Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton

Managing Partner: Jorge L. Piedra

Number of partners: 12

Number of other attorneys: 18

Firm Overview:

For more than forty years, Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton has focused on two areas: high stakes complex litigation and business bankruptcies. The firm and its attorneys consistently rank among the most highly regarded in these practice areas, and their dedication has earned national recognition — from clients, judges, and opponents — for effectiveness in and out of the courtroom. Every case receives individual attention, with a focus on one thing: advancing client interests.

Main Areas of Practice:

Complex Litigation:

Harley Tropin, Jorge Piedra and Ben Widlanski lead the litigation department, which concentrates on complex business disputes and fraud litigation. Mr. Tropin is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Widlanski is a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Mr. Piedra is a former president of the Cuban American Bar Association. Mr. Piedra also serves on the Florida Bar Board of Governors. The firm represents corporations, entrepreneurs, and law firms in their most challenging cases. The firm has had lead roles in virtually every significant securities and Ponzi scheme case in the Southern District of Florida. It acted as co-lead counsel in representing healthcare providers against the nation’s largest HMOs, resulting in structural changes and more than a billion dollars in reimbursements. It was also co-lead counsel representing the largest group of investors in the Rothstein bankruptcy case. The firm represented a financial services firm in a billion dollar arbitration resulting from the PPP Loan program.The firm’s trial lawyers have a reputation for tenacity and efficiency in representing both plaintiffs and defendants.

Class Actions:

The firm serves as lead or co-lead counsel in major high profile class action cases and group actions, including In re Insulin Pricing Scheme, In re Humana, Inc., Forced Placed Insurance, Razorback Funding; and In re Champlain Condominium Collapse. The firm received widespread recognition for its successful role representing medical associations and physicians in the largest class-action lawsuit on record against managed care companies. Harley Tropin and Ben Widlanski hold key roles in many state and national class actions. Ben Widlanski leads the firm’s class action practice.

Commercial Bankruptcy:

The firm represents debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, trustees, creditors’ committees, equity holders, and asset purchasers in bankruptcy cases. The firm represents some of the nation’s largest companies, real estate developers, lenders, and high net worth individuals when they are involved in bankruptcies, restructurings, and workouts in Florida and elsewhere. Its lawyers are frequently called upon to serve as trustees or receivers of troubled companies, and also regularly prosecute and defend litigation arising out of corporate insolvencies. Bernice Lee and David Rosendorf lead this department.

Probate and Estate:

The firm represents estates, executors, and families in high-value litigation stemming from estate and trust disputes. The firm is regularly called upon to serve as a receiver or as counsel to the receiver in similar matters and represents parties on both sides of the “v” in such litigation.

First Amendment and Defamation Work:

The firm represents various high-profile clients and companies in First Amendment and defamation lawsuits. The team has successfully represented parties on both sides of the “v” in this novel and sophisticated area of the law.

Construction and Real Estate:

The firm represents developers, construction companies, and financers in litigation involving construction defects, disputed ownership, and contractual disputes, both within and outside of Florida.

Healthcare:

The firm represents a variety of healthcare providers, including health systems, hospitals, and large group practices. Maria Garcia leads the healthcare practice which focuses on complex litigation and arbitration involving multi-million dollar reimbursement disputes with managed care companies. The group also regularly counsels healthcare providers on a variety of legal issues, such as managed care contracting, practice formation and expansion, and federal and state regulatory compliance.

Intellectual Property:

Since its inception, the firm has represented litigants in trademark, copyright, patent and related licensing disputes, as well as trade secret and unfair competition cases. The firm’s practice has evolved to encompass internet property rights and domain name disputes before federal courts and ICAAN arbitration panels. Additionally, the firm’s attorneys have handled intellectual property matters for multinational corporations such as Novartis, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc., and Swiss Watch International.

Appellate:

KTT is a sought-after appellate department, representing both appellants and appellees from both plaintiff and defendant trial work in state and federal appellate courts around the country. Regularly appearing in the highest courts of Florida and other states, as well as the 11th Circuit and other Circuit Courts of Appeal, the firm’s department is led by partner Dwayne Robinson.

International Work:

With its office located in Miami, Florida, the gateway to Latin America, the firm represents a number of Central and South American clients. The firm also serves as co-lead counsel in several class action lawsuits brought in the US on behalf of Latin American citizens and regularly works together with Central and South American lawyers, as well as Caribbean lawyers, to advance the interests of clients in multi-jurisdictional and cross-border litigations.

Clients:

Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton’s clients include public and private companies of all sizes, including many Fortune 500 companies, as well as governmental entities, not-for-profit organizations, and individuals. Examples include: Amerant Bank, American Cyanamid Company; Baptist Healthcare South Florida; Benworth Capital Partners; Blackrock Financial Management; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; The CIT Group/ Equipment Financing; City of Coral Gables; City of Hialeah; City of Miami; Credit Suisse First Boston; Ecolab; Everglades Foundation; Fidelity Management Trust Company; Flagler Development; Florida International University; General Growth Properties; Global Crossing Airlines; Greenwich Capital Markets; Heeling Sports, Ltd.; LNR Partners; Mount Sinai Medical Centers; Northern Trust Bank; MasTec; Mellon United National Bank; Meta Social Metaverse Company; Miami-Dade County (Florida); Miami Dolphins, Ltd.; Novartis Animal Health, US; Ocean Bank; Pediatrix, Inc.; The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company; Seacost National Bank; Sheridan Healthcare; Sony Computer Entertainment of America Siemens Dematic Corporation; Swiss Watch International; Synovus Bank, Total Bank; University of Miami; and Univision.