Directory of In-House Law Departments Top 500 Companies ...

2006
Our firm's success is linked to Florida's emergence as one of the nation's
most dynamic states. With offices in every major metropolitan area throughout
Florida, we know this territory well, and are now the largest full-service law firm
within the State of Florida.
Diversity Efforts: As a leader in the legal and business community, Akerman
Senterfitt is proud of its commitment to ensuring equal opportunity generally and
within the firm. Throughout its long history, the firm has successfully promoted
diversity through vigorous recruitment and retention of minorities and women.
The firm is committed to retaining and promoting its women and minority
lawyers and staff.
To advance the firm's efforts in relation to diversity issues, Akerman Senterfitt
appointed Shareholder Joseph W. Hatchett to chair the firm's Committee on
Diversity. Judge Hatchett's distinguished jurist career includes serving as Chief
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and as a Justice
on the Supreme Court of Florida. Judge Hatchett was the first African-American to
serve on the Florida Supreme Court and the first African-American to serve as a
Chief Judge of a federal appellate court in the Southern United States.
The firm's workforce, including every staffing level throughout each of its
offices, reflects the diverse cultures of Florida. In the delivery of legal services, the
firm's lawyers bring all of their experiences, cultures, education, and rich backgrounds
to the task. The firm values this diversity because it encourages the innovative
thinking that results from a broad range of perspectives.
Pro Bono: The firm encourages pro bono representation and considers it important
to professional growth and development. Our attorneys are deeply committed
to the community and actively participate in a variety of civil and community
organizations.
Languages: Arabic, Chinese, Chinese-Mandarin, Creole, French, German,
Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
Selected Practice Groups:
Corporate
Akerman Senterfitt has the largest corporate practice in Florida with more
than 100 attorneys. In the past several years the firm has managed billions of dollars
worth of transactions. The firm regularly represents domestic and foreign
public companies, including nearly half of the largest public companies in
Florida. Akerman Senterfitt also represents financial institutions, private equity
and venture capital funds, and the companies in which they invest, as well as
individual entrepreneurs. Its primary areas of focus are mergers and acquisitions,
securities, taxation, public finance, banking and lending, employee benefits and
corporate compliance.
Environmental
Representing both the private and public sectors, Akerman Senterfitt's environmental
attorneys have substantial experience in representing a wide variety of
businesses, governmental entities, and other organizations. The firm handles such
matters as federal, state, and local regulatory compliance and permitting, managing
environmental risks and conducting due diligence investigations, managing
the assessment and remediation of contaminated property, defending enforcement
actions, and prosecuting or defending civil actions to recover cleanup costs or environmental
damages to property.
Global Investment Group
As Florida's role in international trade and finance expands, Akerman
Senterfitt has developed a multilingual, multicultural, cross-disciplinary international
practice. The firm's goal is to assist US clients to grow their international
business activities and to assist foreign clients to establish businesses and flourish
in the United States. The Global Investment Group includes attorneys from all the
firm’s offices and from every major practice group, including corporate and secu-
Go-To Law Firms Profiles
rities, banking, tax, immigration, admiralty, aviation, intellectual property, real
estate, and litigation.
Government
Few facets of life are not touched by the institutions of government and the
people who constitute its bodies. The firm's clients, by virtue of their size or the
broad public impact of the projects they undertake, are no exception. In order to
represent their interests. Akerman Senterfitt has built a large and effective government
practice. The firm has points of entry into almost every governmental or
quasi-governmental body in Florida, and into many agencies in Washington as
well. The firm is as effective in its lobbying and dialog with these agencies as it is
in its administrative proceedings or litigation against them.
Intellectual Property
Akerman Senterfitt's intellectual property practice is one of the largest and
most broadly experienced in Florida. The firm's IP lawyers are engineers and scientists
from many rapidly developing fields of industry such as fuel cells, biomedical
devices, semiconductor materials and software. This knowledge base helps the
firm’s lawyers to create broader patents, draft better contracts, develop more profitable
licenses, and litigate more effectively. The firm represents clients across the
globe including many Fortune 500 firms and major research universities.
Labor and Employment
Akerman Senterfitt’s labor and employment law practice is one of the largest
in the State of Florida with more Labor and Employment attorneys Board-Certified
by the Florida Bar than any other law firm in the state. The firm provides representation
to public and private employers in all aspects of Human Resources,
employment discrimination litigation, OSHA compliance, and labor relations
issues, and has extensive experience in NLRA, FLSA, ADEA, Older Workers Benefit
Protection Act, EPA, OSHA, ERISA, WARN, FMLA and ADA issues.
Litigation
The firm has the largest litigation department in Florida, which is chaired by
the former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of
Florida, Edward B. Davis. The former Chief Judge of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Joseph Hatchett, heads the Appellate Practice Group.
The experience of the firm's litigators ranges from small disputes to complex lawsuits
such as securities, class action, antitrust, trademark and copyright litigation.
Real Estate
Akerman Senterfitt has more than 70 lawyers who focus on the needs of
clients in the real estate industry. This represents one of the largest full service real
estate practices in Florida. The firm provides comprehensive representation
through changing business cycles at all levels of activity. The firm manages the
legal aspects of large land deals and construction projects, assists developers in
meeting tough environmental regulations, and advises on all aspects of transactional
work, including workouts and restructurings. The firm's focus areas include
land use and entitlements, debt and equity finance, income property, and the
acquisition and development of projects within all real estate asset classes.
Private Client Services
Akerman Senterfitt has carefully built a broadly experienced and highly
respected trusts, estates, and family law practice. Not only does the firm administer
and litigate personal legal matters, it has crafted some of the laws that govern
these affairs. The firm's statewide presence allows it to manage the legal issues of
families and their businesses regardless of venue. And while some firms segregate
the attorneys in this area into separate groups, the firm believes in the cross-pollination
of ideas that results from maintaining one cohesive practice. The firm's
planners understand litigation and can design agreements that minimize the possibility
of future legal actions.
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