DBR Announces Professional Excellence Award Honorees
The annual recognition focuses on exemplary achievements by Florida lawyers in 2017.
March 29, 2018 at 02:42 PM
4 minute read
The Daily Business Review is announcing honorees for its 2018 Professional Excellence Awards in recognition of exemplary work by attorneys in the legal profession and the community in 2017.
An event set for May 30 at the Rusty Pelican in Miami will welcome all the winners, and the Attorney of the Year will be announced from among the three finalists.
Special reports will be published on May 7 and May 21 to profile the honorees and elaborate on the work that warranted recognition.
ATTORNEY OF THE YEAR
Broadly, the recognition honors attorneys who produced a notable impact on the law and the legal profession or did the most to advance the cause of justice in the previous year.
- Jaret Davis, Greenberg Traurig
- Peter Prieto, Podhurst Orseck
- Walter Andrews, Hunton Andrews Kurth
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Lifetime achievers are singled out for having a significant impact on the practice of law over a noteworthy legal career.
- Melvia Green, Third District Court of Appeal
- Paul Hancock, K&L Gates
- Andrew Smulian, Akerman
DISTINGUISHED LEADERS
These honorees have demonstrated clear leadership skills that helped them achieve impressive results, whether in law firm management, litigation, corporate law, transactions or public service .
- Suzanne Amaducci-Adams, Bilzin Sumberg
- Bowman Brown, Shutts & Bowen
- Charles Caulkins, Fisher Phillips
- Judge Peter Fay, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Gerald Greenspoon, Greenspoon Marder
- Patricia Hernandez, Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri
- John Hogan, Holland & Knight
- Alan Kluger, Kluger Kaplan
- Leslie Kroeger, Cohen Milstein
- Richard Lorenzo, Hogan Lovells
- Brian Miller, Akerman
- Thomas Panza, Panza, Maurer & Maynard
- Cristina Perez Soto, Jones Day
- James Sammataro, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
- Charles Tatelbaum, Tripp Scott
LEGAL DEPARTMENTS
This category recognizes top in-house legal departments led by general counsel in Florida. The focus is on innovative programs, problem-solving ingenuity and high quality-client service.
- Legal Department of the Year: University of Miami
- Outside Counsel Management: Ilumno
- Corporate Compliance: Memorial Healthcare System
- Diversity and Quality of Life: Miami Gardens City Attorney's Office
- Pro Bono and Community Service: Citicorp Latin America and Mexico
LITIGATION DEPARTMENTS
Split into two segments by law firm size, this section recognizes firms based on their work results obtained pretrial, at trial or on appeal in 2017. The midsize law firms have a total of 70 to 200 attorneys. The small firms are smaller than that.
MIDSIZE FIRMS
- Litigation Department of the Year: Berger Singerman
- Products Liability: Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial
- Real Estate & Other Litigation: Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson
SMALL FIRMS
- Litigation Department: Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman
- Labor and Employment: Bryant Miller Olive
- Real Estate & Other Litigation: Assouline & Berlowe
REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
With the strength of real estate in the South Florida economy, a special category was carved out for special recognition of noteworthy transactions.
- Bilzin Sumberg
- Broad and Cassel
INNOVATIVE PRACTICE GROUPS
In a new category introduced this year, nominations were sought for law firms that pursued unique ways of differentiating a practice group in a crowded legal market.
- Greenspoon Marder
- Silver Miller
ON THE RISE
Always a competitive category, honorees are recognized for wielding influence and showing expertise in their practice areas and committing themselves to pro bono, charitable and professional volunteer work. One overriding condition is that the lawyers must be under age 40 as of Jan. 1, 2018.
- Lara Bach, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- Shahrzad Emami, Legal Services of Greater Miami
- Pedro Gassant, Holland & Knight
- John Cody German, Cole, Scott & Kissane
- Andrew Gordon, Hinshaw & Culbertson
- Eddie Holiday, Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office
- Andrew Ittleman, Fuerst Ittleman
- Jason Joffe, Squire Patton Boggs
- Wilnar Julmiste, AndersonGlenn
- Matthew Kissner, Broad and Cassel
- Adriana Kostencki, Berger Singerman
- W Mason, Fox Rothschild
- Melissa McDavitt, Conroy Simberg
- Victor Petrescu, Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman
- Michael Pineiro, Marcus Neiman & Rashbaum
- Karen Poy, K&L Gates
- Shani Rivaux, Pillsbury
- Ryan Roman, Akerman
- Marina Ross, Greenberg Traurig
- Erica Rutner, Lash & Goldberg
- Fausto Sanchez, Diaz Reus
- Jeffrey Wank, Kelley Kronenberg
- Jamie Wasserman, Shutts & Bowen
- Matthew Weinshall, Podhurst Orseck
- Lauren Whetstone, Greenberg Traurig
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Vedder Price Shareholder Javier Lopez Appointed to Miami Planning, Zoning & Appeals Board
2 minute read
Crypto Entrepreneur Claims Justice Department’s Software Crackdown Violates US Constitution
4 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
