Law and Oar – One Family’s Shared Passion for Rowing

In his dark grey suit, sitting high above Sarasota in a tenth story office with a magnificent view of the downtown skyline, Michael Taaffe appears to be all business. Phones are ringing, emails are beeping and text messages are being delivered. The symphony of electronic devices is the price of doing business as a top corporate litigator for Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP. Taaffe recently scored one of the biggest wins in the history of the firm - in David and Goliath-like fashion.  Taaffe won the first case in this area opening the door to nationwide litigation on behalf of former Merrill Lynch brokers.  With a team of only six attorneys, Taaffe scored a landmark victory against Merrill Lynch for two financial advisors for $10.25 million.  As a result of that win, Taaffe was retained by more than 1,200 former Merrill Lynch financial advisors to seek recovery of deferred compensation due them for leaving the firm after its merger with Bank of America.

While the work against Merrill Lynch has consumed Taaffe for the last few years, it’s another passion that drives him the most. A passion that led him to meet his wife and has taken him around the world and back, watching four children follow in his footsteps. “We’ve most recently been to Lithuania this summer, and we’ve been all over Europe, plus plenty of places here in the United States to watch the kids,” said Michael Taaffe.

The Taaffe family consists of Michael and wife Tammy, who recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, sons Travis, Brandon and Alexander, and daughter McKayla.

What ties this “crew” together is their shared love of rowing. Michael started rowing at the University of Rhode Island and continued when he attended law school at Seton Hall University. After meeting his wife while racing in San Francisco, the couple decided to move to Sarasota.

Fast-forward 25 years: They have raised four children who all attended Pine View (Travis graduates this year), who all rowed for Sarasota Crew and who each continued what has become the family athletic trade in college.

Last weekend, Michael traveled to Boston to watch his youngest son Travis, a member of the US Junior National Rowing Team, compete in the 49th Annual Head of the Charles Regatta - the world's largest two-day rowing event. It’s an event all of the Taaffe children have raced in, making it somewhat of a family tradition. Last year, Michael even took part in the father/daughter race with McKayla. “I love the sport, and it’s amazing to share that love with all four of my children,” said Taaffe.

Tammy is the only one who doesn’t row, but she’s certainly her crew’s biggest fan. “And she makes sure we’re all fed!” joked Taaffe. “Which is at times pretty trying, like when we housed some members of the US National Team when they came to Sarasota to row. They eat massive amounts of food. In one week, we went through 10 dozen eggs,” said Taaffe.

Besides frequently rowing with his kids, Taaffe is also known around town as the voice of rowing at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota. The Park gained international attention recently when it was named the venue for the 2017 World Rowing Championships, the sport’s biggest competition outside of the Olympics. The Swiss-based International Federation of Rowing Associations (FISA) 137-member congress picked Sarasota over Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in a unanimous vote Labor Day weekend in Chungju, South Korea.

When he’s not trying multi-million dollar legal cases, Michael Taaffe is gearing up for the spring when he’ll be in front of a different audience, announcing some big races at Benderson Park. “It’s fun, it keeps me in the game, and I’m looking forward to Benderson Park growing and watching my kids compete here. Having been all over the world, we’ve seen just about every rowing venue out there. The one here in Sarasota will be great for international folks who want to get out of the cold. The guys in Norway from November to April have to come somewhere south because their water is frozen.  We can make this a true rowing destination,” he said.

Travis Taaffe’s Sarasota Crew boat finished second out of 85 teams at this year’s Head of the Charles and he is now sorting through recruitment offers from several colleges across the country. “It will be sad to see my last child leave the nest and head out to college, but we’re pretty sure that with a world class facility growing quickly right here in our backyard, he’ll be coming home to visit pretty often,” said Taaffe.

Michael S. Taaffe is the Department Administrator of the Broker-Dealer Litigation and Arbitration Practice Group of Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, LLP. He is Board Certified in Business Litigation. His practice focuses on the representation of public and private corporations and their officers, directors and key employees in a variety of matters, including: restraints of trade, unfair competition, employment contracts, partnership separation and torts, as well as securities-related litigation involving arbitration, securities customer disputes, broker-dealer recruitment, "raiding" litigation, compensation and separation agreements, wrongful termination and Form U-5 issues. He regularly practices before state and federal courts, as well as state and federal securities regulators and self-regulatory agencies.

Michael is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States of America and all local state courts in the states of Florida, New Jersey and New York. Michael is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, as well as the United States District Court, District of New Jersey.