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'''Akerman LLP''' is a large transactions and trial law firm known for experience in middle market M&A within the financial services and real estate sectors, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 600 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 20 offices, Akerman is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by ''The American Lawyer'' (2015). The firm also is ranked among the top 50 law firms for diversity on The American Lawyer's "Diversity Scorecard" (2015).<ref>Chris Johnson; "AmLaw 100 Analysis: The Super Rich Firms Pull Away"; The American Lawyer Magazine, April 27, 2015</ref>
'''Akerman LLP''' is a large ] based in ]. It was founded in 1920 and has grown to become one of the largest in the United States. In 2012, the '']'' ranked the firm as ] by number of attorneys, and the largest ]-based firm.<ref name="law.com">http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?germane=1202489565842&id=1202548639714</ref> In 2012, Law360 ranked Akerman Senterfitt as 94th largest in the U.S. by the number of attorneys practicing ''within'' the U.S. The firm is headquartered at 1 SE 3rd Avenue in ].<ref>http://www.akerman.com/locations/index.asp</ref><ref>http://www.law360.com/articles/307154/law360-ranks-largest-law-firms</ref>


The firm's current Chairman & CEO is Andrew Smulian.<ref>; Bloomberg Business; Feb. 12, 2016.</ref>


==History== ==History==

Revision as of 21:24, 16 February 2016

Akerman LLP
Akerman LLP
HeadquartersDowntown, Miami, Florida
No. of offices20
No. of attorneysMore than 600
Major practice areasGeneral practice
Key peopleAndrew M. Smulian, Chairman & CEO
Date founded1920
FounderAlexander Akerman and John Moses Cheney
Company typeLimited liability partnership
WebsiteAkerman.com

Akerman LLP is a large transactions and trial law firm known for experience in middle market M&A within the financial services and real estate sectors, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 600 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 20 offices, Akerman is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The American Lawyer (2015). The firm also is ranked among the top 50 law firms for diversity on The American Lawyer's "Diversity Scorecard" (2015).


The firm's current Chairman & CEO is Andrew Smulian.


History

Akerman LLP was founded in 1920 by former United States District Court Judges John Moses Cheney and Alexander Akerman as Cheney & Akerman, with offices in Orlando, Florida. By 1925, Alexander Akerman partnered with Hugh Akerman as Akerman & Akerman, after Cheney died. In 1936, Hugh Akerman and Billy Dial, who was instrumental in the founding of what is now known as SunTrust Bank, formed a partnership with William Akerman. These three men were largely responsible for the success of the firm through the 1950s, under the name Akerman, Dial & Akerman. The firm's next iteration saw name partners George T. Eidson and American Bankers Association President Donald T. Senterfitt play significant roles in the growth and success of the firm from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Akerman LLP acquired its first office outside of Orlando in May 1958 when the firm merged with Turnbull & Senterfitt. In 1982, a Miami office was opened, which marked the beginning of the firm's current sustained pattern of expansion. A permanent presence in Tallahassee was established in January 1991 with the merger of Moffitt, Hart & Herron. This merger also gained then Akerman, Senterfitt, & Eidson P.A., its Tampa office. The firm later opened in West Palm Beach in 1995. Shortly after Y2K, Akerman opened offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City, followed by openings in Las Vegas, Denver, and Dallas. Recently, offices were opened in Los Angeles; Salt Lake City; Tysons Corner, Virginia; and Chicago.

Notable Akerman alumni

Notable Matters

Republic Services, Inc.

Represented Represented Republic Services, Inc., in connection with the merger with Allied Waste. The Akerman team negotiated the merger agreement, performed extensive due diligence, handled the deal's securities registration, debt financing, employee benefits and executive compensation, tax issues and environmental / regulatory matters, and closed the deal on behalf of Republic. The merger created a company with an enterprise value of approximately $16 billion.

Swire Properties, Inc.

Represented Swire Properties, Inc., in the development of Brickell City Centre (BCC). BCC, the largest private-sector project currently under construction in Miami, is a $1.05 billion mixed-use development located in the center of the Brickell financial district, spanning 9.1 acres. The Akerman team also represented Swire in its successful leasing to Saks Fifth Avenue, which will be the anchor tenant in the retail portion of the project. The firm's land use team secured the entitlements to the project, which when completed, will have 565,000 square feet of retail, three residential towers, a 263-room hotel with 89 serviced apartments, and Class-A offices.

Carrols Restaurant Group

Represented Carrols Restaurant Group in connection with the acquisition of BURGER KING® franchises, making it the largest BURGER KING® franchisee in the world. Akerman also assisted Carrols with the spin off into a separate publicly traded company of its wholly owned subsidiary, Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc., which owns and operates the Pollo Tropical® and Taco Cabana® restaurant brands. In addition, the Firm also represented Carrols in connection with a $71.3 million public offering of the company's common stock, underwritten by Raymond James & Associates and Stephens, Inc., and a $200 million Rule 144A private offering of senior secured second lien notes, completed in April 2015.


Commitment to Diversity

Akerman LLP received a perfect 100 percent workplace equality rating on the 2016 Corporate Equality Index. This national benchmarking survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation measures the equality of corporate policies and practices for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lawyers and staff. Akerman advanced its ranking among the nation's leading law firms for diversity for a second consecutive year on The American Lawyer's annual "Diversity Scorecard". The firm is ranked No. 6 in the United States for Hispanic lawyers, as well as No. 23 for female partners. The firm also honors a commitment to OnRamp Fellowship, an initiative that matches experienced women lawyers returning to the profession after an extended hiatus with a select group of 15 national law firms.

Other Recognition Highlights

The Legal 500: Akerman was top-ranked nationally in middle market M&A and recognized nationally for the fifth consecutive year as a leading law firm for real estate, land use, construction, and immigration law.


U.S. News – Best Lawyers: Akerman recognized with 83 "Tier One" national and regional practice rankings; corporate, real estate, and financial litigation practices top-ranked nationally. The firm also achieved significant results with 140 lawyers named to the 2016 list of The Best Lawyers in America.


Benchmark Litigation: Akerman's Litigation Practice Group was recognized for its multi-state capabilities and acknowledged for its litigation "stars and achievements."


Chambers Global: Akerman's Latin America & the Caribbean Practice was recognized for a third consecutive year as among the best in international arbitration. Chambers Latin America recognized Akerman as having a top Cuba practice, the lone U.S. law firm represented on the Cuba Practice ranking.


Law360: Akerman ranked among the top 50 law firms for diversity and among the top 10 law firms for Hispanic lawyers.


References

  1. Smulian's firm bio
  2. Chris Johnson; "AmLaw 100 Analysis: The Super Rich Firms Pull Away"; The American Lawyer Magazine, April 27, 2015
  3. Executive Profile: Andrew M. Smulian, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Akerman LLP; Bloomberg Business; Feb. 12, 2016.
  4. "The Akerman Firm", by Robert W. Wilson, June 2009; PDF located at Orlando Memory.com; Orlando History by its People.
  5. Ibid
  6. Michael, Kenneth; "Banker's Career Grew with Orlando: Billy Dial, an Original Architect of the City, Sees it as a Future Hub"; Orlando Sentinel; October 18, 1988
  7. Florea, Linda; "Donald Senterfitt left Indelible Mark in Law, Banking"; Orlando Sentinel; August 28, 2008
  8. "Akerman Law Firm -- Orlando"; posted at OrlandoMemory -- The Stories of Orlando as Told by its People; February 22, 2010.
  9. Wilson, Robert W.; "The Akerman Firm"; June 2009
  10. Ibid.
  11. "Republic Services and Allied Waste Complete Merger to Form Leading Environmental Services Company"; by Republic Services, Inc.; as posted to BusinessWire on Dec. 5, 2008
  12. Rodriguez, Natalie; "Real Estate MVP: Akerman's Neisen Kasdin"; Law360; Dec. 10, 2012.
  13. Vault Rankings; "About Akerman LLP: Notable Work and Recognition"; 2016 Vault Rankings; ©2016 Vault.com Inc.
  14. Brinkmann, Paul; "Akerman Senterfitt Announces Another Good Year; revenue up 10.8%"; South Florida Business Journal; Nov. 12. 2012.
  15. "Carrols Restaurant Group Spins off Pollo Tropical, other Hispanic Brands"; Miami Business Herald News; May 14, 2012
  16. Lewis, Drew; "A Collaborative Culture: How Legal Professionals Can Promote Teamwork to Build a Successful Law Firm"; ArgyleJournal by Argyle executive Forum; Oct. 11. 2013
  17. "There Were 53 Transactions Filed with the SEC Last Week"; Column: Last Weeek's IPOs and Transactions from PR Newswire; Nov. 19, 2012.
  18. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission Registration Statement Under the Securities Act of 1933 - Carols Restaurant Group, Inc.; July 10, 2015.
  19. Corporate Equality Index 2016; Rating American Workplaces on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality; ©2016. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
  20. Chris Johnson; "AmLaw 100 Analysis: The Super Rich Firms Pull Away"; The American Lawyer Magazine, April 27, 2015.
  21. http://onrampfellowship.com/organizations/ From the OnRamp website; List of participating law firms.
  22. The Legal 500 rankings for Akerman LLP ©2016 Feb. 2016.
  23. U.S. News – Akerman Profile and Rankings, ©2015 Nov. 3, 2015.
  24. Benchmark Litigation, Akerman rankings ©Benchmark Litigation, Retrieved Feb. 11, 2016.
  25. "Akerman ranked top law firm in Cuba", by Latin Business Daily Reports; Latin Business Daily; Oct. 26, 2015.
  26. Strickler, Andrew; "BigLaw Takes Top Spot for LGBT Equality Policies"; Law360, Nov. 18, 2015.

External links

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