Rafael A. Castro III

Mr. Castro is an Appellate Law Specialist who handles both both civil and criminal appeals in Florida and in each of the federal circuits, specializing in appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He specializes in complex pre-trial and appellate litigation, using his pre-trial litigation skills - often co-counseling with trial attorneys - in order to preserve for appeal errors made in the lower court and to prepare a record in the lower court that can support a winning appeal.

In 2004 Mr. Castro handled the pre-trial litigation in SME Racks v. Sistemas Mecanicos Para Electronica and after a dismissal at the trial court level, he wrote the appellate briefs and successfully argued the subsequent appeal before a 3-member panel of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, persuading that panel to change the then-current law applicable to forum non conveniens dismissals when American plaintiffs are involved. See SME Racks, 382 F. 3d 1097 (11th Cir. 2004)

With over 5 years of appellate experience, his practice today is focused almost exclusively on complex civil and criminal appeals that require out-of-the-box, intellectually creative thinking. Part of his appellate practice involves providing appellate-focused support to trial lawyers in both criminal and civil proceedings.

In addition, Mr. Castro is a versatile attorney with a unique international background and over twenty (20) years of legal experience. He has an L.L.M in Transnational Business Practice and possesses a wide-range of corporate, M&A, commercial, infrastructure development, project finance, and private equity experience in cross-border transactions.

Rafael has represented:
-Project sponsors and developers in connection with the development, financing, and implementation of international oil and gas and power projects
- Multi-national companies in connection with international corporate work (e.g., M&A and international share or asset acquisitions) in the energy and telecom industries.

He has one of the most variegated international backgrounds in law, having lived and worked abroad in Europe (London, Barcelona, Paris), Latin America (Sao Paulo), and the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) for major international law firms. He also has a diverse cultural and multi-lingual background, which includes being fluent in Spanish (native), Portuguese and French.

• Civil Appeals
• Criminal Appeals
• Cross-Border Transactions
• Infrastructure Development & Project Finance
• Mergers & Aquisitions

Florida

New York

U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals

U.S. Supreme Court

Stetson University College of Law

J.D.

Stetson University

B.A. | Political Science

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

LL.M. | Transnational Business Practice