STEVEN J. MESSER

**** *. ******** **., *******, AZ 85234

602-***-**** / ac7gb4@r.postjobfree.com

Senior Attorney, Entrepreneur and CEO

Creative multi-dimensional Workers’ Compensation, SSD, Real Estate and Financial/ Business Executive accomplished at formulating and executing strategic and tactical plans that have consistently driven growth, increased revenues, and improved productivity and utilization. Proven record of success and expertise at translating strategy into action and positive results. Recognized by peers for ability to articulate direction, build cohesive motivated teams, and deliver results quickly and efficiently.

Areas of expertise

*Commercial Real Estate *Lease & Purchase Negotiations *Mortgages & Financial Documents

*P&L Accountability/Budgeting *Case Management & Analysis *Innovative Project Management

*Team Building/Leader *Corporate Communications *Public Speaking & Presentations

*Startup, High-Growth *Strategic/Tactical Planning *Public/Consumer Relations

*Business Development *Regulatory Compliance *Contract Development/Negotiations

*Arizona Mortgages *M&A/Due Diligence *Six Sigma/Solutions Management

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Messer Law Group, LLC, Phoenix, AZ 08/2007 – Present

Senior Attorney, Founder and CEO

Trains and supervises a team of 4 attorneys and 8 paralegals.

Passed the Arizona Mortgage Broker Exam- Arizona State Banking (2009).

Renegotiated 367 Landlord-Tenant leases, with a success rate of 95.7% over a three year period; which kept my clients from being evicted.

Analyzed, negotiated and litigated commercial real estate purchases, leases, contracts and transactions.

oIn one case, I was able to reduce the final balloon payment by $50,000.00 and reduce the monthly payment by $1,196.34, over a 15 year term. Resulting in $265,341.20 in savings to my client.

Renegotiated 452 residential mortgages, with each client averaging about $164,000.00 in savings, over the life of the loan. In some cases, it was possible to negotiate principal reductions of up to $62,000.00; which is in addition to the average savings mentioned above.

Conducts client meetings regarding litigation matters, administrative proceedings, and made recommendations to assure statutory and regulatory compliance; which plays a huge part of my 97.7% approval rating among my clients.

Provides education and training to clients on legal requirements and compliance.

Analyze, revise and prepare contracts and settlements for healthcare services.

Mediator/Arbitrator 5-6 times per year, over the last 9 years, which requires the creation of alternative dispute resolution strategies.

Analyze and summarize case files, medical records and insurance claim files; which requires great organizational skills.

Ryley, Carlock & Applewhite, Phoenix, AZ 09/2014 – 08/2016

Staff Attorney (Portuguese & Spanish)

Worked with several multinational corporations, in South America and the Caribbean (Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Puerto Rico) and made various recommendations to assure statutory and regulatory compliance, and determined if self-reporting was an option.

Steven J Messer Page 2

602-***-**** / ac7gb4@r.postjobfree.com

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE – Cont.

Ryley, Carlock & Applewhite – Cont.

Provided executive level support to ensure compliance with U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting issues in the following areas:

oGeneral Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP),

oAccounting Standards Codification 450 (ASC 450),

oFinancial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) statements No.: 5 & 14,

oAccounting for Contingencies (FAS 5); and

oSarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (section #806 Anti-Retaliation, section #1341 Mail Fraud, section #1343 Wire Fraud, section #1344 Bank Fraud, and section #1348 Securities Fraud).

Instrumental in eliminating several million dollars in potential government fines and interest payments through improved compliance measures.

Express Home Loans, LLC, Phoenix, Arizona 03/2001- 08/2007

In-House Corporate Counsel / Board Member

Helped expand from one office to include 12 additional branch offices, within the first two years of my employment; which increased the number of loans closed by over 900% (9-10 loans closed per month to 95-110+ loans closed per month).

Revenues also increased by over 900%, to approximately $742.500.00 per month.

Provided executive level support on legal strategies to navigate the various intricate risks and compliance issues of the State and Federal regulatory agencies.

Responsible for the annual and 3-year operational strategic plans and was key member of the executive team that developed the company’s overall strategic plan and vision.

Acquired, organized and maintained the numerous governmental licenses and registrations required for expansion, from Arizona State Banking.

Provided a full range of legal support and advice to management across a broad scope of commercial transactions, collaborated on new business models, as well as draft and negotiate related agreements.

oPrepared, drafted and negotiated various types of commercial transactions with clients and suppliers; including sales agreements, service agreements, procurement contracts, technology licensing agreements, etc.

Worked with executive level management and delivered legal counsel in a manner that promoted trust, teamwork and confidence.

Assisted senior management with developing, reviewing and implementing company policies and positions on business development and program management within the legal and financial/banking environments

Responsible for all labor and employment matters; including drafting and/or revising corporate organizational documents and resolutions; which slashed payroll/benefits administration costs by 31%, while ensuring the continuation and enhancement of services.

Assisted with outside consultants and counsel.

Taylor & Associates, PLLC, Phoenix, Arizona 03/1998 - 03/2001

Associate Attorney, Manager

Trained and supervised 2 paralegals

Analyzed and summarized case files, medical records and insurance claim files in Workers’ Compensation, Social Security Dis., ERISA and Immigration cases.

Conduct client meetings regarding litigation matters and administrative proceedings.

Steven J Messer Page 2

602-***-**** / ac7gb4@r.postjobfree.com

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE – Cont.

Taylor & Associates, PLLC, Phoenix, Arizona 03/1998 - 03/2001

Prepared motions, including opposition motions, replies, dispositive motions, and pre-trial motions regarding substantive issue and participated in hearings regarding the same; including Appellate review, briefs and motions.

Prepared confidential settlement/mediation briefs in preparation for dispute resolution and participated in settlement/mediation conferences.

Developed and implemented discovery and litigation plans for all cases.

Prepared written discovery; including interrogatories, requests for production of documents and requests for admission.

Conducted detailed interviews and depositions of witnesses, including expert witnesses to ascertain their knowledge of relevant facts and circumstances surrounding the case at issue.

Messer Distribution, Cedar City, UTAH 02/1994 - 08/1995

Entrepreneur, Owner and CEO

Led and trained a team of 4, through creative training to improving productivity and achieved greater than 30% market share in Southern Utah’s wholesale distribution markets.

Provided leadership to ensure effective and efficient problem resolution.

Generated over 237 new commercial/retail accounts, in 18 months; with each account’s average purchase of over $800.00 (up to $1,600.00 in high traffic months) per month in new product.

Created and grew a new business from $0 to $2.75 million in annual sales, in 18 months.

Facilitated effective customer communication (Customer Service & Public Relations) to ensure expectations were met each month.

Developed detailed budgets, sales projections, and dealt with all accounts payable/receivables.

Responsible for all logistical aspects of the business (Ordering, Receiving, Handling, Transportation, Warehouse Management Systems and Controls, etc.).

Responsible for the eventual sale of the company to Allen Brothers Wholesale Distribution in 1995; which generated a huge ROI.

Utah Army National Guard, Utah 06/1986 – 10/2001

1st Lieutenant; U.S. Army - Field Artillery & Military Intelligence

Officer in charge - supervised the professional and personal development of 4 teammates.

Trained on mission critical skills, counter-terrorism, synthesized information, formulated strategies, briefed senior officers and led tactical implementation.

Provided leadership, mentorship and individual development to increase soldier productivity, and to ensure effective and efficient problem resolution.

Prepare detailed reports regarding performance evaluations, advancement status and advancement recommendations.

Conducted extensive witness interviews, to ascertain their knowledge of relevant facts and circumstances surrounding various issues. (Interviews were conducted in Portuguese).

Responsible for millions of dollars of government equipment and supplies, and handled all of the team logistics/transportation of personnel and equipment.

Top Secret Clearance and Honorable Discharge.

Steven J Messer Page 4

602-***-**** / ac7gb4@r.postjobfree.com

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE – Cont.

Worldwide Wholesale Distribution – Recife, Brazil 06/1988 – 05/1990

Executive Account Manager - (Fluent in Portuguese)

Built a new leadership team and succession plan to enable the global expansion into emerging markets in South America; resulting in a team that ranked within the top 1% of a worldwide sales force of over 45,000+.

Provided executive level representation to the sales organization to support generation of business with new and existing customers.

Valued as an exceptional manager/leader and keen advisor, who “makes things happen” for the betterment of organization and others.

Won President’s – Club High Sales Achiever Award

EDUCATION

Juris Doctor (JD) in (1997)

Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio

Licensed and Good Standing, within Arizona Bar Association

Bachelor of Science (BS) in Business Administration and Marketing (1994)

Southern Utah University (SUU), Cedar City, Utah

Recipient - Young Alumni Award (2004)

Courses in Commercial Sales, Commercial Leasing, Commercial Lending and Land Sales (2014)

Commercial Real Estate Institute (CREI) - Certified as a Specialist in all 4-areas by CREI

Arizona Real Estate Agent License (03/2018) – Lic. No.: 140516

Residential, Commercial and Property Management

REALTOR®

Arizona Insurance Originator License (2017) – Health & Life – Lic. No.: 18349840

LANGUGES

Portuguese-Brazilian – (fluent in reading, writing and speaking).

oSpoken daily at home.

Spanish - (reading, writing and speaking on a basic to intermediate level).

oTrying to improve this language skill through self-study.

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