Loan Lawyers

Bios

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  Matis Abarbanel

  Founding Partner

  Matis Abarbanel always wanted to be an attorney since he could remember, dating back to the time when he was first contemplating which career path to take and his parents told him, “Son, the world is an open book and any career you wish to pursue is up to you. So here is your chance to pick whatever it is that you want to do with your life; you can be a doctor, a lawyer or an accountant.” Since he hates blood, and finds math boring, a career in law was the obvious choice. All joking aside, Matis has always been passionate about fighting for the rights of the underdog and standing up for the oppressed. He longed for the opportunity to right wrongs and from his very core, the relentless pursuit of justice is what moved him to become an attorney over 16 years ago. Upon graduating law school, he spent the first couple years of his legal career working at personal injury litigation firms before starting his own firm. With only a couple years of practice under his belt, he teamed up with a friend and built a multi-million dollar plaintiff catastrophic injury law firm that helped thousands of injured South Florida residents who were harmed due to the negligence or recklessness of others. Despite the firm’s success, Matis was still searching for a bigger, more universal truth, and after some soul searching decided to take a hiatus from the practice of law, picked up a backpack and began his travels across the world longing to quench the thirst of his soul. His travels eventually led him to Israel where he settled and lived for four years, reconnecting with his Jewish roots, attending Yeshiva, getting married, and spending the majority of his time studying Torah and helping those less fortunate. In 2009, Matis returned to Florida as a devout Chasidic Jew armed with a new life mission of making the world a better place and a true dwelling place for G-d. He knew that personal injury law was no longer the path for him, and upon confronting the financial meltdown and foreclosure crisis that was plaguing his hometown community of South Florida, he teamed up with Matthew Bavaro to start Loan Lawyers and focus on helping and fighting for the rights of South Florida homeowners and consumers. As a founding partner of Loan Lawyers, Matis spends the majority of his time on the strategic growth and development of the firm, constantly and diligently searching for new and innovative approaches toward helping consumers and homeowners in need. In addition to his responsibilities as a Senior Partner at Loan Lawyers, Matis prays three times a day, studies Torah two hours a day, observes the Shabbat, and maintains a strict Kosher diet and mitzvah observant lifestyle. He dedicates most of his free time doing charitable work for a non-profit organization that he founded called The Center which helps at-risk Jewish youth by providing them with the necessary tools to discover their true unique purpose and live productive and fulfilling lives. In whatever other spare time he manages to squeeze out, he loves to spend time with his family doing nothing, travel, entertain guests, and go swimming and bike riding.

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  Link: Matis Abarbanel

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  Matthew Bavaro

  Founding Partner

  I have been living in South Florida for the past 40 years. I knew since I was a teenager that I wanted to be an undefined lawyer. I was blessed with an internship with the Honorable John Frusciante when I was 17 years old. That experience sparked my love for the law. Throughout college and law school, I worked for some of the best attorneys in their field and soaked up as much knowledge as I could. When I graduated from law school, I started my own firm in 1999 and haven’t looked back since. When I reached 30 years old, I realized that there was a lot missing from my life. I started exploring my Jewish roots and began to get more and more involved with living a Torah-observant life. This has instilled in me values and ethics that have really put the practice of law in a whole new light. When I started Loan Lawyers with Matis Abarbanel, another Torah-observant Jew, we set out to make a difference. We saw what was happening to homeowners and those in debt decided to get involved and it’s been an amazing experience. We saw banks getting bailed out to the tune of billions of dollars and they roll right over homeowners. We saw people being taken advantage of by unscrupulous loan modification companies and, in many cases, unscrupulous lawyers. So, we stepped in and have grown into one of the largest consumer protection firms in the state. In my career, I have helped people with a myriad of legal problems, but nothing has been as satisfying as helping those struggling to save their homes or fighting a creditor. When I go home at the end of a long day and we save someone’s house or successfully sue a debt collector, it gives me a great deal of satisfaction and happiness like no other area of law ever has. I always treat every case like it was my mother’s case and I instill that value in all of the lawyers who work with us. My #1 goal is to give a struggling person the same level of legal representation as the banks can afford without charging what a bank lawyer charges. Everyone deserves exceptional legal representation and I do my best to provide that to all Loan Lawyers’ clients.

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  Link: Matthew Bavaro

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  Allen Glass

  Counsel

  During his 38 years of practicing law, Allen Glass has handled matters involving commercial litigation, personal injury, anti-trust, real estate, zoning, condo conversion, and the structuring of new businesses and corporations. His high ethical standards and professional ability have earned him a Martindale-Hubbell® AV® Rating from his peers, the highest professional rating for attorneys. Allen Glass is a graduate of Brooklyn College and Detroit College of Law (now called Michigan State University School of Law). He is licensed to practice law in Florida, Michigan, and Illinois and is a member of the Bar Association in all three states. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the US District Court Southern Division of Florida, the Michigan State Supreme Court, the US District Court Eastern District of Michigan, the US District Court Western District Michigan, and the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

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  Yanique Johnson

  Associate

  I was born and raised by my grandparents in the beautiful island of Jamaica. Through observing my grandma, I developed a fascination with personal finance and through friendly arguments with my “Papa”, I fell in love with the law. From both, I learned the importance of tempering strength with compassion. When I permanently migrated to the United States, I opted to spend two years at Broward College before completing my undergraduate degree at Florida International University, where I graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Psychology. Dissuaded by my professors from taking a “gap year”, I enrolled immediately at the Florida International University College of Law at 19 years old. I completed law school and was admitted to the Florida Bar at 23 years old. Throughout my legal career, I have primarily practiced in areas of law related to personal finance: foreclosure, credit card defense and settlement and bankruptcy. Not only have I fought hard to achieve the best results possible for my clients, but I have literally and figuratively held their hands as we navigated the legal process together. I am a public servant at heart and like helping people to find both the confidence, strength and strategy to address their personal financial struggle.

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  Link: Yanique Johnson

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  Tina Gayle

  Associate

  Tina Gayle earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology magna cum laude from Virginia Tech in 1997. Ms. Gayle received her Juris Doctor from the Appalachian School of Law in 2000. Ms. Gayle has over 16 years of experience primarily in collections as well as debt defense. Ms. Gayle has handled all aspects of litigation from case inception through its trial and any subsequent appeals.

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  Jessica Krassner

  Associate

  Jessica was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Her upbringing taught her about the virtue and value of serving others from an early age. She decided that she would make use of her gifts through a career as a lawyer. She began her path towards her legal career by attending Coral Reef Senior High, a prestigious mega magnet school. There she become a student in the Legal and Public Affairs Academy. In high school she began volunteering in the Miami-Dade County Teen Court Program where she took on the role as as a defense attorney representing teens facing juvenile delinquency charges. She also became part of the Peer Mediation Program in school in order to assist fellow students deal with conflict resolution through mediation. In college, Jessica concentrated her studies on legal philosophy, political science, and international relations. Her goal was not only to understand the law at its foundation, but to understand how the historical development of our legal system presently impacted her community. Through her focused studies, she earned a Certificate in Law, Ethics, & Society as well as a Certificate in Latin American & Caribbean Culture Studies. Jessica’s desire to be able to assist more people in her ever changing South Florida community also led her to take courses to learn the language of Brazilian Portuguese. Jessica became a summer intern in the Senior Citizen Law Project at Coast to Coast Legal Aid during the summer following her first year of law school. She assisted attorneys that represented low income seniors with issues such as housing, consumer debt, abuse, medical and health benefits, and immigration. Jessica became a recipient of the Pro Bono Honor Award through her law school for dedicating over 300 hours of volunteer work to the project. Jessica also became a participant in the Business Practice clinic after earning her status as a certified legal intern through the Florida Bar. Through the clinic, she interned at a litigation firm where she learned to hone her skills both in and out of the courtroom. In school, Jessica was the Vice President of the Hispanic Law Student Society, now known as the Hispanic Student Bar Association. She was also a member of Florida Association for Women Lawyers, commonly known as FAWL. As an attorney, Jessica has focused her practice on the foreclosure field and this focus led her to become an associate for Loan Lawyers. She advocates for and zealously defends people who may be at risk of losing their homes. Jessica strives to help her clients comprehend the foreclosure process and works on presenting solutions for the struggles that her clients face. In her spare time, Jessica continues to give back to her community as a pro bono volunteer and serving the homeless community of Miami. Jessica also decided to further her expertise in order to continue to cater to her client’s needs by earning a Masters of Law degree specializing in Real Estate Law.

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  Nicole M. Barrera

  Associate

  Nicole was born and raised in Miami, Florida and she speaks English, Spanish, and French. After graduating from the University of Miami School of Law, Nicole moved to Tallahassee and began her career in public service, serving the people in the State of Florida as assistant general counsel for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (“AHCA”). AHCA is the largest state government agency in Florida and is responsible for administering the state Medicaid program and regulating healthcare providers and healthcare facilities throughout the state. Nicole actively helped the Agency’s executive team carry out the mission of the Agency, “Better Healthcare for All”. She initiated and participated in investigations to uncover violations of patient and resident rights and brought state action against major violators. She also played a role in the implementation of the Emergency Power Plan Rules following the devastation brought by Hurricane Irma. During her time in Tallahassee, Nicole volunteered for Florida’s State Emergency Response Team (the “SERT”) every year and assisted emergency response teams communicate, track, and relocate or assist patients and residents of facilities affected major natural disasters in the state. After retiring from her career in public service, Nicole took her talents back to Miami and decided to serve her community by practicing law as an attorney. She fought against insurance companies who routinely overinflate the cost of health care, underpay claims, and deny access medically necessary and affordable health care. Having worked at a multinational insurance company, she had an inside look at how large insurance companies operate, Nicole became an expert in health, property, and automobile insurance law and decided to fight for the rights and interests of private citizens and their businesses. Nicole joined the team at loan lawyers as a foreclosure attorney so she could continue use to her knowledge, skills, and abilities to serve the community and save people homes. Nicole is an active member of her local Bar association, the business law and administrative law sections of the Florida Bar, and FAWL. She also volunteers her time as a missionary for the Catholic Latin Missions all over the world, working directly with and advocating for the inclusion and proper treatment of indigenous and marginalized communities.

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  Link: Nicole M. Barrera