Akerman LLP

Serving as primary corporate and securities counsel to more than 40 public companies, Akerman Senterfitt's securities group is Florida's largest. Of course, IPO's, secondary offerings, and placement of debt are the yardsticks by which any securities practice is measured. Our numbers are worth noting. Since 1995, Akerman attorneys have served as issuer's counsel for IPO's raising over $2 billion, including the largest IPO in Florida history. We are one of only a few law firms to manage a REIT IPO. Our secondary placements of equity and debt securities have raised over $10 billion in the same period.

These numbers explain why American Lawyer magazine ranked us 6th nationally in terms of money raised as IPO Issuer's Counsel for a recent year and why some of Wall Street's leading investment banks, including Salomon Smith Barney among others, engage us to serve as underwriter's counsel in various debt and equity offerings.

Akerman Senterfitt is the proud winner of the 2006 Thomas L. Sager Award for the South/Southwest Region, presented to the law firm that has demonstrated and sustained the highest commitment to improving the hiring, retention and promotion of minority and women attorneys. The firm has also been recognized as the Top Law Firm in the nation for Hispanic Americans by MultiCultural Law magazine, in both 2005 and 2006.

As a leader in the legal and business community, Akerman Senterfitt is proud of its commitment to ensuring equal opportunity generally and within the firm. Throughout its long history, the firm has successfully promoted diversity through vigorous recruitment and retention of minorities and women. The firm is committed to retaining and promoting its women and minority lawyers and staff.

To advance the firm's efforts in relation to diversity issues, Akerman Senterfitt appointed shareholder Joseph W. Hatchett to chair the firm's Committee on Diversity. Judge Hatchett's distinguished jurist career includes serving as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Florida. Judge Hatchett was the first African-American to serve on the Florida Supreme Court and the first African-American to serve as a Chief Judge of a federal appellate court in the Southern United States.

Akerman Senterfitt actively recruits women and minority lawyers to the firm. Many of its shareholders are women and minorities, demonstrating to associates that achieving shareholder status is a real possibility. Women and minority lawyers occupy top management positions in the firm, including service on the board of directors and the associate and paralegal evaluation committee.

The firm's workforce, including every staffing level throughout each of its offices, reflects the diverse cultures. In the delivery of legal services, the firm's lawyers bring all of their experiences, cultures, education, and rich backgrounds to the task. The firm values this diversity because it encourages the innovative thinking that results from a broad range of perspectives.

As Akerman Senterfitt continues to grow, it remains committed to providing a work environment that respects diversity, fosters employment opportunity, and is free from discrimination and harassment. Akerman Senterfitt continuously reviews its hiring, training, evaluation, and compensation practices to ensure that its commitment to diversity and equal opportunity allows its lawyers and staff an equal and ample opportunity to achieve excellence in service of its clients. The firm's mission in this respect is to develop professional opportunities and to foster an environment in which minorities and women may perform proudly and give the firm's clients the benefits of a law firm balanced fully in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender.

Akerman Senterfitt is firmly committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity. We consider candidates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by law.