Kenneth Alberstadt is a senior member of the firm’s Corporate Department. Ken’s practice focuses on M&A, private equity, growth capital and early-stage financing transactions. He has extensive experience representing private equity sponsors, public and private companies and management teams in…

With a practice focused on the laws governing alcoholic beverages, tobacco, cannabis, and other regulated products, Ian Bacheikov assists clients across multiple sectors, including entertainment, hospitality, and retail. He serves as chair of Akerman's Alcohol Beverage Sector Team, a…

Joshua Bernstein serves as the co-chair of Akerman’s Hospitality Sector Team, a multidisciplinary group providing an extensive range of legal counsel and services to lodging and lifestyle companies. Josh's clients include hotel owners and operators, commercial property owners, lenders,…

Richard Bezold immerses himself in the details of a deal, helping clients maximize their investments and advance their business objectives. Chambers USA notes that he is sought after for his "considerable experience advising on real estate acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, financing and…

Ellen Castillo is a Senior Urban Planning Consultant in Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group in Los Angeles. Her practice focuses on providing strategic real property development advice, land use diligence, planning analysis, and entitlement processing across all sectors of development. She offers…

With comprehensive knowledge across all asset classes, Dana Clayton represents clients in real estate litigation in federal and state court. Her clients include Fortune 100 financial institutions, REITs, developers, retailers, and public and private real estate companies in disputes in financing,…

Dale Alexandra Cohen focuses her practice on domestic and international franchising, distribution, and licensing law. Dale advises new emerging brands as well as widely recognized mature brands with respect to structuring and implementing their franchise, distribution, and licensing programs. Her…

Meg George has experience with real estate and municipal law matters, including the acquisition, and sale and development of real estate, land use and zoning, licensing, permitting, subdivision, and other real estate matters. In addition to her thriving practice, Meg is a member of Akerman’s…

Andrew Gold has extensive experience litigating cases in and outside of Florida. He focuses on complex commercial litigation with particular emphasis on private equity, corporate governance, post-merger & acquisition disputes, and bankruptcy adversary proceedings. Andrew's corporate client base…

Kevin Hein serves as co-chair of Akerman’s Franchise and Licensing Sector Team, a highly experienced group handling U.S. and international franchising, licensing, dealership and trademark counseling, registration and litigation matters for franchisors, licensors, subfranchisors, dealers, and other…

With a diverse, national practice focusing on employment law, complex commercial litigation, and crisis management, Jeffrey Kimmel represents clients in federal and state courts, as well as in various arbitration forums and before federal, state, and local administrative bodies. His clients operate…

Lisa Kolieb focuses her practice on land use and real estate development matters, guiding clients through the land use entitlement process from initial site diligence to ultimate project approval, construction and operation, and advising clients on the government and regulatory aspects of real…

Ronald Kornreich is a partner in Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group and a member of Akerman’s Chambers USA - nationally recognized Hospitality Sector Team. He is a highly versatile transactional lawyer with more than 25 years’ experience representing clients in a wide range of commercial…

With more than two decades of experience in zoning and land use matters, Chris Leach represents property owners, developers, and business owners in obtaining approvals of planned developments, zoning changes, special uses, variations, subdivisions, vacations, and dedications. Chris also works with…

Warren Lee Lewis serves as co-chair of Akerman's Franchise and Licensing Sector Team, a highly experienced group handling U.S. and international franchising, licensing, dealership and trademark counseling, registration and litigation matters for franchisors, licensors, subfranchisors, dealers and…

Mark Lichtenstein focuses his practice on a broad range of corporate and bankruptcy matters, including restructuring of private equity portfolio companies, bankruptcy litigation, and the acquisition of assets in bankruptcy cases, as well as workouts, creditors’ rights litigation,…

Erica Mason is a seasoned litigator and advisor whose highly diverse, multi-lingual team offers a strategic advantage to clients with increasingly multicultural and globalized workforces. As national and regional employment counsel for her clients, she routinely defends employment claims before…

Cathy Miller focuses her practice on business and employment litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts and arbitrations. Her experience includes representing clients in employment, Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)…

International Trade and Customs Felicia Leborgne Nowels is Board Certified in International law, and focuses her practice on international trade and customs law. Felicia assists domestic and foreign companies with cross-border movement of goods and services. Whether drafting international…

Palash I. Pandya serves as the Co-Deputy Chair of the Corporate Practice Group. Palash advises public and private companies, private equity funds, family offices and entrepreneurs in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, tender offers, spin-offs and venture capital investments. He also…

Highly regarded for his skillful resolution of bankruptcy and insolvency matters, David Parham represents corporate and partnership debtors, creditor committees, equity holders, secured and unsecured creditors, lessors, and trustees in bankruptcy proceedings, litigation, and workouts. His…

Mark Passler advises senior managers, brand managers, in-house counsel, technology transfer professionals, and inventors on intellectual property and entertainment law matters. He routinely assists clients in procuring, licensing, and enforcing patent, trademark, and copyright rights. Mark also…

George Powell serves as managing partner of Akerman’s Naples office. George protects real property rights and focuses his practice on real property taxation, eminent domain/property condemnation, land use and entitlements, and real estate transactions. His clients include financial institutions,…

Tara Raghavan is an associate in the Litigation Practice Group. Her practice includes representing clients within the real estate and hospitality sectors, including owners, landlords, tenants, lenders, investors, and developers. She has experience representing clients in real estate,…

Ryan Roman’s practice focuses on protecting his clients in complex, high stakes commercial litigation, arbitration, and trial work. A versatile litigator, courtroom strategist, and entrepreneur, Ryan represents large, sophisticated companies, private equity firms and their portfolio companies, and…

Phil Schwartz's areas of practice include securities disclosure, private and public debt and equity financings, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters. He also represents clients in enforcement matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission. Phil is an active participant in…

William Sentell focuses his practice on franchise dispute resolution and related corporate, regulatory, and compliance matters. His combination of litigation and transactional experience allows him to provide holistic legal representation to brand owners, distributors, licensors, manufacturers and…

Adept at navigating complex labor and employment matters, Scott Silverman is noted by Chambers USA for being "expeditious" and "excellent at providing all points of view." His range of experience includes representation of employers in administrative proceedings, federal and state court litigation,…

Robert Smith focuses his practice on representing U.S. franchisors expanding internationally and serving as franchise counsel in complex financial transactions, including whole business securitization transactions. Bob's international franchise experience spans more than 80 countries and…

Erin Swick represents private equity firms and public and private companies in a variety of both buy and sell side business transactions. Her experience includes mergers, acquisitions, private equity investments, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and debt and equity financings in a range of…

Laura Taveras represents debtors and secured and unsecured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings. She also has experience guiding clients in insolvency-related litigation, out-of-court restructuring, and workouts. Laura's work includes debtor representations in Subchapter 5 and Chapter 15 for…

Wayne Wald focuses his practice on corporate and securities law, including capital formation and M&A transactions, with a strong emphasis on middle market deals. Wayne is the Corporate practice group leader in the firm’s New York Office and he is the founder and Chair of the firm’s…

John Busey Wood advises public and private companies on real estate acquisitions, facilities management, construction and development, commercial, hospitality, retail, and ground leasing, commercial property management, and brokerage. For more than 45 years, John has represented owners in the design…