Practice Areas & Industries: Akerman Senterfitt

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Akerman Senterfitt has extensive experience in complex securities, financial, and corporate litigation. This includes defending securities class actions, defending shareholder derivative actions, and challenging and defending proposed mergers and acquisitions. We have extensive experience in internal corporate investigations, both before and after public disclosure of alleged wrongdoing. In addition to litigation in federal and state courts, we also regularly represent entities and individuals in proceedings before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).

We are approved securities litigation counsel firm for Directors' & Officers' (D&O) insurance policies underwritten by AIG/National Union, Gulf Insurance, and Zurich American Insurance. We are presently defending under D&O policies several securities class actions filed by the leading plaintiffs' firms in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District and the Middle District of Florida. Maintaining our panel counsel status is based on our favorable track record in successfully defending these types of cases.

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Many of our attorneys were trained to handle complex securities litigation while associated with major New York and national law firms, in addition to extensive experience in Florida. We also have numerous attorneys who worked for the SEC, the Florida Comptroller's Office - Department of Banking and Finance, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Resolution Trust Corporation. Our attorneys regularly appear before the SEC and all major self-regulatory organizations, particularly the NYSE and NASD. Akerman Senterfitt represents corporations and individuals in both state and federal court as well as before administrative tribunals in connection with shareholder and investor suits, SEC investigations and enforcement actions, private proceedings, broker-dealer claims, and actions involving fraud, tender offers, and proxy contests. Our ability to deal with these regulatory matters has been enhanced by recent additions to the firm, including William Nortman, 12-year veteran of the SEC's New York and Florida offices who has specialized in securities regulatory matters for over 30 years.

We have successfully litigated many issues that arise under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the heightened standards for pleading securities fraud, and the safe harbor for forward-looking statements. We track all pending securities class actions in the jurisdictions where we practice, and maintain an extensive database of published and unpublished securities and corporate law decisions, as well as representative settlement papers. Judge Edward Davis (former Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida), Chairman of our Litigation Practice, assists our securities litigators in providing valuable insight to strategy decisions in cases pending in the Florida federal courts. We are often retained as co-counsel with a company's regular out-of-state counsel, including major New York and national law firms, for securities and shareholder litigations filed in courts in Florida. Akerman Senterfitt has had tremendous success in achieving the dismissal of many of the securities lawsuits which we have defended. Moreover, with the help of our Appellate Practice, led by Judge Joseph Hatchett (former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit), dismissals have been upheld on appeal.

Recently, Akerman Senterfitt has handled the following representative securities matters:

• Obtained dismissal with prejudice of federal class-action securities claims against a software company related to its "Y2K" disclosures. This decision was upheld by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in one of only a few published opinions by that court addressing the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
• Obtained dismissal, with prejudice, of federal class-action securities claims against a medical device manufacturer related to disclosures about the status of development of a new product.
• Obtained denial of preliminary injunction, allowing $500 million merger of security company to proceed to closing.
• Obtained dismissal, with prejudice, of federal class-action securities claims related to anticipated earnings of one of the nation's largest solid waste disposal companies.
• Obtained dismissal, with prejudice, of federal class-action securities claims against a pharmaceutical company related to status of development of a new product.
• Obtained dismissal, with prejudice, of federal class-action securities claims against a hotel company related to an alleged failure to disclose acquisition plans.
• Obtained dismissal, with prejudice, of Florida state-court derivative claims against directors of a public company related to acquisition of a business from an affiliate.
• Obtained dismissal of federal class-action securities claims related to anticipated earnings and alleged accounting improprieties for a software developer.
• Represented one of the World's largest aviation parts re-distributors in defense of federal class-action securities claims related to alleged financial statement misstatements.
• Represented directors and officers of cellular communications tower company in defense of Federal class-action securities claims related to alleged financial statement misstatements.
• Currently represent aircraft component manufacturer in internal investigation and SEC investigation related to accounting restatements.
• Currently represent officer of publicly traded time share company in defense of Federal Securities class action.
• Currently represent biomedical company in defense of securities class action.
• Represented acquirer of health products distributor in Florida state-court class-action anti-takeover litigation.
• Represented physician services provider in defense of Delaware state-court class-action anti takeover litigation related to "going-private" transaction.
• Represented equipment leasing company in multi-state anti-takeover litigation against a hostile acquiror. Served as receiver for the SEC in a $125 million "Ponzi Scheme" fraud.

In addition to representing clients in securities litigation and regulatory enforcement actions, we counsel our clients to ensure their compliance with the federal and state securities laws, the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, and the rules and regulations of the self-regulatory organizations. We regularly advise and represent broker-dealers and investment advisors regarding regulatory compliance matters and provide counsel to underwriters in connection with the structuring and due diligence of initial and secondary public offerings, and private placements. Working closely with Akerman Senterfitt's Corporate Practice, our regulatory attorneys are experienced in auditing compliance programs and disclosure practices to preserve our business clients' ability to function in an effective, competitive, and compliant manner.

Clients:
Pinnacle Holdings, Inc. , The Wackenhut Corporation , L.D. Gorman , Columbia Laboratories, Inc., Technical Chemicals & Products, Inc. , Royal Numico NV , Ecometry Corporation (f/k/a Smith-Gardner & Associates, Inc.) , Aviation Sales Company , Republic Services, Inc. , Medical Manager Corporation , Florida Panthers Holdings, Inc., Directors of Ecometry Corp., Sheridan Healthcare, Inc.