Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced the promotion of 19 lawyers to partner, effective Nov. 1, 2016. The new partners include a diverse mix of lawyers across practices and offices throughout the firm.
Preston Ascherin – Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, Los Angeles
Preston Ascherin dedicates his practice to the financial services sector, defending mortgage loan originators, servicers, and investors in class and individual lawsuits, bankruptcy adversary cases, contested foreclosures, and regulatory compliance matters. Prior to his legal career, he worked as a financial analyst for a mortgage broker obtaining financing for large residential and commercial developments. He earned his J.D. in 2008 from UCLA School of Law and his B.A. in 2005 from the University of Southern California.
Enjolique Aytch – Litigation Practice Group, Fort Lauderdale
Enjolique Aytch focuses her practice on products liability and mass tort litigation. She has extensive experience defending domestic and international medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers in multi-plaintiff actions, as well as hospitals and physicians in medical malpractice actions in all stages of litigation, including trial. She earned her J.D., cum laude, in 2007 from the University of Georgia School of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law. She received her B.A. in 2003 from American University as a member of the Dean's List.
Robyn Bowland – Intellectual Property Practice Group, Chicago
Robyn Bowland focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation and counseling. She has experience litigating all aspects of patent disputes dealing with various technologies, including computer software, telecommunications, and medical devices. She also represents clients in trade secret, false advertising, privacy, tortious interference and breach of contract claims. She earned her J.D., magna cum laude, in 2008 from Notre Dame Law School. She received her B.S. in 2000 from the United States Military Academy.
Patricia Carlson – Intellectual Property Practice Group, West Palm Beach
Patricia Carlson assists clients in selecting, securing, protecting and enforcing domestic and international intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, and copyrights, as well as with related contracts and commercial transactions. She also has experience litigating patent infringement, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising cases in federal courts across the country. She earned her J.D., cum laude, in 2008 from Stetson University College of Law. She holds a Certificate from Fordham University School of Law for her participation in the Fashion Law Institute's 2016 Summer Intensive Program. She received her M.B.A. in 2008 from Stetson University and her B.S. in 2005 from the University of Central Florida.
Sean Coyle – Corporate Practice Group, Fort Lauderdale
Sean Coyle assists U.S. and international clients in a wide range of corporate work, including mergers, public securities filings, private placements, cross-border acquisitions, licensing agreements and asset purchases and sales. He earned his J.D. in 2005 from the University of Miami School of Law and his B.S. in 2002 from Tulane University.
Julian Dayal – Litigation Practice Group, Chicago
Julian Dayal focuses his practice on complex business litigation, commercial arbitration, and consumer class action defense. He also represents companies in investigations by, and litigation against, the DOJ, CFPB, FTC, state attorney generals and other regulatory agencies. He earned his J.D. in 2008 from New York University School of Law. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, in 2004 from Boston University.
Paul Ettori – Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, Orlando
Paul Ettori dedicates his practice to the financial services sector, defending mortgage loan originators, servicers, and investors in class and individual lawsuits, bankruptcy adversary cases, contested foreclosures, and regulatory compliance matters. He earned his J.D. in 2007 from Fordham University School of Law and his B.S. in 2000 from Fordham University. He also is a certified public accountant in New York State.
Thomas Fullerton – Bankruptcy & Reorganization Practice Group, Chicago
Thomas Fullerton has experience with Chapter 11 proceedings, fraud-based adversary claims and preference actions, and has represented clients in Chapter 7, 11 and 13 proceedings. He also has experience representing financial institutions in loan financing transactions, loan workouts and commercial litigation. He earned his J.D. in 2008 from the University of Dayton School of Law and his B.A. in 2005 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Darryl Graham – Litigation Practice Group, Miami
Darryl Graham focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, securities litigation, domestic and international arbitration disputes, and appellate matters. He also advises his clients on breach of contract, real estate disputes, business torts, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud claims, products liability, ERISA claims, enforcement of non-competes, and shareholder derivative suits. He earned his J.D., cum laude, in 2008 from the University of Miami School of Law. He received his B.S.B.A., cum laude, in 2005 from the University of Florida.
Michael Larson – Litigation Practice Group, Tallahassee
Michael Larson focuses his practice on complex civil and administrative appellate matters and trial support in state and federal courts. He routinely represents parties in final appeals, interlocutory appeals and extraordinary writ proceedings. He also is experienced in class actions, white collar defense and e-discovery matters. He earned his J.D. in 2008 from Emory University School of Law, where he served as Managing Editor of the Emory International Law Review. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, in 2005 from Emory University.
Eric Levine – Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, West Palm Beach
Eric Levine dedicates his practice to the financial services sector, defending mortgage loan originators, servicers, and investors in class and individual lawsuits, bankruptcy adversary cases, contested foreclosures, and regulatory compliance matters. He earned his J.D. in 2008 from Harvard Law School. He received his M.P.A. in 2005 and his B.S. in 2004 from Cornell University.
Erin Maddocks – Litigation Practice Group, West Palm Beach
Erin Maddocks focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, fiduciary dispute resolution and contested wills, trusts and estates matters. Her experience includes a wide range of litigation in state and federal courts throughout Florida, including breach of contract, products liability, commercial credit and creditors' rights. She earned her J.D., cum laude, in 2007 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She received her B.A., cum laude, in 2004 from the University of Florida.
Kimberly Lopez Narbona – Litigation Practice Group, Orlando
Kimberly Lopez Narbona represents banks, lenders, secured creditors and other financial institutions in commercial litigation. She has experience in commercial foreclosures and secured transactions under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. She regularly defends clients in residential foreclosure actions and individual consumer claims arising under federal statutes. She also has experience in ERISA litigation on behalf of insurance carriers, employer-sponsored benefit plans, as well as claims and plan administrators. She earned her J.D., cum laude, in 2008 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Technology Law and Policy and as Assistant Managing Editor of the Entertainment Law Review. She received her M.A. in 2008 and her B.S., magna cum laude, in 2004 from the University of Florida.
Nicholas Purvis – Fraud & Recovery Practice Group, West Palm Beach
Nicholas Purvis represents insurers in complex healthcare and insurance fraud investigation and litigation. He has experience litigating claims against healthcare providers under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and various other statutory and common-law causes of action. Through his work in these areas, he has helped develop a body of law enabling insurance carriers to more easily combat systematic fraud. He also represents defrauded financial institutions in the investigation and recovery process, and has represented a variety of other companies and individuals in complex commercial disputes. He earned his J.D., cum laude, in 2007 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He received his B.S.B.A., magna cum laude, in 2002 from the University of Florida.
Leanne Reagan – Tax Practice Group, Miami
Leanne Reagan focuses her practice on the design and implementation of qualified and non-qualified retirement and deferred compensation plans, welfare plans, cafeteria plans and other employee benefit programs for public and private companies. She also helps clients maintain compliance with the federal laws and regulations associated with these plans, including ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, COBRA and HIPAA. She earned her LL.M. in 2012 from New York University School of Law and her J.D. in 2008 from Duke University School of Law. She received her B.A. in 2005 from the University of Florida, where she was Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Ilana Tabacinic – Litigation Practice Group, Miami
Ilana Tabacinic focuses her practice on high-value business litigation and arbitration across the United States and internationally, including real estate disputes, fraud, business torts, and insurance disputes. She represents individual and corporate clients across a variety of sectors, including the pharmaceutical, hotel, lodging, media, private investment firms and public entities. Her cross-border work spans a number of regions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East. She earned her J.D., magna cum laude, in 2008 from the University of Miami School of Law and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. She also was a member of the University of Miami Law Review and served on the Moot Court Board. She received her B.A. in 2004 from the University of Miami.
Andrew Thomas – Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, Dallas
Andrew Thomas dedicates his practice to the financial services sector, defending mortgage loan originators, servicers, and investors in class and individual lawsuits, bankruptcy adversary cases, contested foreclosures, and regulatory compliance matters. He earned his J.D., cum laude, in 2007 from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where he served as Staff and Article Editor of the International Law Review. He received his B.A. in 1996 from the University of Texas at Austin.
Ryan Williams – Litigation Practice Group, Chicago
Ryan Williams focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, trial and appellate matters, including patent infringement cases, LLC member disputes, licensing agreement cases, class action defense, trademark and trade dress cases and insurance coverage actions. He earned his J.D., summa cum laude, in 2008 from The John Marshall Law School, where he served as Production Editor of The Marshall Law Review and was awarded the American Bankruptcy Institute's Medal of Excellence. He received his B.A. in 2004 from the University of Colorado.
Roy Zachariah – Intellectual Property Practice Group, West Palm Beach
Roy Zachariah represents Fortune 500 companies, small businesses and individuals in all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law, including litigation, prosecution, and licensing. His experience in patent protection includes inventions in the areas of computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, telecommunications, medical systems and devices, and business methods. He previously worked for the major entertainment and sports company CBSSports.com as a software engineer/programmer and business analyst. He earned his J.D. in 2007 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he served as Web-Editor and Member of the Journal of Technology Law and Policy. He also holds a Certificate in Intellectual Property from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He received his M.S. in 2004 and his B.S. in 2003 from Carnegie Mellon University.
About Akerman LLP
Akerman LLP is a leading transactions and trial law firm known for its core strengths in middle market M&A, within the financial services and real estate industries, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 650 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 24 offices, it is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The American Lawyer (2016). Akerman also is ranked among the top 60 law firms for diversity in The American Lawyer's Diversity Scorecard (2016).