Douglas B. Melamed

Clint Gage is the managing member of the firm’s Ft. Lauderdale office. Clint has over twenty-five years of experience representing public and private companies in mergers and acquisitions, securities law compliance, capital markets, and general corporate matters. Clint also has extensive experience representing financial institutions in commercial loan transactions. Clint’s clients range in size from start-up enterprises to middle market publicly listed companies that conduct busi...

Raymond L. Robin is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation and Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants. Raymond L., who practices law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Raymond L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Jim Polkinghorn is a partner in the Fort Lauderdale office and heads the litigation practice there. He is an experienced trial attorney, having tried more than thirty cases to juries in state and federal courts throughout the state of Florida and elsewhere in the United States. Jim has extensive experience litigating cases of all levels of complexity, from single-plaintiff discrimination claims to multi-party class and collective actions arising under state and federal labor and employment la...

With 35 years of experience, Roberta Stanley is board certified by Florida Bar in marital and family law. She specializes in handling complex marital and family law cases for high-profile and high-net-worth individuals and business owners, including the preparation and enforcement of intricate prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, paternity and adoption issues, and dissolutions of marriage dealing with equitable distribution, business valuations, taxation issues, alimony, child support, and ...

Harry J. Friedman has a wide-ranging experience in the area of general business tax planning, including the formation of joint ventures, limited partnerships and limited liability companies, consolidated tax returns, and mergers and acquisitions of both private and public corporations. In addition, Harry provides advice and counseling to tax exempt organizations including hospitals, private schools, and scientific research organizations on maintaining tax-exempt status, unrelated trade or bus...

Eric Rapkin serves as chair of Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group, one of the nation’s top-ranked real estate legal teams representing developers, investors, and other real estate end users in complex transactions, development and redevelopment projects, public-private initiatives, loan origination and recoveries, and litigation matters across the United States and Latin America. A consummate dealmaker, Eric’s practice focuses on sophisticated commercial real estate transa...

Beverly A. Pohl is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice. Beverly A., who practices law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been recognized since 2006. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Beverly A. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Gregory J. Willis practices in the firm’s Fort Lauderdale West office where he concentrates on civil litigation but has a diverse practice that includes all areas of insurance defense litigation including construction litigation, bad faith/extra-contractual liability, liquor liability defense, environmental/toxic spills and trucking accident defense. Mr. Willis is also experienced in transactional law and health law matters. He has lectured extensively on many areas of law. Previously, ...

Martin Burkett serves as co-chair of Akerman’s M&A and Private Equity Practice. Martin represents public and private companies and private equity funds in a variety of corporate transactions, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions. Martin’s practice includes structuring and negotiating complex business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, going private transactions, venture and growth capital investments, debt and equity fi...