Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, is continuing its strategic client commitment in Los Angeles with the addition of experienced transactional partner Irán Hopkins, as well as real estate associates Daphna Davidovits and Claudia Fu, with office headcount tripling to 37 lawyers and business professionals since 2015. Formerly at Ervin Cohen & Jessup, Hopkins, Davidovits and Fu join Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group and Cannabis Practice, the first legal team created by a national law firm to serve the legal cannabis sector.

“Clients value Irán for her ability to advance and protect their interests by structuring and negotiating often complex transactions in efficient, creative ways,” said Eric Rapkin, chair of Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group. “She is a trusted advisor and her arrival enhances our ability to serve clients across a wide range of asset classes.”

“Irán is a talented transactional lawyer respected in the community for her forward-thinking work and exceptional client service across industry sectors, including sports and entertainment,” said Sue Zabloudil, Los Angeles office managing partner. “We are proud our Los Angeles office continues to attract outstanding lawyers and business professionals such as Irán, Claudia and Daphna, with unmatched dedication to the success of our clients and the firm.”

“Irán enhances the breadth and depth of Akerman’s service offerings in an industry where the regulatory framework is at a very nascent phase,” said Jonathan Robbins, chair of the Cannabis Practice. “Her experience in California and internationally will add tremendous value to clients involved in the full spectrum of market activities that make the cannabis sector so successful.”

“We are delighted to join the Akerman team and very much look forward to collaborating with our new colleagues to expand our reach and better serve clients from a national platform,” Hopkins said.

The multilingual team broadens Akerman’s core transactional capabilities, bringing extensive experience in a variety of domestic and international real estate, corporate and commercial transactions, along with clients including family offices, private equity funds, entrepreneurs, consultants, fashion designers and joint ventures active across industries ranging from hospitality and commercial real estate, technology start-ups, telehealth, apparel, commercial agriculture and professional soccer.

As a highly experienced regulatory advisor in the evolving California cannabis industry and the cannabis industry group leader at her prior firm, Hopkins also brings considerable background representing key stakeholders in all aspects of state and local licensing, the establishment of compliant operations across the supply chain, and getting products to market.

With Hopkins, Akerman’s Los Angeles office has added five partners since December into the firm’s innovative CalEdison DTLA office space. Notable arrivals include real estate financing partner William Bernfeld from K&L Gates, employment partners Jeffrey Horton Thomas from Thomas Employment Law Group and Michelle Lee Flores from Cozen O’Connor. Partners Kanika Corley in the Litigation Practice Group and Caroline Mankey in the Intellectual Property Practice Group also joined the Los Angeles office, both arriving from Sedgwick LLP.

As a member of Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group, Hopkins also joins one of the nation’s premier legal teams dedicated to client needs across all facets of the real estate sector. In addition to Hopkins, Davidovits, Fu and Bernfeld in Los Angeles, Akerman recently welcomed Joni Armstrong Coffey as partner in Miami from the Broward County Attorney’s Office, partners Marilyn Mullen Healy and Jim Porter in Tampa, Fla., from Adams & Reese, and a leading team of land use and zoning partners in Chicago led by veteran lawyer John “Jack” George from Schuyler, Roche & Crisham. Other recent additions to the firm include veteran M&A partner Ted Rosen from Fox Rothschild and Corporate Finance and Lending Practice Co-Chair Robert Stein from Kirkland & Ellis in New York and Austin, Texas, Office Managing Partner Todd Reed from Reed & Scardino, whose combined financial services and development experience bolsters Akerman’s transactional strengths.

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