Attorney Profiles

Ross B. Toyne – Admitted in Florida since 1995, Ross has a broad civil litigation background, with jury and non-jury trial experience in State and Federal court.  Condominium lien foreclosure, admiralty, real estate and corporate work, and serving as a court appointed Special Master comprise his current workload.  A 1995 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, cum laude, where he was a Claude M. Olds Scholar and Associate Editor, University of Miami Inter-American Law Review, Ross also has a 1987 Master of International Business Studies and a 1985 B.S. in Finance and Business Economics from the University of South Carolina, and attended programs at: Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1996; Universidad EAFIT, Medellín, Colombia, 1986; Universidad Iberoamericana, México, D.F., 1984; Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 1982.  Recipient of the Miami Daily Business Review’s 2008 Most Effective Lawyer in Labor & Employment as a result of his work in obtaining criminal restitution for victims of the 2003 explosion aboard the S/S Norway.

Admitted in New York, 1999, and South Carolina, 1998, his non-legal background includes work as a beekeeper, industrial tire salesman, financial analyst, carpenter, machinist, welder, bartender, painter, waiter, busboy, Persian rug salesman, and construction laborer.

Michael A. Schimmel - A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (B.A. 2005, Philosophy, Politics and Economics) and thereafter graduated with honors from the University of Miami School of Law (J.D. 2008, cum laude), where he served on the Editorial Board of the International and Comparative Law Review. Mr. Schimmel also earned Dean’s List recognition and received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in the study of State and Local Taxation.

Mr. Schimmel’s areas of expertise include maritime law, employment and wage claims, community association law, landlord-tenant disputes, real property, construction and other liens, foreclosure, bankruptcy, and general civil litigation and trial work. He has briefed and argued a number of precedent-setting cases before Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and the United States Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals which have gained extensive attention. Mr. Schimmel has been quoted or featured in the Daily Business Review, South Florida Business Journal, Dade County Bar Association Bulletin, Lloyd’s List, WPLG Local10.com, and The Florida Bar News.

Mr. Schimmel has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2008 and is licensed to practice in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. A native of North Brunswick, New Jersey, Mr. Schimmel has been with the firm since 2008.

Alberto J. Alonso - Graduated with honors from the University of Miami (B.B.A. 2005, Business Administration and Political Science, cum laude) and thereafter graduated in the top 6% of his class from the Florida International University College of Law (J.D. 2009, cum laude). During law school, Mr. Alonso earned Book Awards (top performer in class) and received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in the study of Property Law, Constitutional Law, Federal Income Tax, and Corporate and Partnership Tax. Mr. Alonso made the Dean’s List in all six semesters at FIU Law, served on the FIU Law Review as an Articles Editor, and worked in FIU Law’s Community Development Clinic advising small business owners concerning business formation, entity governance, and taxation issues.

Mr. Alonso’s current areas of practice include condominium and homeowners association lien foreclosure, amendment and restatement of association governing documents, association corporate governance, association recreational lease litigation, landlord-tenant disputes including security deposit litigation, mortgage foreclosures, commercial and residential evictions from both the landlord and tenant perspectives, and general civil litigation and trial work. Mr. Alonso has attended association foreclosure hearings and other hearings on an almost daily basis for close to four years, and has assisted the firm with several appellate cases, having personally briefed a Third District Court of Appeal case on a service of process issue which resulted in a positive outcome for our client.

Mr. Alonso also earned an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in August of 2010. Mr. Alonso has been a member of the Florida Bar since 2009, and has been with Toyne, Schimmel & Alonso, P.A., since September of 2010. Mr. Alonso fluently reads, writes, and converses in Spanish. Mr. Alonso is a native and current resident of Miami, FL. Mr. Alonso’s parents were born in Cuba and immigrated to the United States.