Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP announced today that Manuel A. Fernandez and Albert J. Delgado, both leading Florida-based real estate transactional lawyers, have joined Kasowitz’s Miami office as partners in the firm’s real estate group. They were both previously partners of Akerman LLP. Prior to joining Akerman in 2011, Mr. Fernandez was at Stroock & Strook & Lavan LLP for seventeen years, including eight years as the managing partner of the firm’s Miami office.
Mr. Fernandez, who is ranked by Chambers USA as one of the leading real estate lawyers in Florida, regularly represents clients in real estate acquisitions, dispositions and financings and is highly regarded for his experience handling CMBS mortgage loan transactions and real estate joint ventures. Over the past two decades, Mr. Fernandez has handled some of the largest real estate transactions in Florida. In 2015, he represented the purchaser in the acquisition of a block of commercial retail property on Lincoln Road for $370 million. More recently, he handled the purchase of the Southeast Financial Center in a deal in excess of $500 million which was hailed by the Miami Herald as the largest single-building transaction ever completed in Miami. Mr. Delgado regularly represents institutional and private lenders in complex real estate transactions, and has been recognized as a “40 Under 40” outstanding lawyer of Miami-Dade County.
Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Delgado will bolster Kasowitz’s nationwide real estate transactional practice. Now with five partners and close to 30 lawyers, the Kasowitz team has handled major real estate matters for clients including Starwood Capital Group, Blackstone, Extell Development Company, WeWork, Boston Properties, Forest City Ratner, LNR Partners, Madison Realty Capital, Westbrook Partners and JDS Development Group.
“We are thrilled to have Manny and Albert join us at Kasowitz,” said Wallace L. Schwartz, leader of Kasowitz’s transactional real estate team. “We look forward to increasing our presence in Miami, West Palm Beach and throughout Florida, and providing seamless advice to our clients with a national presence. Manny and Albert have tremendous knowledge of and experience with the Florida real estate market.”
Manuel Fernandez said, “Albert and I are very excited about joining Kasowitz’s real estate group. Having represented clients on the other side of the table from Kasowitz, we know just how formidable a team Kasowitz has, and we are confident that our clients will benefit from the support of Kasowitz’s deep bench of lawyers on its transactional real estate and real estate litigation team.”
About Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP
Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP is a national law firm focusing on complex commercial litigation and major real estate transactions. The firm has offices in New York, Washington, DC, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Miami, and Newark.
