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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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International transactions: Colleen Grady, Alvarez & Diaz-Silveira
Grady served as lead counsel on the multi-firm, multinational transaction. READ MORE
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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