Attorneys' Division CLE
Moderator:
Benjamin Brodsky is a partner with Coffey Burlington. He joined the firm following a two-year clerkship with the Honorable Judge Joan A. Lenard in the Southern District of Florida. Prior to his clerkship, he practiced with an international law firm in New York. Mr. Brodsky has argued appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Third District Court of Appeal, and has first-chaired jury trials in both federal and state court. His practice encompasses all aspects of real estate, business, and employment litigation.
Panelists:
Susan E. Raffanello (née Mortensen) joined Coffey Burlington in 2004, and has been a shareholder with the firm since 2008. She has represented clients in complex commercial litigation before state and federal trial and appellate court, arbitration panels, mediators and professional boards. Her areas of practice include contract disputes, real estate litigation, construction claims and litigation, securities litigation, and intellectual property litigation.
Nancy Lash is a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig and co-chair of the firm’s Miami Real Estate Practice Group. Ms. Lash represents clients in broad aspects of commercial real estate, including the negotiation, documentation and closing of the sale, purchase and development of vacant land, office buildings, apartment buildings, and mixed-use hotel, condominium and retail projects, and the representation of borrowers in obtaining acquisition and construction financing. Nancy also has wide-ranging experience representing landlords and tenants in complex lease negotiations.
Olga de los Santos is general counsel at Fortune International Group. Ms. de los Santos joined Fortune International Group in 2007 to manage the legal department. She is a transactional and litigation real estate attorney with over 20 years of experience and a graduate level of education in condominium and real property development law. Ms. de los Santos received her Juris Doctor in 1989 from the University of Miami’s School of Law. After an eight-year practice as in-house senior corporate counsel for a general contracting business, during which she gained substantial experience in construction law involving commercial projects, she returned to the University of Miami in 1997 and earned a Masters of Law (LL.M. Degree) in Real Property Development.
Ben Gerber joined The Related Group in 2003, and since then has raised over $750 million in equity and closed over $3 billion in commercial real estate loans. As Vice President of Finance, Mr. Gerber is in charge of the origination and management of all acquisition and development financing for The Related Group. Mr. Gerber is an active supporter of the Urban Land Institute, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, United Way, and the Dolphins Cycling Challenge. He was also featured on the 2014 South Florida Business Journal 40 under 40 list has volunteered extensively with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami-Dade. Mr. Gerber graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science and Accounting from Washington University in St. Louis.
