Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.

Chairman: Eugene Stearns

Managing Partner: Rick Schatz

Number of partners/shareholders: 120

Number of other lawyers: 33

Stearns Weaver Miller is a Florida-based law firm with more than 150 attorneys and offices in Miami, Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Tallahassee. Our clients include individuals, businesses and entrepreneurs and range in size from small start-ups to large multinational corporations. Our multidisciplinary teams of attorneys and professionals work collaboratively to help our clients understand and resolve complex legal issues and disputes. We are, of course, proud of the landmark legal victories achieved for our clients, but we are equally proud of our firm’s commitment to philanthropy and public service. Our firm provides financial support and leadership to a myriad of not-for-profit organizations impacting the arts, children and families, education, healthcare, and legal services in our community and nationally.

Ranked in the Following Areas:

Banking & Finance:

We serve clients in the banking and financial industries with respect to secured and unsecured credit transactions, ranging from ordinary working capital lines of credit to financing for acquisitions of business and capital assets such as vessels, aircraft and rolling stock.We represent federal and state-chartered commercial banks, savings banks and financial institutions ranging in size from local independent banks and thrifts to large “super-regional” national/international banks and holding companies.

Bankruptcy/Restructuring & Bankruptcy Litigation:

We counsel clients throughout the State of Florida in connection with all aspects of corporate and financial insolvency matters. We have experience in complex in-court and out-of-court distressed acquisitions, restructurings, reorganizations, recapitalizations, workouts and liquidations. We represent both sellers and purchasers of assets and businesses, investors, troubled companies and their boards, management and owners, banks and other lenders, and creditors’ committees.

Corporate/M&A & Private Equity

Our attorneys understand our clients’ businesses and the day-to-day operational issues they face. We advise clients on the full range of business activities including securities, corporate governance, business structuring and counseling, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial financings. We prioritize our clients’ business objectives and our goal is to provide pragmatic solutions and personalized advice.

Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation

We counsel employers in the design, implementation and operation of all types of employee pension and welfare plans as well as executive equity and deferred compensation programs. We represent employers before the IRS and DOL regarding tax qualification and audits of plans and correction of plan errors. We advise employers on handling employees’ claims for benefits, as well as strategizing the defense of claims.We provide advice to employers on the myriad tax and ERISA issues surrounding “nonqualified deferred compensation” in employers’ plans and employment agreements including deferred compensation plans, stock options and other equity incentives.We counsel tax-exempt organizations on the special taxes and rules that apply to them in their efforts to offer competitive benefits to diverse groups of employees.We have experience in advising employers on payroll tax issues including penalties under the Affordable Care Act.

Environment

Throughout Florida and the Southeast, our group represents clients regarding diverse environmental issues at all levels of government. These include wetlands, sovereign submerged lands, coastal development and resilience, protected species, water quality and water use, as well as property contamination, brownfields, waste management, natural resource extraction, wastewater/stormwater management, and beach nourishment.

Labor & Employment:

We provide employers with practical, business-focused counseling and representation in all aspects of labor and employment law, including administrative proceedings, mediation, and state and federal litigation.

Zoning/Land Use

We counsel clients throughout Florida on structuring deals, executing development strategies and securing entitlements and permits for projects ranging from greenfield developments to urban redevelopment sites.Our multi-disciplinary team also support transactions from due diligence through construction and final permitting of a project.

Litigation:

Zealous representation of clients within the bounds of the law, an unwavering commitment to the highest ethical standards, an abiding intellectual curiosity, recognition of the value of teamwork, and a willingness to invest in the resources necessary to communicate clearly and persuasively. These qualities have caused clients to seek out the firm’s litigation attorneys to address challenging legal issues that brought those clients into an adversarial process. Our practice takes us before judges and juries in federal and state courts, bankruptcy judges, arbitrators, and hearing officers in federal and state administrative proceedings.

Real Estate:

We represent developers, investors and others in all areas of commercial and residential real estate. Projects include commercial (offices, shopping centers, hotels), industrial facilities, mixed-use, master planned communities and residential.

OFFICES:

CORAL GABLES: 2020 Salzedo Street, 6th Floor, FL 33134

305-461-7400

FORT LAUDERDALE: 200 East Las Olas Boulevard, 21st Floor, FL 33301

954-462-9500

MIAMI (Headquarters): 150 West Flagler Street, Suite 2200, FL 33130

305-789-3200

TALLAHASSEE: 106 East College Avenue, Suite 700, FL 32301

850-580-7200

TAMPA: 401 East Jackson Street, Suite 2100, FL 33602

813-223-4800