Akerman Senterfitt, founded in 1920, is one of Florida’s oldest firms. With offices in Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Tallahassee, West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale, Akerman has over 360 attorneys statewide. Daily Record staff writer Sean McManus met recently with Pete Larsen of the business law practice, David Otero, litigation, Patricia Hill, labor and employment , Terry Moore, real estate, and Managing Partner Tim McDermott to discuss the firm.
THE BEGINNING OF THE JACKSONVILLE OFFICE.
“We started as the firm of Milam, Otero, Larsen, Dawson, and Taylor in 1996. That firm merged with Akerman in 1999 and had 14 lawyers. We now have 32 attorneys in Jacksonville.”
DOES AKERMAN SPECIALIZE IN SPECIFIC KINDS OF LAW?
“We’re a pretty diversified firm that can handle full service corporate work. Akerman’s built on a statewide resource network so we can draw on the expertise of attorneys from all over. We have a big litigation, securities, tax, bankruptcy and real estate practices. Labor and employment is growing. Akerman has the largest intellectual property group in the state of Florida with 22 attorneys. We have the largest health care practice of any firm in Jacksonville run by Steve Prom and Rick Reznicsek.”
BIG CLIENTS?
America Online, Bank of America, Chrysler Financial, Household Finance, Harley Davidson, the TriLegacy Group, Venus Swim Wear, SEDA, AmSouth Bank, Nissan Financial, Honda Financial and Allstate Electrical.
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH ALL THOSE CAR FINANCING COMPANIES?
“A lot of people are buying cars right now.”
BIG CASES?
“Pete Larsen and David Otero are working on a nationwide sales tax refund initiative. We are suing individual states on behalf of car financing companies because they were overcharged upfront in hundreds of cases. It spans over 25 states. Richard Margulies just successfully defended America Online in front of Judge [Howell] Melton in federal court in a huge age discrimination case.”
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ABOUT THE CULTURE IN THE OFFICE?
“We are governed on a total consensus basis so we have to get along. We’ve got a low-key, friendly, informal atmosphere and there is a strong sense that the best way to serve our clients is to call on talent firm-wide as specific questions arise. That encourages teamwork. We have a wide variety of personalities at Akerman.”
WHAT DOES AKERMAN THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF JACKSONVILLE?
“We’ve got a strong focus on real estate considering the consistent development boom here. We currently work with the Serenada Beach development and the Palencia development. Labor and employment will continue to grow here, and right now and, in the future, we think our bankruptcy group will stay relatively busy. And as Jacksonville becomes more tech-savvy, we think Akerman will be in a good spot to capitalize on a growing number of intellectual property cases. The talent pool in Jacksonville, considering that it is a hub for a lot of corporate headquarters, fuels growth of innovation. We handle out-of-state cases as well, and as Jacksonville grows, our exposure will increase nationwide.”
MORE ABOUT LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT.
“We represent management of both public and private institutions in traditional labor issues, including employment, immigration and OSHA issues. We negotiate labor contracts.”
HOW DOES AKERMAN RECRUIT NEW ATTORNEYS?
“Recruitment is coordinated out of the Orlando headquarters. We actually have an unusually diverse number of law schools represented in this office: Virginia, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Florida, Wake Forest, Georgetown.”
IS AKERMAN CONSIDERING EXPANSION?
“If you mean through merging with other firms, not necessarily. Historically, Akerman’s growth has been practice-driven and we have grown lawyer-by-lawyer. That doesn’t mean that we won’t be open to opportunities as they arise, but we don’t have much trouble attracting top talent these days.”
WHAT ABOUT COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT?
“Lawyers here have leadership roles in the Jacksonville Planning Commission — Greg Dawson is the chair of that. John Macdonald works with the North Florida Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Terry Moore is on the Duval County Housing Finance Authority board. We have lawyers working for the Mental Health Resource Center, the Renaissance Behavioral Health System, First Coast Family Center, the Jacksonville Jewish Federation, the Chamber of Commerce and the Independent Living Foundation. Pat Hill is on the Human Resources subcommittee of the Manufacturers Association.”