The team
At Crabtree, Auslander & Tackenberg, clients work directly with experienced litigation and appellate counsel.
Our lawyers are board certified appellate specialists, bringing disciplined legal analysis and measured advocacy to matters where the stakes are significant and the scrutiny is exacting.
We are deliberate in our approach. Issues are framed carefully. Arguments are built to last. Clients engage us when sound judgment and clear strategy are essential.
John G.
Crabtree
University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law
Juris Doctor, 1990Member, American Law Institute
Co-Representative for the United States on the Class Actions Committee for the International Bar Association
Member, Florida Appellate Court Rules Committee
Past Chair, Florida Bar Appellate Certification Committee
Past Chair, Florida Appellate Court Rules Committee
Past Chair, Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section
Florida, Colorado, District of Columbia
John Crabtree is the managing partner of Crabtree, Auslander & Tackenberg—a Miami-based appellate law firm with a national practice. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and board certified in appellate practice by The Florida Bar. He currently serves as one of two U.S. representatives on the Class Action Committee for the International Bar Association. His cases have been featured in the national media, including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and The National Law Journal. He has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating and is named in the current editions of Best Lawyers in America and Florida Super Lawyers.
John has handled over 200 civil appeals before state and federal appellate courts–including oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States. He has also represented various amici curiae, and wrote an amicus brief in the landmark age discrimination case Smith v. City of Jackson, presenting a novel textual argument that the Supreme Court used in its decision.
John has represented both plaintiffs and corporate defendants in dozens of class actions over the past 30 years. He was lead counsel for the drivers in the only class action Uber has ever lost on the merits. He served on the ALI’s Members Consultative Group for the class action treatise, “Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation.”
Brian C. Tackenberg is a Florida Bar board-certified appellate lawyer. He began his legal career as a staff attorney for Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Pariente. While there, he performed legal analysis and provided recommendations to the court in a wide range of civil and criminal cases. Since joining the firm, Brian has dedicated his practice to representing clients in a wide array of appeals–spanning all areas of civil litigation. He has consistently been ranked as a “Rising Star” and “One to Watch” in the area of appellate practice by publications such as Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers.
Brian received his law degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 2013, graduating magna cum laude and attaining membership in the Order of the Coif—the most elite academic honorary in law school. He was a member and editor of the Florida Law Review. Prior to law school, Brian graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida, where he had majored in finance and anthropology.
BRIAN C.
TACKENBERG
University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law
Juris Doctor, 2013Florida
Charles M. Auslander
University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law
Juris Doctor, 1990Member, American Law Institute
Co-Representative for the United States on the Class Actions Committee for the International Bar Association
Member, Florida Appellate Court Rules Committee
Past Chair, Florida Bar Appellate Certification Committee
Past Chair, Florida Appellate Court Rules Committee
Past Chair, Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section
Florida, Colorado, District of Columbia
Charlie is a highly experienced attorney who has engaged primarily in appellate practice during his legal career, which has also included holding public positions as executive director and lead administrator of two government agencies. His appellate practice has encompassed all state and federal appellate courts in Florida, with occasional practice before other federal circuit courts of appeal.
In a career that spans more than 30 years, Charlie has more than 100 reported decisions in state and federal courts. His notable cases include a 1989 victory before the Supreme Court of Florida that clarified the scope of the contemporary arbitration code with respect to enforcement of erroneous legal determinations by the arbitrator. He also won a unanimous reversal several years later before the Supreme Court of Florida that resulted in a modification of state law to adopt federal forum non conveniens standards.
Charlie earned his law degree from George Washington University, and spent almost 15 years as a partner in the appellate practice department of one of the largest law firms in the United States before entering public service. It was there that he and John met. He has prevailed in numerous state and federal commercial appeals. He has also successfully handled numerous pro bono matters supporting children’s rights.
Charlie currently serves as chair of the Appellate Court Rules Committee General Practice Subcommittee and on a community-based not-for-profit board in Miami.
John G.
Crabtree
University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law
Juris Doctor, 1990Member, American Law Institute
Co-Representative for the United States on the Class Actions Committee for the International Bar Association
Member, Florida Appellate Court Rules Committee
Past Chair, Florida Bar Appellate Certification Committee
Past Chair, Florida Appellate Court Rules Committee
Past Chair, Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section
Florida, Colorado, District of Columbia
John Crabtree is the managing partner of Crabtree, Auslander & Tackenberg—a Miami-based appellate law firm with a national practice. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and board certified in appellate practice by The Florida Bar. He currently serves as one of two U.S. representatives on the Class Action Committee for the International Bar Association. His cases have been featured in the national media, including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and The National Law Journal. He has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating and is named in the current editions of Best Lawyers in America and Florida Super Lawyers.
John has handled over 200 civil appeals before state and federal appellate courts–including oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States. He has also represented various amici curiae, and wrote an amicus brief in the landmark age discrimination case Smith v. City of Jackson, presenting a novel textual argument that the Supreme Court used in its decision.
John has represented both plaintiffs and corporate defendants in dozens of class actions over the past 30 years. He was lead counsel for the drivers in the only class action Uber has ever lost on the merits. He served on the ALI’s Members Consultative Group for the class action treatise, “Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation.”
Charles M. Auslander
George Washington University Law School
Juris Doctor, 1982Member, Appellate Court Rules Committee
Florida
Charlie is a highly experienced attorney who has engaged primarily in appellate practice during his legal career, which has also included holding public positions as executive director and lead administrator of two government agencies. His appellate practice has encompassed all state and federal appellate courts in Florida, with occasional practice before other federal circuit courts of appeal.
In a career that spans more than 30 years, Charlie has more than 100 reported decisions in state and federal courts. His notable cases include a 1989 victory before the Supreme Court of Florida that clarified the scope of the contemporary arbitration code with respect to enforcement of erroneous legal determinations by the arbitrator. He also won a unanimous reversal several years later before the Supreme Court of Florida that resulted in a modification of state law to adopt federal forum non conveniens standards.
Charlie earned his law degree from George Washington University, and spent almost 15 years as a partner in the appellate practice department of one of the largest law firms in the United States before entering public service. It was there that he and John met. He has prevailed in numerous state and federal commercial appeals. He has also successfully handled numerous pro bono matters supporting children’s rights.
Brian C. Tackenberg
University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law
Juris Doctor, 2013Florida
Brian C. Tackenberg is a Florida Bar board-certified appellate lawyer. He began his legal career as a staff attorney for Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Pariente. While there, he performed legal analysis and provided recommendations to the court in a wide range of civil and criminal cases. Since joining the firm, Brian has dedicated his practice to representing clients in a wide array of appeals–spanning all areas of civil litigation. He has consistently been ranked as a “Rising Star” and “One to Watch” in the area of appellate practice by publications such as Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers.
Brian received his law degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 2013, graduating magna cum laude and attaining membership in the Order of the Coif—the most elite academic honorary in law school. He was a member and editor of the Florida Law Review. Prior to law school, Brian graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida, where he had majored in finance and anthropology.
Linda A. Wells
Florida State University College of Law
Florida
Former Third District Court of Appeal Judge Linda Ann Wells served on the Third District Court of Appeal for 14 years and has been a Florida Bar board-certified appellate specialist for over 20 years.
Upon graduating with honors from law school, Linda joined a well-established Miami law firm, where she would become both one of the firm’s first female partners and its principal appellate practitioner. She further refined her appellate skills as a partner at a major Florida law firm and, subsequently, at a firm dedicated to appellate practice, where she remained until becoming the Chief District Legal Counsel for the Miami District of the Florida Department of Children & Families.
In recognition of her appellate expertise, Governor Bush appointed Linda in 2003 to the Third District Court of Appeal, where she would go on to become the court’s first female Chief Judge.