Becker & Poliakoff Acquires Litigation Firm Polenberg Cooper

(l-r) Jon Polenberg, Jude Cooper, Yasin Daneshfar, and Andrew Polenberg.
Becker & Poliakoff has acquired the Fort Lauderdale litigation firm Polenberg Cooper­, a move it says it made to help accommodate its litigation workload.

“Had we not brought Polenberg Cooper on board, we would have had to hire additional people to accommodate the work we have within the firm,” said Gary Rosen, managing shareholder of Becker & Poliakoff. “The work is coming from many different directions and I’m happy to say unlike many firms whose litigation firms are shrinking, we are not facing that same problem.”

The acquisition of Polenberg Cooper adds four attorneys to the firm: Founding partners Jon Polenberg and Jude C. Cooper join Becker & Poliakoff as shareholders, and Yasin Daneshfar and Andrew Polenberg join as associates. All four practice complex litigation and will join Becker & Poliakoff’s existing litigation practice at its Fort Lauderdale headquarters.

Rosen said the ongoing Becker & Poliakoff litigation work that called for more attorneys included work for two long-term clients:­ Eastern Ship Building in Panama City, and Isle of Capri, which has a local casino operation in Pompano Beach. Rosen said Jon Polenberg brings a loyal client following, including UniFirst Corp., a textile uniform rental business he has represented for over a decade.

Before becoming a lawyer, Polenberg was in business management. In his new position, Polenberg will concentrate on complex commercial litigation, including corporate disputes and commercial real estate disputes. Polenberg said the move to Becker & Poliakoff would, among other things, allow him to offer construction law expertise to his clients in the real estate industry.

Cooper will focus on litigation and transactional matters for U.S.-based and international companies.

Daneshfar’s practice includes bankruptcy, and Andrew Polenberg, who is Jon Polenberg’s son, concentrates on complex commercial litigation and business transactions.

Jon Polenberg said larger firms started courting Polenberg Cooper, which opened in 2005, last summer. But talks with Becker & Poliakoff began in earnest in early December with a lengthy dinner meeting with Rosen and Bernie Friedman, chairman of Becker & Poliakoff’s government law and lobbying practice. Friedman and Polenberg previously knew each other from civic organizations.