Akerman is a sponsor of the 2019 Real Estate Law and Business Forum presented by USC Gould of School of Law. In addition to his role as a member of the conference planning committee, William Ellis will moderate a panel titled, "Recession Redux? Revisiting Real Estate Workout and SPE Bankruptcies." Irán Hopkins will speak on a panel titled, "Cannabis Real Estate: Legal and Ethical Issues Facing the Industry." The programming is designed to appeal to both professionals and business people across the real estate field and will provide the latest information on industry trends in addition to offering real-world strategies for dealing with major challenges. The forum will also focus on significant real estate issues effecting Southern California, including: cannabis real estate issues, the greying of America, blockchain and smart contracts, opportunity zones, niche housing trends, healthcare real estate, transactional components of workouts, homelessness challenges in L.A. (the sequel), how lawyers can change the world, real estate workouts and SPE bankruptcies, the debate on rent control initiatives, and more.