Attorneys
Associates
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Nicholas Bader
William (Kirby) Bissell
Micah A. Andrews
Of Counsel
Mark Ishman
Stuart Rosenthal
Richard Sox
Richard Sox, a native of Florida, graduated from the Florida State University College of Business with a Bachelors Degree in Finance. Prior to entering law school, he worked in the banking industry in various capacities. Mr. Sox graduated from the Florida State University College of Law with Honors in 1993.
Since graduation from the Florida State University College of Law, Mr. Sox has focused his practice on guiding his clients through the rules and regulations governing their industry, representing clients before various State agencies, advising clients in matters before the Legislature and representing their interests in Federal, State and administrative courts. Mr. Sox represents his business and association clients before state regulatory and legislative bodies in rule-making procedures, procurement matters, licensing and proposed legislation impacting their industry. Mr. Sox regularly participates in litigation matters on behalf of his clients both in Federal and State courts as well as in administrative forums and commercial arbitrations.
Mr. Sox was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1993. He has been admitted to the Florida Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, United States District Court for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, as well as being admitted to practice before Federal and state courts, as well as administrative tribunals, throughout the United States.
Shawn Mercer
Shawn Mercer is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Speech Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989. He went on to receive his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1992. Mr. Mercer was admitted to the North Carolina Bar in 1992 and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, United States Tax Court, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and all United States District Courts in North Carolina. Mr. Mercer is also a certified mediator.
Prior to joining Bass, Sox, Mercer as a shareholder, Mr. Mercer was a named partner in another law firm where his practice also emphasized the representation of motor vehicle dealers. Mr. Mercer's practice continues to focus on motor vehicle dealership and franchise law. He also is experienced in complex commercial litigation, administrative law, business law and state taxation. Along with his years of practice in these areas, Mr. Mercer often speaks to dealer groups about dealer issues and is a regular contributor to dealer association newsletters and other publications.
Robert Bass
Robert Bass began practicing law as a second career. A native of Virginia, Mr. Bass graduated from James Madison University in 1984. He elected to return to school to obtain his law degree after several years of sales and marketing with a family owned advertising firm, Fortune 500 company, and wholesale mortgage bank company.
Mr. Bass attended the Florida State University College of Law, where he graduated in 1995 with high honors and was selected to the Order of the Coif. While at FSU, Mr. Bass was a member and executive board member of the Journal of Land Environmental Law.
Mr. Bass has concentrated his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, business planning, succession planning, and corporate law. Mr. Bass has represented buyers and sellers of businesses of all sizes, and has helped his clients on after-death ownership succession issues. Mr. Bass has addressed accountants, chief financial officers, bankers, and consultants at numerous conferences on mergers & acquisitions topics.
Mr. Bass is a member of the Florida and District of Columbia Bars. He is admitted to practice in the courts of those jurisdictions, as well as the United States District Courts of the Northern and Middle District of Florida and the District of Colorado.
Jason Allen
Jason Allen was raised in Citrus County, Florida and received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Mercer University School of Law in Macon, Georgia. In law school, Mr. Allen was a member of the moot court team, advancing to the Semi-Finals of the Gabrielli National Moot Court Competition in Albany, New York. He graduated cum laude and was made a member of Order of the Barristers.
Mr. Allen returned to Tallahassee upon graduating from law school and has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2006. He served as a staff attorney for former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Marco Rubio, throughout his tenure as Speaker, working on a variety of legal issues including constitutional questions. After leaving the House of Representatives, Mr. Allen worked as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ricky Polston before joining BSM.
At BSM, Mr. Allen assists the Firm’s clients before state regulatory agencies and legislative committee staff. He represents BSM’s business and association clients before state regulatory and legislative bodies in rule-making procedures, procurement matters, licensing and legislation issues. Mr. Allen’s intimate familiarity with the legislative process and staff personnel is a tremendous asset to BSM clients in addressing proposed legislation impacting their industry. Mr. Allen is also involved with assisting the Firm’s clients in Federal, state and administrative disputes as well as in commercial arbitrations.
Nick Bader
Nicholas (Nick) Bader was raised in Tallahassee and graduated from the Florida State University with a Bachelors Degree in Finance. After college, Mr. Bader attended the Stetson University College of Law where he received both Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees.
Upon graduation from Stetson in 2008, Mr. Bader returned to Tallahassee and began employment as Assistant General Counsel for the Florida Department of Financial Services where he practiced complex civil litigation, negotiated contracts, advised the Bureau of State Payrolls, and analyzed public policy. Beginning in 2009, Mr. Bader served as an Assistant State Attorney for the Second Judicial Circuit. During his tenure as a prosecutor, Mr. Bader handled thousands of cases at all stages of litigation and served as lead trial counsel for the State in over 40 jury trials. The cases ranged in severity from traffic offenses to homicide.
In 2011, Mr. Bader joined BSM where his practice focuses primarily on litigation representing the firm’s clients in business disputes in state and federal court, as well as in administrative matters including bid protests and adverse agency actions.
Mr. Bader is licensed to practice in all state and county courts in Florida as well as the United States District Court for the Northern and Middle Districts of Florida. He is a member of the William H. Stafford Inn of Court and the Tallahassee Bar Association.
Mark Ishman
Mark Ishman is Of Counsel to BSM, at his office in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is primarily responsible for providing the Firm's Intellectual Property and Internet law services. Before the "dot.com" era, Mr. Ishman enrolled at the John Marshall Law School in 1997 and thereafter obtained an LL.M. (Masters in Law) in Information Technology and Privacy Law. For the past eleven years, Mr. Ishman's practice has focused on providing counseling for Intellectual Property Infringement, Domain Name Disputes, Internet Defamation, Online Reputation Management, Computer Hacking and Security Breaches, Software and IP Licensing.
He has represented a diverse set of clientele, including publicly traded companies to entrepreneurs, in litigation, dispute resolution, trademark, copyright and related matters. He is a frequent author and presenter on issues related to protecting business assets while conducting business on the Internet.
Stuart Rosenthal
Stuart Rosenthal is Of Counsel to BSM, at his office in White Plains, New York, where he maintains a law practice representing and counseling motor vehicle dealers (and other entities in the automotive retail space) with regard to local, state, and federal compliance, consumer law, advertising, consumer credit, and government relations.
As General Counsel and Vice President for Legal Affairs of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA) for nearly two decades (1995 to 2014), he played a key role in the Association’s many legal, legislative, and regulatory initiatives.
Prior to joining GNYADA, Mr. Rosenthal was an Assistant Attorney General under three Attorneys General in New York State, and held several leadership roles under three Commissioners during the ten years that he worked at the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. He was also Vice Chairman of the National Conference on Weights and Measures (U.S. Department Commerce) during that time.
Mr. Rosenthal is a graduate of the Hofstra University School of Law and is admitted to practice in the State and Federal Courts in New York, and in the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a three-term (nine-year) member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Dealer Counsel.
Mark Ornstein
William (Kirby) Bissell
Mark Ornstein is a native of New York, New York, but grew up in Orlando. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Florida in 1983. He went on to receive his law degree from University of Florida in 1986, where his trial team won first place in the state trial team competition.
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Mark Ornstein has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1987 and is AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell for ethical standards and legal ability. He is also a member of the Federal Bar in the Middle District and Southern District of Florida, the Northern District of California, and a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. He has practiced in front of administrative tribunals and state agencies throughout the United States.
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Prior to joining Bass Sox Mercer as a partner, Mr. Ornstein was a named partner in two different law firms, where he led the firms' automotive sections, while emphasizing the representation of motor vehicle dealers. His practice includes the representation of business clients on a broad range of matters including business formation and operations, legal compliance, structuring and restructuring corporations and limited liability companies, mergers, acquisitions and/or sale of business entities, franchise law, administrative law, business planning, as well as commercial transactional law, and complex business litigation.
Mark’s legal experience is wide ranging, but having previously owned both new and used automotive dealerships, and having acted as a general manager of dealerships, he is particularly adept at representing motor vehicle dealers in franchise matters, new business formation and structuring, operational and training matters, legal compliance, employment law, acquisition and sale transactions, and financial arrangements for franchised automotive dealers, motorcycle dealers and watercraft dealers, as well as independent used vehicle dealers, and myriad of vendors serving the automotive industry. His firsthand knowledge of the day-to-day operations of dealerships sets him apart from others in the field.
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Mark represents his clients in all phases of negotiations, closings, administrative hearings, mediations, arbitration, and litigation. He is well versed in representing them in navigating all phases of the licensing requirements of local, county, state and federal governmental agencies. His litigation experience includes State and federal courts in Florida and throughout the United States, and is a Certified Circuit Court Mediator. He is an active member of the National Automotive Dealers Association and has annually co-hosted a brunch at the NADA Annual Meeting for more than twenty years. Mark is also a member of the National Association of Dealer Counsel. Additionally, he has presented seminars in cooperation with the Florida Attorney General’s office in a joint effort to better serve and protect the automotive industry and has addressed accountants, chief financial officers, bankers, and consultants at numerous conferences on mergers and acquisitions, advertising, consumer issues, operations, vendor contractual issues.
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Practice Areas : Mediation, Automotive Dealership Law, Commercial Litigation, Corporate and Business Law.
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William (Kirby) Bissell
William (Kirby) Bissell was born in Jacksonville, Florida but raised in Tallahassee, Florida. He graduated from the University of Florida cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. While at the University of Florida, Mr. Bissell was president of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, inducted into Florida Blue Key, and named a Warrington Finance Scholar. Following graduation, Mr. Bissell attended the Florida State University College of Law where he was a member of the Trial Team. Mr. Bissell graduated from Florida State in 2012 with his Juris Doctor.
Thereafter, Mr. Bissell was employed as an Assistant Attorney General in the State Programs Litigation section of the Florida Office of the Attorney General. In this position, Mr. Bissell litigated civilly on behalf of the State of Florida and its agencies in both federal and state courts involving a wide-range of matters, many brought under section 1983. Mr. Bissell also worked on a section 1983 federal class-action matter seeking institutional reform of the Florida Medicaid program. Following his time at the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Bissell was an associate attorney at a regional insurance defense firm, handling matters involving premises liability, construction defects, products liability, employment, professional liability and commercial disputes.
Mr. Bissell is licensed to practice in all federal, state, and county courts in Florida as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In his free time, Mr. Bissell enjoys playing basketball, engaging in outdoor activities, and cheering on the Florida Gators.
William (Kirby) Bissell was born in Jacksonville, Florida but raised in Tallahassee, Florida. He graduated from the University of Florida cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. While at the University of Florida, Mr. Bissell was president of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, inducted into Florida Blue Key, and named a Warrington Finance Scholar. Following graduation, Mr. Bissell attended the Florida State University College of Law where he was a member of the Trial Team. Mr. Bissell graduated from Florida State in 2012 with his Juris Doctor.
Thereafter, Mr. Bissell was employed as an Assistant Attorney General in the State Programs Litigation section of the Florida Office of the Attorney General. In this position, Mr. Bissell litigated civilly on behalf of the State of Florida and its agencies in both federal and state courts involving a wide-range of matters, many brought under section 1983. Mr. Bissell also worked on a section 1983 federal class-action matter seeking institutional reform of the Florida Medicaid program. Following his time at the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Bissell was an associate attorney at a regional insurance defense firm, handling matters involving premises liability, construction defects, products liability, employment, professional liability and commercial disputes.
Mr. Bissell is licensed to practice in all federal, state, and county courts in Florida as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In his free time, Mr. Bissell enjoys playing basketball, engaging in outdoor activities, and cheering on the Florida Gators.
Micah A. Andrews
Micah Andrews was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. In 2012, Mr. Andrews graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University. He returned to Florida State University where he attended the College of Law, graduating with his Juris Doctor in 2015. During law school Mr. Andrews participated in FSU’s Public Interest Law Center where he represented children through the Child Advocacy Clinic. Mr. Andrews also interned with the Florida Office of the Attorney General assisting in the State Programs civil litigation division.
After law school, Mr. Andrews worked for a regional workers compensation defense firm and later a large Florida-based insurance defense firm. During his time working in insurance defense Mr. Andrews has represented clients in personal injury, wrongful death, construction defect, commercial disputes and first-party matters. These matters often found clients facing significant financial exposure and required time-sensitive and thorough legal attention. Mr. Andrews is licensed to practice in all state and county courts in Florida.
In his free time Mr. Andrews enjoys relaxing with his wife and daughter. He is also an avid distance runner having completed five marathons in five different states.