Holland & Knight has poached two corporate lawyers in Miami from Bilzin Sumberg, including prominent attorney Steven Lear, a South Florida corporate lawyer and former top in-house counsel at U.S. Sugar Corp. who will head his new firm's national joint venture practice.

Holland & Knight touted Lear's experience advising clients, particularly in the real estate sector, on mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. Lear spent nearly 20 years at Bilzin Sumberg before his move to Holland & Knight, and also served earlier in his career as chief in-house counsel of agribusiness conglomerate Lykes Bros. Inc. and sugar producer U.S. Sugar.

He is joined in the move by R. Stephen Sandiford, a former Bilzin Sumberg associate who will now be senior counsel at Holland & Knight.

“We are so pleased to have Steve and Stephen join our team,” said Vivian de las Cuevas-Diaz, deputy head of Holland & Knight's real estate section. “They will offer a tremendous resource for our corporate and real estate clients in their joint ventures, acquisitions and dispositions, and other sophisticated transactions. Their work with homebuilders is particularly notable.”

Steven Lear

Among other work, Lear's past experience includes a longstanding relationship with the Miami-based Lennar Corp., one of the largest home construction companies in the U.S., advising them on a number of significant acquisitions and investments across the country, according to Holland & Knight.

In the leadership role at his new firm, Lear will head up a joint venture practice that taps Holland & Knight lawyers with expertise in real estate, corporate and tax work, and that advises sponsors and investors on joint venture deals in several industries.

“Steve has earned a reputation for handling some of the most sophisticated joint venture transactions in the country,” said David Barkus, co-leader of Holland & Knight's South Florida corporate practice. “His considerable experience, especially in real estate investments, will enhance the services we are able to provide our corporate and real estate clients.”

Stephen Sandiford

Sandiford has experience in corporate work across several sectors, including real estate, health care, and technology, according to Holland & Knight. His clients have spanned the U.S., Europe, the U.K., the Caribbean and Latin America, and he has focused on M&A deals, securities transactions, joint venture agreements, and fund formation work. Before joining Bilzin Sumberg, Sandiford served as an associate at Arnold & Porter legacy firm Kaye Scholer.

Lear said he is pleased to start a “new phase” of his career at Holland & Knight, a firm that drew him because of its nationwide reach and resources. He added that, with the support of the new firm, he and Sandiford should have plenty of opportunities “to grow our practices and give our clients access to world-class practitioners” throughout the U.S. Lear also expressed excitement about his leadership role at Holland & Knight as the new head of its joint venture practice.

“Joint ventures remain an extremely popular method of financing real estate developments and other business ventures,” Lear said. “I look forward to leading a team that includes practitioners from around the country who have preeminent experience in real estate, health care, technology and other industries.”