LEGAL PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE

BUSINESS PLANNING

Mr. Karambelas counsels limited liability companies, corporations and partnerships in formulating business plans emphasizing compliance with state and Federal laws and regulations, financing, internal structure/ organization and labor matters; Negotiates and drafts commercial contracts, leases and government contracts, leases, and real property sales documents; Drafts shareholder agreements, operating agreements, partnership agreements, business trust governing instruments; Develops succession plans for business owners.

SECURITIES

Serves as counsel to restaurant franchisors; Drafts franchise agreements, real property and equipment leases, security agreements and Franchise Offering Circular for registration under state and federal laws; Analyzes and advises on all aspects of state and federal franchising regulation.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

Advises businesses on international export trade; Drafts international sales and financing agreements; Counsels U.S. businesses on exporting to, investing in and franchising in the European Union, Greece, Cyprus and the Middle East.

LITIGATION

Experienced in motions practice and trials in U.S. District Courts for D.C. and New York and D.C. Superior Court. His cases involve international human rights, insider trading by stock brokers, insurance broker liability, franchise agreements, commercial contracts, injunctions, unfair labor practice, standby letters of credit and wrongful death. Mr. Karambelas had xperience litigating governm+-ent contracts cases involving construction and services before the D.C. Department of Administrative Services and the D.C. Contract Appeals Board; Litigates cases under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

APPELLATE PRACTICE

Drafts briefs and orally argues civil and criminal appeals in U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeal, D.C. Court of Appeals, and Appellate Courts of New York

EDUCATION

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS NEW YORK, N.Y. Master of International Affairs, October 1979 Specialization: International Law and Middle Eastern Affairs
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, NEW YORK, N.Y., Juris Doctor, May 1978; Contributing Editor, Fordham Law School Newspaper

UNION COLLEGE, SCHENECTADY, N.Y., Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, June 1975 English and Comparative Literature

Advanced studies in International Trade and Economics and Comparative Law at THE FLETCHER SCHOOL OF LAW AND DIPLOMACY, TUFTS UNIVERSITY, and UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS SCHOOL OF LAW, ATHENS GREECE

Advanced studies in Business Planning and Legislative Drafting/Procedure at THE NATIONAL LAW CENTER, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

PUBLICATIONS

Treatises

Limited Liability Companies: Law, Practice and Forms 2nd Edition, 3-volume treatise and loose leaf service, published by the Thomson West on limited liability companies and other non-corporate entities & Forms”. First published June 1994 and issued in second edition in June, 2004; Updated twice a year.

Doing Business in Greece, treatise and loose leaf service, published by the American Hellenic Institute, Inc., First edition 1999; Second Edition to be published in 2008.

International Business Transactions, treatise and loose leaf service, to be published by West Group in 2008

Articles

"D.C. Corporation Law Revision Act of 1992," The Washington Lawyer Magazine, Vol. 7 No. 1, September/October, 1992.

"D.C. Registered Limited Liability Partnership Act of 1993," The Washington Lawyer Magazine, Vol.8 No.3, January/February, 1994.

"D.C. Limited Liability Company Act of 1994," The Washington Lawyer Magazine, Vol. 9 No. 2, November/December 1994.

“D.C. Revised Uniform Partnership Act of 1996", The Washington Lawyer Magazine,, Vol. 12 No. 4 March/April 1998.

“New Lease on Life for LLCs-The Limited Liability Company Amendment Act of 2000", Vol. 15 No.1 The Washington Lawyer, September, 2000.

“Foreign Influence and U.S. Foreign Policy”, Pacis, journal of the Defense Policy Analysis Institute of the Ministry of National Defense of Greece, Fall 2000.

“Overview of the UCITA and its Issues” , Vol. 16 No. 4 The Washington Lawyer, December, 2001.

“Franchising in Perspective”, Vol. 17 No. 4 The Washington Lawyer, December 2002.

“Viable Alternative: Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act”, Vol. 18 No.2 The Washington Lawyer July/ August 2003.“
Fundamentals of the European Union Court System”, Vol. 18 No. 4 The Washington Lawyer December, 2003 

“The Role of Counsel to Political Campaigns under the FECA”, Vol. 18 No.9 The Washington Lawyer, May, 2004.

“Civil Law Notary: An Office Whose Time Has Come?”, Vol. 19 No.7 The Washington Lawyer, March, 2005.

Keeping PAC Money Legal”, Vol. 20 No. 4 The Washington Lawyer, December, 2005.

Book Review “An International Relations Debacle: The UN Secretary-General’s Mission of Good Offices in Cyprus 1999-2000 by Claire Palley, Vol. 20 No. 7 The Washington Lawyer, March, 2006.

“The Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 and the Treaty of Paris of 1947 (Aegean Sea Treaty Regimes) under American Law” The Cyprus Yearbook of International Relations 2006, Cyprus Institute of Mediterranean European & International Studies.

“Congressional Ethics and Lobbyists”, Vol 21 No. 9 The Washington Lawyer, May 2007

LECTURER IN CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION PROGRAM OF D.C. BAR (All courses approved for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit)

Introduction to Drafting Contracts, taught once a year since 1996

Statutory Interpretation and Legislative Drafting for Lawyers, taught once a year since 1998

Business Organization, Law and Taxation, three part series, taught once a year since 1997

Structure and Attributes on Corporate and Non-Corporate Entities

Taxation of Corporate and Non-Corporate Entities

Drafting Entity AgreementsInternational Business Transactions, taught every two years since 1998

Franchising Law, taught in 1997, 2003 and 2006European Union Law and Organization, taught in 2002 and 2003

Commercial Leases, taught in 2007

BAR ADMISSIONS

New York, U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts

District of Columbia, U.S. District Court and District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals

Maryland, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Supreme Court of the United States

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

SFIKAS & KARAMBELAS, LLP

Founding Partner: 1998 to present

Offices in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Maryland and New York City, N.Y

PRIVATE PRACTICE OF LAW IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND NEW YORK CITY 1990 to 1998


HARMON & WILMOT, LLP, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Attorney: 1981 to 1982

Partner: 1982 to 1990

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C.

COMMITTEE ON CIVIL SERVICE AND POST OFFICE

Special Counsel: 1983 to 1989

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Secretary and Member of the Board of Governors, District of Columbia Bar 2004-2005

Member, District of Columbia Corporate Law Revision Project

Member, Publications Committee of the District of Columbia Bar

Member, New York State Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Committee

Corresponding Editor, American Society of International Law

Arbitrator, Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Member and Co-Chair, Continuing Legal Education Committee, D.C. Bar 1996-2002

Faculty, Continuing Legal Education Courses of the District of Columbia Bar

Chair, American Hellenic Lawyers’ Society of Washington, D.C.

Board of Advisors and Volunteer Legal Counsel, American Hellenic Institute, Inc

Member, The Barristers

Member, The Counsellors

Member, Board of Trustees of Edmund Burke School

PERSONAL

Born: August 27, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York