Legal Briefs (Tampa edition)

Legal Briefs (Tampa edition)

Nominees sought for

Professionalism Award

Nominations for the fourth annual Professionalism Award, sponsored by the Gulf Coast Business Review (GCBR) and St. Petersburg Bar Association, are being sought. Nominees should exemplify the Florida Bar's Creed of Professionalism.

Fax the name of a nominee, along with a description of why the person should be considered, to the St. Petersburg Bar Association at (727) 823-8166.

NAIOP Florida appoints

Carver to statewide post

Tampa attorney Charles H. "Chuck" Carver is a newly appointed co-vice president of public affairs for the Florida chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.

The Ward, Rovell & Van Eeopel shareholder will work on legislative and other public affairs issues affecting a business trade group that represents the state's commercial real estate industry. Carver concentrates in the area of real estate law.

MacFarlane Ferguson

selects shareholders

Natalie C. Annis, Blair Culpepper Kurland and Charles A. "Cam" Moore are new shareholders at Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen, Tampa.

Annis, a 1998 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law, practices in the areas of estate planning, probate and estate and trust administration.

Kurland, a 1997 graduate of the Stetson University College of Law, focuses on land use, zoning, eminent domain and other real estate matters.

Moore, a 1998 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, works primarily with small and large businesses on matters such as entity structure, business planning and transactions

Harvard Club elects

Ted Afield president

Walter E. "Ted" Afield, 28, is the newly elected president of the Florida West Coast chapter of the Harvard Club. The Fowler White Boggs Banker attorney is the youngest to hold the position.

A member of the law firm's health care practice group, Afield focuses in the area of health care litigation and compliance and general commercial litigation.

Stewart, Twine-Thomas

form new law practice

Delano S. Stewart and Barbara Twine-Thomas recently formed the law firm of Stewart & Twine PA. The firm is located at 601 E. Twiggs St., fourth floor, Tampa.

The partners, each of who is certified as a court mediator, will focus in the areas of personal injury, worker's compensation and family law.

GrayRobinson attorneys

included in bar manual

GrayRobinson attorneys Mark B. Bentley and William C. McLean Jr. recently co-wrote the chapter titled, "Authority to Exercise Power" in the sixth edition of the Florida Bar publication: "Florida Eminent Domain Practice and Procedure Manual."

The manual offers guidance to Florida's legal practitioners and judges on state and federal issues of public takings.

Bentley and McLean, who work out of the firm's Tampa office, are members of a GrayRobinson eminent domain team that has worked on thousands of public takings issues.

Teichman joins Akerman

Senterfitt's Tampa office

Harry P. Teichman is a new associate with Akerman Senterfitt's Tampa tax group.

Teichman primarily represents individuals and other groups on disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing agencies.

A graduate of Baruch College at the City University of New York, Teichman earned a law degree from the University of Miami School of Law and a master's of laws degree in taxation from the New York University School of Law.

Greg Hearing speaks

at labor law seminar

Tampa attorney Gregory A. Hearing recently spoke at a Labor & Employment Law seminar at the Wyndham Harbor Island Hotel in Tampa.

Hearing, who works at Thompson Sizemore & Gonzalez PA, spoke about "Wage and Hour Claims - the New Biggest Area of Concern."

Akerman Senterfitt merges

with Tallahassee law firm

Akerman Senterfitt PA continues to increase is presence among Florida's largest law firms with a recent merger.

The Orlando-based law firm, which has about 32 attorneys in its Tampa office, signed an agreement in principal earlier this month with Tallahassee-based Katz Kutter Alderman & Bryant PA. Once complete, the merger would give the Orlando law firm control over 415 attorneys.

The merger also would increase the Orlando law firm's presence in Washington, D.C., and Tallahassee, says J. Thomas Cardwell, the firm's chairman. Such a presence should bolster the firm's existing governmental relations practice.