David Ristaino is Akerman’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), overseeing the business, financial, and administrative operations of the firm. A former practicing lawyer, David has a strong background in legal and operational management. Prior to his return to Akerman as COO, David served as Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Independent Living Systems, a national healthcare administrative services company and managed services organization (MSO). In this role, he established the company’s legal department and served on its Executive Management Committee. While at Independent Living Systems, David oversaw all legal issues, corporate governance, regulatory matters, risk management, and provider and vendor contracting. In addition, he managed the Company Compliance and Privacy Department, Licensing Department, and Human Resources function, with more than 750 employees.

Before joining Independent Living Systems, David practiced corporate law at Akerman, serving both on the firm’s Board of Directors and as Office Managing Partner of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office. He represented public and private companies and emerging companies in merger, acquisition, and disposition transactions, as well as corporate governance, private placements, employment and consulting agreements, marketing and supply agreements, software and licensing agreements, joint ventures, and general commercial contracts.

Prior to the start of his legal career, David served as a commercial loan officer and special asset specialist at MBank in Texas, as a bank liquidation specialist at the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) in Washington, D.C., and as a financial analyst at Dun & Bradstreet in Boston.