Coffey Burlington continues its winning track record and consistent success in business litigation and white-collar criminal defense. “We prioritize client-centric service, and our clients’ loyalty validates our commitment to excellence,” says co-founding partner Robert Burlington. Coffey Burlington lawyers often take complex commercial cases to trial in federal and state courts and win—a distinction that sets them apart in the realm of commercial litigation firms. Recent examples include Scott Hiaasen and Kendall Coffey, who won at trial and on appeal in a case upholding their client’s bid protest against the City of Miami and requiring the City to award a multimillion-dollar municipal contract to their client, as the top-ranked bidder. Paul Schwiep, Dan Blonsky and Burlington also won a multimillion-dollar Federal Arbitration Act award after a seven-day arbitration against one of the world’s largest accounting firms on behalf of a former partner at the accounting firm.
In another recent trial this year—this one in federal court in Miami—Kevin Kaplan and Jared Whaley represented a Canadian international engineering services and manufacturing enterprise against a high-ranking Dubai-based employee in a theft of trade secrets claim. The jury returned a verdict in excess of $6 million dollars, which included compensatory, exemplary and punitive damages.
“Our attorneys share a commitment to providing exceptionally responsive and proactive service to our clients,” notes Kaplan of these successes. “By giving the best service possible, with intensity and integrity, we help our clients achieve their desired outcomes.”
The firm is also renowned for handling complex white collar criminal defense cases, government enforcement actions, anti-corruption compliance, OFAC sanctions matters and internal investigations. Coffey Burlington also represents clients in parallel proceedings or investigations conducted by federal agencies such as the United States Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Federal Trade Commission. The firm is a go-to choice to conduct internal investigations for domestic and foreign companies with concerns of possible corruption, fraud or sanctions violations.
Coffey Burlington has attracted an impressive clientele that includes Fortune 500 companies, banks and financial institutions, broker-dealers, developers, investors, oil and gas companies, contractors, national and global law firms, technology companies, accounting firms and local and foreign governments. Many of the country’s premier law firms refer their clients to Coffey Burlington when conflicts of interest affect their ability to serve as counsel or when they are in need of co-counsel for trial.
“For our firm, growth hasn’t been defined by expansion, but by the depth of talent we’ve been able to develop as a litigation boutique,” observes partner Susan Raffanelo. “That experience is ultimately what has attracted a variety of businesses, institutional clients and referring lawyers to our practice, and equipped us to prevail on their terms.”
The firm’s courtroom success also spans a wide range of industries and legal areas. For example, in addition to the trials previously mentioned, Susan Raffanello recently won at trial in Florida Circuit Court and defeated claims of breach of fiduciary duty and injurious falsehood on behalf of a major developer. Paul Schwiep, meanwhile, represented a coalition of groups opposed to the efforts to amend Miami-Dade County’s Urban Development Boundary to allow for hundreds of acres of farmland to be converted into an industrial complex. The trial court ruled that County commissioners did not follow state law in adopting the amendment, and the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court. Along with Jeff Crockett, Schwiep also represented several property owners in the Village of Islamorada opposed to the abandonment of a public right-of-way to a major retail store. The petition for certiorari in the Circuit Court succeeded and an extraordinary writ quashing the resolution was won. Scott Hiaasen and Kendall Coffey further won a permanent injunction in U.S. District Court against the State of Florida to prohibit enforcement of a Florida constitutional amendment limiting certain lobbying activities on the grounds that the state amendment was unconstitutional under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Again, this year Hiaasen and Coffey also successfully defended a foreign client in the Complex Business Division in Miami-Dade Circuit Court alleging a conspiracy to steal more than $80 million in Bitcoin cryptocurrency from the plaintiff. “Foreign clients and referring lawyers appreciate our extensive experience managing cases in multiple jurisdictions and our ability to communicate in their native language whenever possible,” notes Coffey. “Our international perspective uniquely equips us to navigate and resolve complex legal issues on multiple fronts.”
Indeed, Coffey Burlington recognizes that in order to thrive in an international marketplace like South Florida, a law firm must be able to serve clients from across the globe, including in foreign languages. The firm boasts lawyers who are fluent or conversationally proficient in Spanish, Russian and Portuguese, and who have extensive experience in cross-border litigation, arbitration and internal investigations. Coffey Burlington has developed an impressive referral network of foreign lawyers from countries like Brazil, Colombia, Russia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Ecuador, Argentina, Spain, France and Japan.
The firm’s decades of achievements have helped the firm and its lawyers earn a stellar reputation, with multiple lawyers selected for inclusion in 2025 The Best Lawyers in America® publication. Both Robert Burlington and Kendall Coffey were named as Best Lawyers® Miami “Lawyer of the Year” honorees for Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants in multiple years: Coffey in 2019, 2021 and 2024, and Burlington in 2023 and 2025. Also in 2025, Best Law Firms® ranked the firm as Tier 1 in Miami across various practice areas: Commercial Litigation, Family Law, Litigation – First Amendment, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants, Mediation and Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants. The firm is also recognized by Chambers and Partners.
Beyond its legal practice, Coffey Burlington remains deeply committed to charitable organizations in the Miami community and upholds a longstanding tradition of pro bono legal services. Many of its lawyers also serve as adjunct professors of law at the University of Miami and Florida International University. “Our focused and individualized attention to our clients is matched by our longstanding commitment to community service, philanthropy and pro bono work,” says partner Dan Blonsky. “And that reflects how, as we continue to grow and evolve, our core values remain unchanged. Ultimately, a great law firm doesn’t just win cases—it becomes a trusted advisor and partner in its clients’ success.”
