Steve I. Silverman

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Mr. Silverman, honored as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business,” has twenty five years of experience representing individuals and businesses in complex disputes and litigation. Prior to co-founding Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen, and Levine, Steve was a Managing Director, the Chair of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department, and a co-founder of the Distressed Asset Group at Kluger, Peretz, Kaplan, and Berlin. Steve’s leadership roles and depth of experience enable him to handle a wide range of business disputes in any forum.  

Steve has distinguished himself as an advocate by realizing that the first step in any litigation is to understand the client’s business and business goals, rather than approach each case as a routine series of legal and procedural battles. For clients engaged in complex business and commerce, each legal issue that arises is an important business concern, and Steve’s ability to understand this allows him to fully service his client’s needs and deliver results that have earned him the distinctions of being named a Florida “Super Lawyer,” a member of the “Legal Elite,” “The Best of the Bar” by the South Florida Business Journal, and recognized by Chambers, USA.  

Steve is primarily engaged in complex business disputes and litigation, including issues relating to business torts, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, corporate governance, financial fraud, and officer and director liability, all aspects of real estate purchase, development and financing, including issues relating to the disposition and acquisition of distressed assets and foreclosure, adversary litigation in bankruptcy courts, professional liability, and class actions.   

Examples of Steve’s diverse experience include: acting as counsel to receivers in large, complex, failed financial institution litigations and asset recovery investigations, litigating lender liability claims, claims relating to membership interest rights, and all aspects of real property litigation, leading a commercial class action against a major international automobile manufacturer, and representing a former public company director in a half billion dollar securities fraud action. Steve’s diversity of experience has provided him with case management techniques and extensive knowledge and skills, giving him the capability to service a wide array of clients and litigate complex legal, technological, business, and multi-jurisdictional issues.     

Although Steve built his reputation as a trial lawyer, he is also an experienced appellate lawyer. Steve has handled dozens of appeals in both state and federal courts, both crafting briefs and delivering oral arguments.

“I view my practice as a partnership with my clients. Working together towards a common goal that furthers their business interests provides me professional fulfillment. I enjoy working with my clients, not just working for them.”

Areas of Law

• Litigation, mediation, alternative dispute resolution, appellate, class actions   
• Unfair competition, trade practices   
• Bankruptcy litigation involving creditor's rights, insolvency, adversary proceedings, and avoidance actions   
• Receiverships
• Foreclosures and distressed asset litigation   
• Construction disputes, contract, financing, errors and omissions, liability, negotiation, surety issues    
• Corporate and committee representation, governance, and D & O responsibilities 
  
• Stockholder, partner, and LLC disputes   
• Non-compete covenants, privacy, trade secrets   
• Deceptive trade practices   
• Fiduciary duty claims   
• Business and corporate disputes   
• Conspiracy   
• Deceptive trade practices   
• Fiduciary duty claims   
• Fraud   
• Libel, slander, defamation, and violation of privacy   
• Minority stockholders   
• Non-compete litigation   
• Qui Tam   
• RICO   
• Securities   
• Shareholder derivative actions   
• White collar criminal defense   
• Professional liability and negligence
• Securities violations

• University of Miami School of Law, J.D., 1985
• State University of New York at Albany, B.A., cum laude, 1982

• Florida, 1985
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, 1986
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida, 1986
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, 1986

• "America's Leading Lawyers for Business," Chambers USA   
• Super Lawyers, Florida Super Lawyers magazine
• "Legal Elite," Florida Trends magazine
• "The Best of the Bar," South Florida Business Journal                                                                
• American Jurisprudence Book Award, contract law
• Award of Distinction, Society of Wig and Robe
• Best Brief Award, Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition

• American Bar Association, Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section, Panel Participant: "Recent Developments & Ethical Issues in Class Actions, "Phoenix, AZ (April 9-10, 2010)
  
• Distressed Real Estate Symposium, Panel Participant: Distressed Condo Hotels, Miami, Florida, March, 2008
  
• Commercial Real Estate Workouts, Turnarounds & REO, Event Chair; Panel Participant: Intercreditor Issues in Commercial Real Estate Workouts, Lecturer: Special Issues For Acquirers of Distressed Condo Projects, and Panel Moderator: Working Through a Distressed Commercial Real Estate Loan, July, 2008, Irvine California.  
• Commercial Real Estate Workouts, Turnarounds & REO, Event Chair; Panel Participant: Intercreditor Issues in Commercial Real Estate Workouts, Lecturer: Special Issues With Condo Projects, and Panel Moderator: Working Through a Distressed Commercial Real Estate Loan, October, 2008, Miami, Florida.  

• American Bar Association
• Dade County Association
• The Florida Bar
• Community/Civic Involvement
• IMPACT, Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, former President
• Friends of Sylvester, University of Miami School of Medicine Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center