Akerman’s Neisen Kasdin, Richard Milstein, and Miami Office Receive Legal Luminary Honor from Dade County Bar Association

Richard Milstein

Neisen Kasdin

 

 

Miami, FL — July 31, 2017 — Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced that the firm, Miami Office Managing Partner Neisen Kasdin and Partner Richard Milstein received prestigious recognitions from the Dade County Bar Association. Milstein was selected as the Legal Luminary award winner in the Probate and Estate Planning category, while Akerman and Kasdin were honored as finalists in the Best Miami Office and Zoning and Land Use categories during the association’s annual awards gala on Wednesday, July 26 in Key Biscayne, Fla.

 

Each year, the association determines finalists of the Legal Luminary award by seeking nominations from Miami-Dade County legal industry professionals and insiders. It received a record number of nominations this year, with more than 71,000 votes. A panel of judges and attorneys select the category winners from the group of finalists.

 

Milstein, the award winner in the Probate and Estate Planning category, concentrates his practice on high conflict and complex trust, probate, guardianship matters and family law. A renowned champion of human rights and equality, he has devoted years of practice to protecting the civil rights of individuals in all aspects of life for the elderly, children, alternative families, and same-sex couples.

 

Milstein is a Florida Bar certified Elder Law expert and a Certified Mediator. He served as a participant in the first American Bar Association pilot project for Mediation. His work has earned him numerous recognitions, including the Florida Supreme Court’s Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award, The Florida Bar’s President’s Pro Bono Award, and the Dade County Bar Association’s David W. Dyer Professionalism Award. Milstein was most recently recognized among the Daily Business Review’s 2016 Most Effective Lawyers for helping to secure a precedent-setting decision that will allow transgender teens in Florida to choose how they identify themselves by name and gender on their birth certificate.

 

Kasdin was honored as a finalist in the Zoning and Land Use category. A former mayor of Miami Beach and leader in the revitalization of South Beach, Kasdin brings extensive experience to his work on urban revitalization and the development of complex, large-scale, multi-use projects.

 

Respected as a leader in urban development, Kasdin serves as vice chair of the board of directors for the Miami Downtown Development Authority and was responsible for leading the creation of Miami’s Downtown Master Plan. Many of his clients’ projects – from Brickell City Centre to Miami’s Design District and the Faena District – have been groundbreaking, transforming Miami’s urban spaces with a blend of retail, office, and residential properties. In addition to large-scale projects, Neisen has represented clients in developments in emerging Miami neighborhoods such as Little Haiti and Wynwood. His work has earned him recognition by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 as a leading land use and zoning lawyer in Florida.

 

Akerman was named a finalist in the Best Miami Office of a Large Law Firm category. When the firm relocated its largest office in 2016 to Three Brickell City Centre, it introduced a relatively new concept to Miami’s legal market by incorporating shared workspaces and equal-sized offices trending among firms of size and distinction in financial gateway cities like London and New York. The office was also recognized as part of a new wave of entrepreneurial spaces in downtown Miami, integrating many of the open and flexible design elements seen in local start-up incubators and co-working offices, allowing Akerman lawyers and professionals to serve clients more collaboratively and efficiently. The top floors feature the Akerman Café and one of the largest private conference centers in Miami. In addition, Three Brickell City Centre is surrounded by a pioneering CLIMATE RIBBON and it is the only office building in the area with a Metromover station attached to its structure.

 

About Akerman LLP

Akerman LLP is a leading transactions and trial law firm known for its core strengths in middle market M&A, within the financial services and real estate industries, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 650 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 24 offices, it is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The American Lawyer (2017). Akerman also is ranked among the top 100 law firms for diversity in The American Lawyer’s Diversity Scorecard (2017).

 

More information can be found at akerman.com or twitter.com/akerman_law.

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Robert Friedman