccer, flag football, and basketball.
When Chris is not in his office, in a courtroom, or meeting a client, he is not in a place that has cellular service and is either knee deep in a trout stream with his fly rod, on his mountain bike with his children, or trying his best to stay on his skis without crashing into a snowboarder.
- B.S., cum laude, Florida State University, 1992
- M.B.A., Florida State University, 1997
- J.D., cum laude, Florida State University, 1997
- LL.M., Securities and Financial Regulation, Georgetown University, 2000
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals, Second, Seventh & Eleventh Circuits
- United States District Court, Northern District of Florida
- United States District Court, Middle District of Florida
- United States District Court, Southern District of Florida
- United States District Court, District of Colorado
- The Florida Bar
- Certified Mediator in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator
We know that our clients have thousands of choices for their legal needs, but have chosen us. It is an honor and privilege to know that they have chosen us to help and guide them to justice. We know that our clients are trusting us to make recommendations and take actions with only one goal in mind - their best interests. Nothing else. At Polaszek law, we work purposefully and passionately every day for our clients in order to build and strengthen the trust that has been placed in us.
We know that every one of our clients come to us with unique circumstances and goals. We look at each client and each case with a clean slate but through a lens shaped by decades of experience. In doing so, we will never underestimate our adversary or simply assume our view of the law to be written in stone. We will always challenge our assumptions and historical beliefs as if we are seeing them for the first time. We will never rest on our laurels or our track record, but rather, we will write each brief, and prepare for each hearing, each mediation, and each trial as if everything depended on the outcome, because we know that to our clients, it does.
We know that the road to real justice is long, and difficult, and filled with many battles. Our experience has taught us that at some point in every case, the unexpected will occur. A witness will change testimony. An adversary will not honor his word. A hearing will not go as planned. These speed bumps on the road to justice will never stop us. We will never let the unexpected divert our focus, or detract us from our ultimate goal of providing finality to our clients in the form of real justice.
We know that creative, unique, and purposeful solutions and results are primarily the product of one thing - hard work. We will always work for our clients with relentless effort, steadfast determination, and clear focus. We will always be more prepared than our adversary. And, at the end of every case, our clients will know that their lawyers gave them everything that they had and simply outworked the rest.