Member Profiles

Mary Joyce is recognized for her representation of clients under OECD guidelines and coordination of investor prosecution of cases under European Competition Law. In that capacity, Ms. Carlson supervised the workload of lawyers litigating French, Italian & German antitrust complaints coming before the European Commission. Her international work has included collaboration with the European Public Service Union and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture & Tourism Trade Unions. She has also represented clients before the Brazilian Labor Prosecution Service (Ministério Público do Trabalho), and holds an International Global Legal (IGL) designation. Ms. Carlson’s career has featured critical wins in Labor & Employment Law, and she has gained an international reputation for creating new lines of inquiry and innovative legal theories that result in successful litigation, particularly in regards to coordinating complex EU anti-competition matters. Ms. Carlson has built an impressive portfolio of clients and professional contacts that include large nonprofit organizations, NGOs, academic institutions, advocacy groups, professional associations, and national labor unions, including SEIU, CWA, and UAW. In addition, Mary Joyce provides due diligence and client consultation on responsible investments and union-side investment funds, including shareholder litigation. As counsel for The Fight for Fifteen, Mary Joyce Carlson played a key role in elevating more than 22 million workers to win $62 million in raises, a successful legal battle that MSNBC’s Chris Hayes stated, “…has completely changed the politics of the country.” Mary Joyce served as Distinguished Scholar & Speaker at Cornell University, conducted faculty-student lectures, spoke at many ABA International Law meetings, and has been quoted in Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and more. Throughout her career, Ms. Carlson has served on select panels, including the ABA “Future of Worklife, Post Pandemic” panel. She recently served as guest commentator at the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law’s 36th Annual Kenneth M. Piper Lecture, featuring Jared Bernstein, former chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden. For the Harvard Law School Clean Slate Project Working Group, she played an active role in drafting solution sets and proposals for a variety of constituencies and communities. A native of rural Tennessee, Mary Joyce participated in student Civil Rights protests while earning her undergraduate degree. She later earned a Juris Doctor degree from Duke University School of Law, where she prepared for her career in Civil Rights and Economic Justice. After practicing law in Georgia and Maryland, Ms. Carlson continued her career in Washington, DC, where she successfully challenged the longstanding discriminatory gender and racial composition of juries, helped lift a cap on the wages of nurses, brought winning antitrust lawsuits against hospital networks for colluding to depress nursing salaries, and played a critical role in reforming racially biased policies on nursing assignments to hospital specialty units. Mary Joyce was subsequently appointed by President Clinton to the position of Deputy General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board. Ms. Carlson recently won the prestigious Sidney Hillman Foundation George “Citizen” Barrett Award for Public Interest Law. She is a lifelong believer in positive change to foster meaningful progress in Civil Rights, Economic Justice, and Gender Equality. Mary Joyce’s compassionate engagement style, visionary legal acumen, strong international business expertise, and proven capacity to advance her clients’ interests, have all combined to position her as a trusted advocate for her growing client portfolio.

Stevan Pardo is a leading authority on Florida construction and corporate hospitality law. During the past 39 years as a construction and business litigator, Stevan has represented companies involved in virtually all aspects of the construction and business industry including owners, contractors, design professionals, subcontractors, sureties, and insurers. One of his construction specialties is representing condominium associations after developer turnover, including construction defect claims and accounting claims, arising out of the turnover of condominium property to unit owners. His legal representations have also included delay and defect claims arising out of commercial and residential, high-rise residential, hospitality and resorts, multifamily, retail, and office construction projects. Stevan’s clients rely on him to advise them on all aspects of the delivery of construction and engineering projects, from procurement and the drafting and negotiation of contracts, to contract administration, the avoidance and resolution of disputes, and insurance matters. Stevan has developed an impressive track record representing developers and investors in multimillion-dollar real property transactions, including purchases and sales, joint ventures, and residential and commercial development. He has also been at the forefront of Florida Condominium Association lawsuits against Hotel Condominium structures involving several branded and independently operated hotel condominium properties. Stevan brings a unique perspective to the real estate side of his practice because of his 25 years of personal experience as a real estate developer and a hotel owner, builder, and operator. His own experience handling complex construction, buying and selling properties, and negotiating with lenders, has given him deep insight into the world of construction and renovation and has served to enhance the legal advice and business strategies he provides to his hotel clients. As a result of his practical knowledge, Stevan is well-versed in both the business impacts and legal aspects of his clients’ real estate and construction endeavors. His real-world experience has helped Stevan to become a go-to attorney when negotiating and implementing real estate deals in Florida and across the country. Stevan’s distinctive business background also has given him a unique ability to troubleshoot difficult projects for clients before they devolve into full-blown disputes, and to craft business solutions to his clients’ business problems. When necessary, however, Stevan brings extensive trial experience in representing clients before the Florida courts, federal courts, mediators, arbitration panels, and appellate courts. Other key areas of Stevan’s expertise include working with franchisors and franchisees, management companies, vendors, and insurers. Drawing from his real-life experience in hotel ownership, Stevan provides his clients with insight into the business aspects of a legal decision and the legal effects of a business decision. Stevan has developed relationships with various hotel franchisors, including Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and other well recognized industry flags. This holistic combination of legal experience and hospitality industry knowledge brings a critical and essential benefit to Stevan’s hotel and resort clients. Stevan’s membership in the Hotel Trade Organizations and Young Presidents Organization (YPO) Hospitality, Real Estate and Construction Networks allows him to remain current on issues relating to the business and legal challenges in today’s construction, real estate, and hospitality community. His role as a member of the Executive Committee of the local YPO Chapter enables Stevan to keep his pulse on the trends, changes, and challenges facing the construction, real estate, and hospitality community in South Florida, the United States, and internationally. A strong believer in pro bono work, Stevan has committed his legal and construction skills to bettering his local community. Stevan formerly served as the Chair of the City of Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board. In that role, Stevan combined his experience as a real estate developer, a lawyer, and a resident to balance the importance of historic preservation with development. Stevan also served as both construction and legal consultant to a large new community center in his neighborhood. He was the President of the Venetian Island Homeowners Association for several years and spear headed the historic preservation of the Venetian Causeway, a historic link between Miami and Miami Beach, was President of Temple Beth Sholom and is a long standing member of the Duke University South Florida Regional Board. Prior to launching his law firm, Stevan, an AV-Preeminent rated lawyer for several years, was a partner and leader of the construction litigation department of Greenberg Traurig, where he practiced law for more than a decade.

Mr. Brennan, founding partner of Laurie & Brennan, LLP, concentrates his practice on advising owners, designers and contractors on risk management in the construction process; prosecuting and defending construction claims including professional negligence, cost overrun, and delay claims; negotiating and drafting construction and design contracts for architects, engineers and owners; and advising clients with respect to design and construction of accessible facilities under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act.

Related Practices  Mergers & Acquisitions International Corporate Transactions General Corporate Transactions Joint Ventures Startups Financing and Secured Lending Investment Funds and Search Funds Securities Laws Compliance Edward Grenville, the managing partner of the firm, is admitted to practice in California and has over 25 years’ experience representing companies in M&A transactions, financing transactions, emerging company transactions, joint ventures, cross-border transactions, and other business transactions.  He also provides day-to-day advice to companies on corporate governance, contracts, partnerships, vendor relationships, technology transactions, employments matters, and intellectual property matters.  Edward is experienced in representing startups in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, representing these companies from incorporation of the business, through friends and family capital raises, seed rounds, Series A and later rounds, and to eventual exit in an M&A transaction.  Edward’s practice also includes representing lenders and borrowers in a range of secured lending transactions, including revolving and terms loans.  Edward also represents sponsors and investors in hedge fund, private equity fund, and search fund formations, including drafting the principal fund documents, the private placement memorandum, the fund subscription documents, securities laws compliance, and regulatory compliance.  Edward has broad experience in M&A, representing private equity firms and strategic buyers in acquisitions,  sellers, and management teams.  Edward also represents clients in cross-border M&A transactions. Edward combines big law firm experience with the personal approach of a boutique business law firm.  He has been a partner in leading national and international law firms, and was formerly the head of the corporate practice for the West Coast of a global law firm.  He was also previously the General Counsel of a subsidiary of GE Capital, which financed transportation assets, and engaged in global transactions.  He has worked across many industries, including technology, software, fintech, adtech, manufacturing, healthcare, consumer, and transportation sectors. Representative work includes: Represented private equity firm in a series of acquisitions of manufacturing companies Represented manufacturing company in stock sale to private equity firm Represented US private equity firm in acquisition of services company Represented a software technology company (seller) in a stock sale transaction Represented a technology company (acquirer) in an acquisition transaction Represented a public strategic acquirer of a private software technology company Represented a US private company in an asset sale transaction Represented a US services company in a stock acquisition transaction Represented a private equity firm in a sale of a portfolio of loans and equipment leases Represented the management team in a $100 million private equity acquisition transaction Represented a foreign private company in a US stock acquisition transaction Represented numerous Silicon Valley startups in formation, financing, Series A, employment, and intellectual property matters Represented fintech company in restructuring and Series A transaction Represented US and UK company in joint venture for a fintech product Represented sponsors in the formation of a long-short hedge fund Represented sponsors in the formation of real estate private equity funds Represented US bank in numerous revolver and term loan credit transactions Represented UK bank in US asset-based transactions Professional Memberships and Activities State Bar of California – Business Law Section American Bar Association – Business Law Section Director and Chairman of the Board (2021) of the British American Business Council (BABC) – San Francisco Member of the Association for Corporate Growth – San Francisco Director of Tech Bay Area Advocates (TBAA) – San Francisco Bar Admissions California Education B.A., M.A., Modern History, University of Oxford, England JD, University of San Francisco - Law Review - Managing Editor, Maritime Law Journal

FGA Attorneys & Advisors is dedicated to providing comprehensive corporate, tax, and immigration services to individuals and companies doing business in the U.S. and Mexico. Our firm is able to meet the diverse legal and tax needs of local, national, and international clients because we have an experienced team of attorneys and advisors with extensive experience in corporate, tax law, and cross border transactions. We are an international oriented firm with multilingual capabilites including English, Spanish, and Italian.