Akerman LLP once again has been recognized by Chambers & Partners as one of the top law firms in the United States, with some of the nation's most accomplished lawyers in corporate, real estate and insurance law. The 2015 edition of Chambers USA Guide awarded the firm high rankings in 13 practice areas. The publication also honored 56 Akerman lawyers representing 21 practice areas. More than a third of them received either Band 1 or Nationwide rankings in their respective fields.
Akerman's core practices in Corporate/M&A & Private Equity, Real Estate and Insurance once again received top honors in Florida — a distinction held by the firm's Corporate Practice Group for more than a decade. Other firm practices ranked by Chambers USA include Antitrust; Banking & Finance; Bankruptcy & Restructuring; Construction; Environment; Healthcare; Labor & Employment; Litigation: General Commercial; Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use and Tax.
In addition to the practices mentioned, Akerman lawyers were ranked among the highest in Leisure & Hospitality (Nationwide); Banking & Finance: Transactional (Florida); Litigation: Appellate (Florida); Tax: State & Local (Florida), among others. After opening a Chicago office just 15 months ago, Akerman lawyers received for the first time high marks in two Illinois categories: Healthcare and Bankruptcy/Restructuring. With the ongoing national expansion of Akerman's Litigation Practice Group, the firm also received its first country-wide ranking in the Litigation: E-Discovery category.
The Chambers USA Guide is part of a series of Chambers & Partners research-based guides to the legal profession. They rank the leading law firms and lawyers in an extensive range of practice areas throughout each region.
A collective list of the 56 Akerman lawyers recognized by Chambers USA includes:
Antitrust (Florida)
Lawrence D. Silverman
Banking & Finance: Regulatory (Florida)
Virginia B. Townes
Banking & Finance: Transactional (Florida)
William C. Arnhols
Bradley D. Houser
Bankruptcy/Restructuring
Jules S. Cohen (Senior Statesman) (Florida)
Michael I. Goldberg (Florida)
John B. Macdonald (Florida)
Michael L. Molinaro (Illinois)
Construction
Kimberly A. Ashby (Florida)
Stacy Bercun Bohm (Florida)
Donald G. Gavin (Virginia)
Jeffrey G. Gilmore (Virginia)
Stephen B. Hurlbut (Virginia)
Corporate/M&A & Private Equity (Florida)
Jonathan L. Awner
Teddy D. Klinghoffer
Stephen K. Roddenberry
Carl D. Roston
Environment (Florida)
Silvia M. Alderman
Edward Cole (Up and Coming)
Jason S. Lichtstein
Robyn D. Neely
Healthcare
Kirk S. Davis (Florida)
William J. Spratt Jr. (Florida)
Jane K. McCahill (Illinois)
Insurance (Florida)
Marcy Levine Aldrich
Labor & Employment (Florida)
James S. Bramnick
Karen M. Buesing
Susan N. Eisenberg
Scott T. Silverman
David I. Spector
Richard D. Tuschman
Jennifer T. Williams
Leisure & Hospitality (National)
Andrew S. Robins
Litigation: Appellate (Florida)
Gerald B. Cope Jr.
Katherine Eastmoore Giddings
Litigation: E-Discovery (National)
Martin T. Tully
Litigation: General Commercial (National)
Joseph E. ('Ed') Foster
William P. Heller
David I. Spector
Real Estate (Florida)
Richard Bezold
Manuel A. Fernandez
Theresa M. McLaughlin
Eric D. Rapkin
Janice L. Russell
Andrew M. Smulian
Brian Tague
Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use (Florida)
Cecelia Bonifay
Spencer Crowley (Up and Coming)
Neisen O. Kasdin
Tax (Florida)
Donald K. Duffy
Russell B. Hale
Henry H. Raattama Jr.
Tax: Employee Benefits (Florida)
Richard T. Hurt
Peter E. Salomon
Tax: State and Local (Florida)
Russell B. Hale
Peter O. Larsen
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 600 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 20 offices, it is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The American Lawyer (2015) and The National Law Journal NLJ 350 (2014). Akerman also is ranked among the top 50 law firms for diversity in The American Lawyer's Diversity Scorecard (2014).