Akerman Continues Chicago Growth

CHICAGO — Jan. 12, 2015 — Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced the continued growth of the Chicago office with seasoned tax lawyer Susan F. Klein. She arrives from Polsinelli as a partner in Akerman's Tax Practice Group and enhances the firm's strengths in international taxation and in cross-border transactions, within the financial services and real estate sectors. Klein is the 26th lawyer to join the Chicago team since the office opened with eight lawyers less than a year ago. Reported as one of the four fastest-growing law firms in the region, Akerman tripled the size of the Chicago team within six months in 2014.

"Susan is a leading authority on some of the most complex international and U.S. tax issues," said Peter Larsen, chair of Akerman's Tax Practice Group. "She adds another dimension to our growing Tax Practice Group and strengthens our ability to assist clients with multinational tax planning, compliance and structuring issues. Susan will provide immediate and valuable counsel to our clients as they consider investment opportunities around the globe."

Klein focuses her practice on the tax aspects of international transactions for companies and individuals, including mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions of businesses, entity formations, venture capital, financial services taxation, tax controversies and complex real estate transactions. She has decades of experience counseling U.S. clients with respect to their investments and business operations internationally, including Canada, Western Europe, Israel and in various regions in Asia and Latin America. Klein also represents foreign nationals and corporations in connection with U.S. investments, licensing operations, acquisitions, joint ventures, and estate planning. She counsels multinational groups, including foreign financial institutions, on compliance with their obligations under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Klein also advises domestic and international businesses on transfer pricing issues, and provides tax planning and structuring guidance for the operation of offshore hedge funds.

Klein's work in transnational tax matters intersects with Akerman's sizable presence in the financial services and real estate industries. In particular, Klein's experience in complex real estate transactions expands Akerman's services for international investors in lending and development projects across both U.S. and foreign markets.

Klein is the former chair of the American Bar Association's Taxation Committee, International Section, and the former vice chair of the New York State Bar Association's Tax Committee, International Section. She also previously served as vice president-secretary of the International Fiscal Association's Executive Committee, U.S.A. Branch. Klein has served on the faculties of Emory University School of Law and Boston University School of Law, where she taught taxation and international law. She also has written and lectured extensively on matters pertaining to taxation and international private transactions for leading trade organizations and professional journals.

"Akerman is differentiated as a top ranked law firm for corporate and real estate transactional matters, with an expansive U.S. presence and international reach, which is the ideal platform for my practice and the growing tax needs of clients," said Klein. "One of the most distinctive features of Akerman's tax group is its ability to resolve challenges for clients with creative and customized solutions. I look forward to collaborating with them and bringing new ideas to our clients."

The American Lawyer recently recognized Akerman for developing technology-driven innovations that have the potential to transform the delivery of legal services. Last year the firm's Tax Practice Group created the Akerman Taxability Matrix, a self-service tax compliance product for clients operating on a national or multi-state platform needing to navigate the nearly 10,000 state and local taxing jurisdictions throughout the United States.

Klein is the most recent addition to the Akerman Chicago team since the firm opened the office in February 2014. The firm has welcomed to the office in recent months numerous partners across a variety of practices areas, including litigation partners Scott Meyers, who serves as the office managing partner, Douglas Albritton, Kasey Folk, Eric Gribbin, Dara Tarkowski and Martin Tully. The firm also added two former assistant U.S. attorneys and white collar defense lawyers, Christine Bautista and Paul Lillios, who most recently served as a federal administrative law judge for 20 years; intellectual property partners Michael Switzer, who serves as the Intellectual Property Practice Group Co-Chair, Mark Anderson, Stacy Baim, Brian Bianco; corporate partner Daryll Marshall; bankruptcy partner Michael Molinaro; and healthcare partner Carolyn Metnick.

Chicago is one of the fastest-growing Akerman offices in a rapidly growing firm. The firm achieved its fourth consecutive year of record growth in the 2014 fiscal year. The firm's lawyer headcount grew by 4 percent, reaching a record 620 lawyers and government affairs professionals across 20 U.S. offices.

About Akerman LLP

Akerman LLP is a leading transactions and trial law firm known for its core strengths in middle market M&A, within the financial services and real estate industries, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 600 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 20 offices, it is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The National Law Journal NLJ 350 (2014). Akerman also is ranked among the top 50 law firms for diversity in The American Lawyer's Diversity Scorecard (2014).

Akerman's Tax Practice Group advises domestic and foreign corporations, partnerships, individuals, and nonprofit institutions on a wide range of federal, state and local tax issues, tax audits, tax litigation, and transnational tax matters in U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. Akerman's State and Local Tax (SALT) Practice represents national and multistate clients in state and local tax controversy matters in all 50 states. The team also offers clients a variety of web-based tax compliance, database management, litigation management, and research products that are unique and customized to each client.

More information can be found at akerman.com or twitter.com/akerman_law.