Michael P. Schuette was born and raised in Pinellas County, Florida.  He stayed in Florida for college and returned home to Pinellas County for law school (Stetson University in Gulfport, Florida) At Stetson, Michael was a member of the Stetson Law Review, Vice President of the Employment Law Society, and graduated in the top 3% of his class.

Michael has practiced law in the Tampa Bay area for nearly a decade.  Michael started his career with a small Tampa Bay law firm and helped develop the firm’s employment law practice group.  Before joining Cantrell, Astbury, Kranz, P.A., Michael moved to a national, mid-sized law firm where he litigated hundreds (if not a 1,000+) case across the country.

As a husband and father of 2, Michael understands the importance of being treated respectfully at work and the difficulties families face when an employee is not fairly paid, treated poorly at work, wrongfully terminated, or harassed.  As a result, Michael regularly represents employees (individually and as a collective group), franchisees, companies (small and large), and entrepreneurs in state and federal court in complex employment law litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, the Florida Minimum Wage Act, and other contractual matters.  Michael’s practice includes investigating and counseling clients regarding unpaid overtime and minimum wage violations, employee misclassification issues, medical leave laws, retaliation, wrongful discharge, and unpaid commissions and bonuses.  Michael handles single-plaintiff and class/collective action cases in federal district courts, federal bankruptcy courts, state courts, and arbitration.

Michael also assists franchisees, companies (small and large), and entrepreneurs with commercial litigation and business disputes. Michael assists with contract disputes, disputes between business partners including “business divorces,” enforcement of or defense against restrictive covenants (non-compete, non-solicit, and non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements), unfair business practices, and defamation or slander that tarnishes the reputation of the business or its employees.

Finally, Michael also understands the financial struggles family’s face and assists clients in dealing with creditors and debt collectors.  Michael has vast experience in a wide variety of federal and state consumer protection statutes, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.