Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced that Anne Marie Garavaglia and Kinan Obeidin have joined Akerman’s Real Estate Finance Practice in Atlanta. Garavaglia and Obeidin join Akerman from Nelson Mullins LLP, where they led practices representing institutional lenders, REITs, and equity partners in the negotiation and closing of complex structured finance transactions. Their additions to the firm bolster the team’s strategic expansion in 2019.
“Our real estate finance practice has undergone significant growth this year with a number of notable hires who bring intricate knowledge about finance transactions in the real estate sector,” said Eric Rapkin, chair of Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group. “Anne Marie and Kinan are exceptional lawyers in their field, bringing many years of experience spearheading complex transactions on behalf of real estate and financial services clients across the country.”
“Anne Marie and Kinan in Atlanta and our recent team members in Jacksonville represent a continuation of our client-driven growth,” said Alan Cohen, chair of Akerman’s Real Estate Finance Practice. “We are adding broader and deeper experience in complex real estate financings, including in secondary market transactions, loan portfolio management/servicing and loan sales in connection with securitizations. I look forward to what’s ahead for our team.”
Cohen, along with Randy Eckers, Michael Estreicher, Samuel Lee, and Alexander (A.J.) Sokoloff, spurred a rapid expansion of the real estate finance practice upon joining Akerman’s New York office from Duval & Stachenfeld LLP in early 2019. The specialized group enhanced the firm’s real estate strengths, focusing on institutional lending and equity for complex real estate transactions. They represent major financial institutions, mortgage REITs, and investment funds. Since then, the real estate finance team has additionally grown with Beau Baker and Christopher McCranie in Jacksonville, where they advise clients in secondary market portfolio and single asset loan sales and acquisitions, joint venture and preferred equity investments, and commercial real estate capital markets.
Source: www.akerman.com
