14th Annual Most Effective Lawyers Awards
The Daily Business Review recognizes South Florida attorneys who achieved extraordinary results for their clients in the past year.
December 10, 2018 at 12:52 PM
7 minute read
The 14th annual Most Effective Lawyers special report recognizes the extraordinary work performed by South Florida attorneys in the past year.
Honorees were selected from more than 110 nominations. Attorneys were asked to show proof of positive results obtained for their clients, illustrating obstacles overcome and their impact on public policy and business interests.
This year the Daily Business Review recognizes about 50 attorneys in 20 categories. Two awards were given in two highly competitive areas — government relations/regulatory and products liability.
Legal professionals distinguished themselves with their work in the fast-changing field of cybersecurity, a copyright fight over telenovelas, a change in Florida statuary at the U.S. Capitol and litigation with wide-ranging social impact.
The annual recognition is based on one overriding benchmark — tangible results and impact. Congratulations to everyone who participated. Here are the results.
— Catherine Wilson Managing Editor
Appellate: Stuart Singer, Boies Schiller Flexner
Singer argued pivotal financial cases for Florida Power & Light before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Florida Supreme Court. READ MORE
Bankruptcy: Paul Keenan Jr. and John Dodd, Greenberg Traurig
A bankruptcy reorganization financing flop required a new equity and exit financing package for Miami's Optima Specialty Steel — while Hurricane Irma was floating around. READ MORE
Class actions/Mass Torts: Peter Prieto, Matthew Weinshall, John Gravante and Alissa Del Riego, Podhurst Orseck
The legal team coordinated the work of more than two dozen law firms in class actions against automakers that used recalled Takata air bags. READ MORE
Complex/Business litigation: Michael Piscitelli and Brad Copenhaver, Vezina, Lawrence & Piscitelli; and Lawrence Silverman and Gerald Cope Jr., Akerman
Attorneys for Miami-Dade County's toll-by-plate operator won two trials but face another appeal. READ MORE
Corporate securities: Jaret Davis and Drew Altman, Greenberg Traurig
Attorneys engineered a corporate merger requiring Federal Trade Commission approval and the financing to make it possible. READ MORE
Criminal: David O. Markus, Margot Moss and Todd Yoder, Markus/Moss
The legal team took home victories in an Orlando trial and a New Orleans appeal. READ MORE
Employment: Jason Alderman, Kristy Johnson and Troy Tolentino, The Alderman Law Firm; and Carmen Manrara Cartaya and Beatriz Biscardi Andre, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
A $2.5 million settlement by SLS Hotel owner and operator SBE requires training for three years at six Miami-area hotels. READ MORE
Family/Probate: Jeff Fisher, Fisher Potter Hodas
Fisher says it comes down to preparation, but he has a knack for catching divorcing parties in lies and with fake documents. READ MORE
Government relations/Regulatory: Yolanda Cash Jackson, Becker
Working for Bethune-Cookman University, Jackson lobbied for Florida to become the first state to honor an African-American woman in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. READ MORE
Government relations/Regulatory: Robert Lewis, LewisFox Law
Robert Lewis handled the disclosures for Cineworld Group's $3.6 billion acquisition of Regal Entertainment Group. READ MORE
Insurance: Rory Jurman and Steven Cula, Fowler White Burnett
A federal judge allowed Travelers' St. Paul subsidiary to deny coverage for the fallout from malware installed on the Rosen hotel chain's payment network. READ MORE
International litigation: Gregory Baldwin, Eduardo Ramos and Ilene Pabian, Holland & Knight
The legal team successfully voided a $50 million default judgment and avoided liability in trial. READ MORE
Intellectual property: Mark Raymond, Francisco Armada, Sara Klco and Kimberly Freedman, Nelson Mullins Broad and Cassel
Attorneys for Mexico's TV Azteca persuaded a Miami federal judge to reject the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction. READ MORE
International transactions: Colleen Grady, Alvarez & Diaz-Silveira
Grady served as lead counsel on the multi-firm, multinational transaction. READ MORE
Medical malpractice: Stephan LeClainche, Cohen Milstein
LeClainche heads his law firm's medical malpractice group. Hospitals settled three of his cases within four months for multimillion-dollar awards. READ MORE
Personal injury: Stuart Ratzan, Ratzan Law Group
Ratzan persuaded a jury to hold Ranger Construction Industries liable for a late-night crash in an Interstate 75 construction zone in Pembroke Pines. READ MORE
Privacy/Data security: Al Saikali, Shook, Hardy & Bacon
The Shook Hardy partner in Miami is heavily involved in data breach defense work and has founded national groups focused on cybersecurity law. READ MORE
Pro bono: Diana Martin, Cohen Milstein
Working pro bono, Martin succeeded in litigation for felons seeking the restoration of civil rights after their release and juvenile inmates facing solitary confinement in Palm Beach County. READ MORE
Products liability: John Uustal, Michael Hersh and Catherine Darlson, Kelley/Uustal
The law firm did its own testing before discovering an unreported change in manufacturing hid a flaw in a pressure cooker that seriously injured a 2-year-old girl. READ MORE
Products liability: Pete DeMahy and Orlando Cabeza, DLD Lawyers
A jury cleared a textile company of liability after a corporate jet crashed into a 72-foot utility pole on its property, killing five passengers. READ MORE
Public interest: Randall Berg, Dante Trevisani and Erica Selig, Florida Justice Institute
The federal class action succeeded quickly in getting get treatment for state prison inmates with hepatitis C. READ MORE
Real estate litigation: Robert Brochin, Clay Carlton and Ann Kerr Stewart, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Defended by Morgan Lewis, the national electronic mortgage registry has been fighting cases since before the foreclosure crisis. READ MORE
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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.
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