HELLO!

Jim Pilon, originally from western New York State, is Board Certified in real estate law by the Florida Bar and is AV Rated by Marindale-Hubbell. He has been practicing law in the Naples area since 1976. He received his B.A. degree from the State University of New York in 1971, his M.A. degree in 1972 from the same institution and his Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University in 1976. Jim has previously taught business law at Florida SouthWestern State College, business law and finance for Berry University and real estate paralegal studies for Florida International University. He served as the 1991 president of the Collier County Bar Association, 1992 chairman of Grievance Committee 20B of The Florida Bar, 1999 Chairman of the The Client’s Security Fund of The Florida Bar and as the 2003 President of the Naples Area Board of Realtors. Jim currently serves as President of the Naples-Marco Real Estate Attorneys’ Council. He is a member of numerous community organizations, serving as an officer or director of Southwest Florida Council of Boy Scouts of America, Mortgage Bankers Association of Southwest Florida, Adopt-A-Soldier, Inc., Keep Collier Beautiful, Inc., the Collier County Bar Foundation, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and The Forum Club of Southwest Florida. Jim is a partner in the Naples law firm of Siesky, Pilon and Potter.

Thad is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Real Estate Law and practices in the areas of commercial and residential real estate, real estate development law and general business matters in Florida. He is rated “AV” by Martindale Hubbell and is listed in both The Best Lawyers in America and Florida Super Lawyers for real estate. He is a Director of the firm and a member of the Construction and Real Estate Groups.

Prior to joining Cohen & Grigsby in 2003, Thad was a Partner with Cummings & Lockwood in Naples, Florida. His legal background also includes serving as senior counsel for WCI Communities Inc., a publicly traded real estate development company; and general counsel for Coral Ridge Properties Inc., the developer of a large portion of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the principal developer of Coral Springs, Florida.

Thad also held the positions of counsel for Westinghouse Electric Corp. and vice president and counsel for Lone Star Industries Inc. (which at the time was the largest cement company in the Western Hemisphere).

Today, he handles the legal needs of individuals with high-end residential and commercial transactions as well as builder-developers in connection with real estate development, including the acquisition and development of acreage into commercial projects and planned subdivisions, complex business sale, lease and financing transactions, and disputes involving businesses, contracts and real estate matters. He also assists with business and venture formations, closings and title insurance, serving as an authorized title insurance agent for Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund Inc. (The Fund), Old Republic National Title Insurance, Inc. and Chicago Title Insurance Co. Inc.

His representative transactions have included the successful negotiation and closing of numerous real estate project financing transactions; and business sales and acquisitions involving shopping centers, apartment complexes, and other commercial and residential property. He successfully structured the offering and sale of the former Wiggins Pass Marina site in North Naples.

Thad has assisted several persons facing foreclosure, short sale and related matters through his efforts with local service organizations that serve those who are in need and cannot afford to obtain counsel. He received a Pro Bono Recognition Award from Florida Rural Legal Services, Inc. in October of 2011, was named Attorney of the Month in December of 2011 by Legal Aid Service of Collier County, Inc. and in April of 2013, received the Volunteer of the Year Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service from Legal Aid Service of Collier County.

He is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the Collier County Bar Association, the Florida Bar Condominium and Planned Unit Development Law Committee, the Bonita Springs Chamber Leadership Class of 2006-2007, the Naples Area Board of Realtors, the Collier County Building Industry Association, the Naples Chamber of Commerce and Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity (Delta Lambda Chapter at Florida State University).

Thad is a former member of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Naples Area Professional League of Executive Services, the Naples Gulfshore Rotary Club and the Naples Bath & Tennis Club Condominium Association. He is the former chairman of the Board of Directors for the Caring Place School (now known as the Village School), part of the North Naples United Methodist Church.

M. Francesca Passeri practies in the areas of residential and commercial real estate transactions, zoning and land use matters and real estate litigation. Ms. Passerie received a B.A. in Theater Arts from the University of Iowa (1988) and graduated with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1995. Ms. Passeri worked as a sole practitioner in Tipton, Iowa until 2004.

She is a member of The Florida Bar (Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section). She is also a member of the Collier County Bar Association, Collier County Women’s Bar Association, Iowa Bar Association and Cedar County Bar Association. She has volunteered extensively for the Iowa Legal Services Volunteer Lawyer’s Project and Florida Attorneys Saving Homes. Ms. Passeri has been recognized by Legal Aid of Collier County for her efforts on behalf of the Collier County Foreclosure Task Force.

Jayne Marie Skindzier joined the Naples office of Cummings & Lockwood in 2005 as an associate in the Real Estate Group and is a transactional lawyer focusing her practice in real estate matters.

Jayne received a B.A. in Sociology and Economics, cum laude, from Connecticut College in 1997. While at Connecticut College, Jayne spent a semester of her junior year at the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland completing courses in sociology, economics and law and traveling throughout Europe.

She received her J.D. and Environmental Law Certificate in 2001 from Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana. While at Tulane, Jayne served as a senior research editor for the American Review of Arbitration Journal and was a Vice- President and founding member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Society.

Prior to joining Cummings & Lockwood, Jayne worked as an associate with Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. and also with the law firm of Cunningham, Miller, & Kyle, P.A. practicing housing and real estate law.

Jayne is a member of the Florida Bar, the Florida Bar’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Section and the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. She is also a Florida Real Estate Appraiser.

Maureen Aughton is a practicing Florida attorney and founding member (2004) of Aughton Law Firm, P. A., in Naples, Florida, and has been a lawyer since 1978. She is a past chair of the Real Estate Section of the Collier County Bar Association and has also been active in the Trusts and Estate Section, and is a founding member of the Collier County Foreclosure Task Force. Maureen practices in the areas of commercial and residential real estate, estate planning, guardianships, probate, and is a Florida Supreme Court certified Circuit Civil Mediator. She is also a licensed Realtor with Premiere Plus Realty, Co. and has been an active attorney member of the NABOR Legal Resources Committee for over 8 years.

Before moving to Naples in 1990, she was a partner with Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, the oldest and one of the largest law firms in Michigan, where she was active in American Bar Association subcommittee work, acted as Detroit Bar Association seminar faculty, and was a consulting attorney/contributing author for The Law of Distressed Real Estate, by Baxter Dunaway, Clark Boardman Company, Ltd.

Aughton also has over fifteen years’ experience in the not for profit sector, beginning with multiple fundraising volunteer leadership positions with the Community School of Naples, then as the Director of Development of a woman’s shelter, where she coordinated an eight million dollar capital campaign, and as an affiliate of Growth Design Corporation, a firm headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that consults with not for profit, mission based organizations.

Aughton graduated from Michigan State University with a B.A., with high honors, in journalism. She also graduated, cum laude, with a juris doctorate degree from Wayne State University, where she was a Note and Comment Editor and Board Member of the Wayne Law Review. She has been actively involved (including multiple leadership positions) over numerous years with many community and professional organizations in the Naples area, including: the American Cancer Society, where she was Board Chair from 2012-14; Board-Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida, Board-Naples Retirement, Inc.; Founding Member-Naples-Marco Real Estate Attorneys’ Council, Inc.; Member: NSFRE/AFP, Hungry and Homeless Coalition, Collier County Bar Association, Collier County Foreclosure Task Force; Naples Ski Club (President), Sailing Association of Marco Island, Gulf Coast Sailing Club, Naples Cruise Club, League Club, North Collier Junior Women’s Club, Women’s Network of Collier County, National Association of Female Executives, Naples Junior Women’s Club, Naples Area Chamber of Commerce, St. John the Evangelist Church and Celebration Beach Church.