DBR Announces Florida Legal Awards Honorees

Spring is here, which means it’s time for the Daily Business Review’s annual Florida Legal Awards. A full list of honorees is below.

And this year, the remarkable achievements of three prominent Florida legal minds have landed them in the running for the Attorney of the Year Award.

Adam S. Hall, managing partner at Hall, Lamb, Hall & Leto stepped up after the unexpected death of his father to take the reins of hard-fought litigation against Republic of Sudan, on behalf of 56 U.S. Navy sailors who were killed or injured in a terrorist attack against the USS Cole in Yemen. After a 15-year fight, Hall helped secure a $70 million settlement.

Bilzin Sumberg’s managing partner Albert E. Dotson Jr. led the way in submitting an unsolicited proposal to Miami-Dade County for the design, construction, financing and operation of a monorail system between Downtown Miami and Miami Beach, and won approval for new Brightline stations in Boca Raton, Aventura and PortMiami. He’s also been at the forefront of tackling systemic racism and pushing for diversity in the legal profession, and his leadership allowed the firm to thrive during a pandemic.

Edwards Pottinger founding partner Brad Edwards took on billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after a teenage Courtney Wild shared her story with him in 2008. Edwards went on to represent more than 50 victims of Epstein, challenged his controversial non-prosecution agreement and played a pivotal role in bringing charges against Epstein’s alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Edwards’ efforts resulted in him being personally sued by Epstein, and allegedly followed and threatened by the financier’s associates.

The Attorney of the Year winner will be announced at the DBR’s annual awards event, which is slated to be held in-person on May 19 at the JW Marriott Marquis, at 255 Biscayne Boulevard Way in Miami.

After a difficult year, this event is aimed at celebrating big achievements and spreading some cheer — but not to the detriment of health and safety.

During a one-year hiatus, ALM’s events team has been working hard to ensure the safety of our guests amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We will be following all social-distancing and sanitation protocols in accordance with federal and local guidelines, and we encourage you to share your questions, concerns or to discuss options with us at: [email protected].

Congratulations to the honorees:

Attorney of the Year finalists

Adam S. Hall, Hall, Lamb, Hall & Leto

Albert E. Dotson Jr., Bilzin Sumberg

Brad Edwards, Edwards Pottinger

Lifetime achievement

Larry J. Hoffman, Greenberg Traurig

Morris “Sandy” Weinberg, Zuckerman Spaeder

Yueh-Mei Kim Nutter, Brinkley Morgan

Distinguished leaders

Susan Eisenberg, Cozen O’Connor

Marbet Lewis, Spiritus Law

Grasford W. Smith, Akerman

Ira Coleman, McDermott Will & Emery

Darren Heitner, Heitner Legal

Daniel Dolan, Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein

Jeffrey Bast, Bast Amron

Jeffrey C. Schneider, Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman

Stephen Zack, Boies Schiller Flexner

Theodore J. Leopold, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll

Walter J. Andrews, Hunton Andrews Kurth

Hector Chichoni, Duane Morris

Amy Rubin, Fox Rothschild

Neisen Kasdin, Akerman

Best Mentors

Alvin Davis, Squire Patton Boggs

Jennifer Taylor, Cozen O’Connor

David Spector, Holland & Knight

Michelle Suskauer, Dimond Kaplan Rothstein

Tracy L. Gerber, Greenberg Traurig

Jennifer Holt Estrella, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy

Michael Haggard, the Haggard Law Firm

Mitchell Panter, Panter, Panter & Sampedro

Jason Kellogg, Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman

Sarah I. Zabel, MAZE Resolutions

Sara B. Herald, Bilzin Sumberg

Michael Silva, McDermott Will & Emery

Diversity and Inclusion: Firm

Hamilton, Miller & Birthisel

Osborne & Francis Law Firm

Kim Vaughan Lerner

Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy

Diversity and Inclusion: Individual

Tiffani Lee, Holland & Knight

Lauren Fenton-Valdivia, Bressler, Amery & Ross

Anthony “Tony” Upshaw, McDermott Will & Emery

Chanae Wood, Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman

Yolanda Strader, Carlton Fields

General Counsel Impact

Brian Maciak, executive vice president and general counsel of TBC Corp.

Ernesto Rubi, senior associate counsel at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Marcus Bach Armas, senior director of legal and government affairs at Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium

Innovators

Keith Ferry, Holland & Knight

José Ferrer, Mildred Gomez, Sara B. Herald, Melissa Pallett-Vasquez, Jose Sariego, Bilzin Sumberg’s COVID-19 Taskforce

Matt Morgan, Morgan & Morgan

Brett Schneider, Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman’s labor and employment division

Candice Maze, Florida Foster Care Review

Litigation Departments of the Year

General litigation:

Podhurst Orseck

Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman

Bankruptcy:

Berger Singerman

Commercial litigation:

AXS Law Group

On the Rise

Alicia J. Lewis, Kelley Kronenberg

Katharine Menéndez de la Cuesta, Holland & Knight

Sara Alpert Lawson, Zuckerman Spaeder

Michael Brevda, Senior Justice Law Firm

Jordi C. Martínez-Cid, Leon Cosgrove

Marianne Curtis, Berger Singerman

Eva M. Spahn, Greenberg Traurig

Sabria McElroy, Boies Schiller Flexner

Jonathan Freidin, Freidin Brown

Jason Sternberg, Hogan Lovells

Elena Otero, Holland & Knight

Olivia Kelman, K&L Gates

Jamie Karpman, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

Jamie L. Zuckerman, Segal Zuckerman

Michael Levine, Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain

Maia Aron, Mark Migdal & Hayden

Chad Van Horn, Van Horn Law Group

Joelle Dvir, McDonald Hopkins

Marcus J. Susen, Susen Law Group

Steven Appelbaum, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr

Yaniv Adar, Mark Migdal & Hayden

Omar Ali Shamaa, Wolfe Pincavage

Sylvie Rampal, Conrad & Scherer

Real Estate Transactions

Bilzin Sumberg

Meland Budwick

Pascal Cohen, Azur Equities

​Nancy Lash, ​Greenberg Traurig

Social Impact

Ian Ross and Erica Perdomo, Stumphauzer Foslid Sloman Kolaya & Ross

Melanie Damian of  Damian & Valori | Culmo Trial Attorneys

Aaron Karger, Law Offices of Aaron A. Karger, and the Haggard Law Firm

Unsung Heroes

Michael Caruso, Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Florida

Maria Sampedro-Iglesia, MAZE Resolutions

Angeli Murthy, Morgan & Morgan

Brian Tannebaum, Bast Amron

Raquel Matas, University of Miami Law School

Jack Cook, Morgan & Morgan