Law firm Akerman Senterfitt and two of its South Florida lawyers are being sued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. over allegations of negligence that led to a loss by the failed Peninsula Bank.
The Daily Business Review reported (via the News Service of Florida) that the chairman of the firm’s Miami banking practice, William C. Arnhols, and Drake Batchelder, former managing partner of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office, are named as defendants, along with the firm, in the suit filed June 14 in U.S. District Court in Tampa.
The suit alleges Peninsula Bank hired Akerman to represent it in a deal to buy lad in North Bay Village in Miami-Dade County to build condos, but that the firm failed to take steps to secure the bank’s interest in the property, which it had purchased. The bank failed in 2010.Akerman Senterfitt is Florida’s largest law firm by size.
The Daily Business Review reported the suit is seeking $4.6 million plus fees and costs. Ben Hill III, an attorney representing Akerman in the case, said the defendants “completely disagree with the FDIC position and believe Akerman acted properly in all respects.”
