Another Top Diversity Recognition for Firm in 2006

FLORIDA — February 7, 2006 — On the heels of being recognized in January as the Top Law Firm for Hispanic Americans by MultiCultural Law magazine, Akerman Senterfitt will be presented in February with the Thomas L. Sager Award by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), along with the MCCA's two corporate honorees, Wal-Mart and Mary Kay, as employers of choice. The Award is presented to the law firm that has demonstrated and sustained the highest commitment to improving the hiring, retention and promotion of minority and women attorneys. As the Award recipient for the South/Southwest Region, the firm will also be profiled in Diversity & the Bar, MCCA's official magazine.

"Throughout the history of the firm we have promoted diversity and are proud of this continued recognition," said Akerman Senterfitt Chairman and CEO Tom Cardwell. "Our diversity is ultimately a great asset to our clients, who benefit from our wide range of perspectives and innovative thinking."

Akerman Senterfitt maintains an active Diversity Committee chaired by Joseph W. Hatchett, former Chief Judge of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, who was recently inducted into the National Bar Association's Hall of Fame. Hatchett was the first African American appointed to the highest court of a state since Reconstruction, the first African American to serve on the Florida Supreme Court, the first African American to serve as a Chief Judge of a federal appellate court in the southern United States, and the first African American elected to any public office in a statewide election in the South.

The firm's workforce throughout each of its offices in Florida, New York and Washington, D.C., reflects the firm's strong commitment to creating an environment where a broad range of diverse perspectives is not only encouraged, but cultivated.

The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) was founded in 1997 to advocate for the expanded hiring, retention, and promotion of minority attorneys in corporate law departments and the law firms that serve them. MCCA accomplishes its mission through the collection and dissemination of information about diversity in the legal profession. Diversity & the Bar is the official magazine of MCCA published quarterly in conjunction with American Lawyer Media and distributed to 30,000 attorneys nationwide as an insert to Corporate Counsel magazine.

Akerman Senterfitt, one of Florida's leading law firms, has more than 450 attorneys and consultants servicing the needs of local, regional, national and international clients. The firm represents private and public companies, governmental entities, educational institutions and high net-worth individuals in a wide range of practice areas. The firm's longstanding commitment to diversity has been recognized most recently by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, which presented the firm with the 2006 Thomas L. Sager Award for diversity leadership, and by MultiCultural Law magazine, which named Akerman Senterfitt the 2005 Top Law Firm for Hispanic Americans.

Founded in 1920, the firm now has offices in Florida's major business centers: Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and West Palm Beach, as well as in Washington, D.C. and New York. For more information about our practice groups and attorneys, visit www.akerman.com.

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