Kenneth Curtin joined Adams and Reese in 2010 and serves as Special Counsel in the Litigation Practice Group in the firm's Tampa and St. Petersburg offices. He has practiced law since 1996, focused in the areas of complex commercial, construction, community association and real property litigation as well as insurance defense and coverage issues.
He is board certified by the Florida Bar in construction law and has extensive experience representing clients before various boards of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, including the Construction Industry Licensing Board, the Board of Architecture and Interior Design, and the Division of Real Estate. He represents both individual and corporate clients such as developers, interior designers, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors and temporary help agencies in state and federal courts and in arbitral proceedings.
Kenneth is certified by the Supreme Court of Florida as a Circuit and County Civil Mediator and has mediated numerous complex commercial, construction and insurance disputes. He has been recognized as a "Top Up and Comer" by the South Florida Legal Guide, 2009 and 2010, and was selected by his legal peers as a 2006 Super Lawyer in the areas of business and construction litigation.
He was recognized, October 15, 2009, in the Daily Business Review "Verdicts and Settlements" section for obtaining a verdict in excess of $4.6 million against a Boca Raton developer for breach of promissory note and personal guaranty.
Kenneth's other representative matters include:
· Successfully represented a plaintiff gem merchant in a jury trail against another gem merchant and obtained a jury verdict in excess of $1 million plus attorney's fees and costs. The final judgment included treble damages for a fraudulent and worthless check written by the defendant.
· Obtained a summary judgment in excess of $4.6 million on breach of a promissory note, personal guarantee, and foreclosure of a mortgage, plus attorney's fees and costs, against a Boca Raton developer and one of the landowners in Boca Raton.
· Successfully represented a vendor in a jury trial against a national information technology company for breach of contract and obtained a jury verdict in excess of $660,000 in lost profits and damages, plus $66,000 in attorney's fees and costs.
· Obtained a summary judgment in favor of a municipality being sued by a cruise company seeking to enforce a long-term lease of the municipality's port paving the way for the municipality to proceed with its downtown redevelopment plan. Further obtained a summary judgment on a counterclaim against the cruise company for $1.7 million in favor of the municipality.
· Successfully represented homeowners in an American Arbitration Association arbitration against a general contractor who breached a contract for construction of a luxury residence, abandoned the job site, and performed inferior and defective work resulting in arbitral award in excess of $365,000.
Kenneth interned for one summer at the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration in Paris, France, and studied law during another summer in Paris. While in law school, he also served as editor-in-chief of the Florida Journal of International Law.
He is a former member of the United States Marine Corps in the Second Marine Infantry Division, honorably discharged in August 1988.
Among the people Kenneth most admires are his mother and father who taught him that happiness and prosperity are not the products of chance, but rather the byproduct of honesty, integrity, hard work, and perseverance in both one's professional and personal life.
In his spare time, Kenneth enjoys running and has completed more than a dozen marathons in various locations throughout the country. He is also an avid marksman and shootist, amateur historian and collector of military antiques ranging from Medieval-edged weaponry to rifles and handguns of World War I and World War II. He also enjoys traveling with his wife, who also is an avid traveler, and spending time with his wife and children.
Professional Memberships / Affiliations
Florida Bar Association
Broward County Bar Association
New York Bar Association
Palm Beach County Bar Association
Glazer Children's Museum, Governance and Ethics Committee, Board of Directors
Other Distinctions
AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
"Top Up and Comer" -South Florida Legal Guide (2009, 2010)
Florida Super Lawyers® - Business and Construction Litigation (2006)
Certified Circuit Court Civil Mediator - Florida Supreme Court
Certified in Construction Law - Florida Bar Association
Articles / Publications
"Administrative Pitfalls of Litigating Under the Florida Civil Rights Act", 10/1/2001
"An Examination of Contractual Expansion and Limitation of Judicial Review Arbitral Awards", 10/1/2000
"Redefining Public Policy in International Commercial Arbitration", 4/1/1997
"Arbitrating Maritime Cargo Disputes: Future Problems and Considerations", 2/1/1997
Announcements
Kenneth Curtin Joins Adams and Reese as Special Counsel in Tampa and St. Petersburg Offices, 12/1/2010
(Also at St. Petersburg Office)