Copeland Franco is pleased to announce that Mr. Benjamin W. Maxymuk recently joined the firm. Ben’s practice at Copeland Franco involves general litigation and appellate work in civil and criminal matters.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful death suits have some of the highest stakes found in litigation. Copeland Franco has the experience, the skills, and the far-reaching resources to represent our clients in wrongful death litigation.
Fraud
Copeland Franco, for more than fifty years, has concentrated on both the prosecution and defense of civil litigation, including personal injuries, products liability, contracts, civil fraud, insurance coverage and liability, and trust investments and management. The practice has covered a wide range of such issues, and has been handled in both state and federal courts in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Louisiana as well as in arbitration. It has included securities fraud (both plaintiff and defense), class action, pharmaceutical pricing, anti-trust action, derivative actions and administrative proceedings.
Murder
Ben Maxymuk was born in Indiana and raised mostly in New Jersey. He came to Alabama in 2008 to start his law practice, having previously completed two federal judicial clerkships. For many years, Ben practiced at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, primarily litigating criminal appeals and constitutional challenges. He was deeply involved in the litigation that culminated in the groundbreaking decisions of Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010) (Juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses), and Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 46 (2012) (mandatory sentences for life without parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders even in cases of murder), as well as follow-up work to develop and implement those decisions in various state and federal courts. He holds degrees from Duke University and Harvard Law School and lives in Montgomery with his wife, two young children, and a rotating cast of small animals.
Our attorneys handle everything from commercial transactions to complex tax and estate matters to staggeringly intricate corporate litigation. Copeland Franco pays the utmost attention to every case and transaction, giving each one an intense level of scrutiny and dedication in keeping with the firm's long heritage of respect for the profession, the client, and the work we do.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Copeland Franco has extensive experience counseling clients including banks and lending institutions about, and facilitating, commercial transactions among and between entities as well as entity formation, mergers and acquisitions, business formations and dissolutions, buy-sell arrangements, debt transactions, redemptions and liquidations, non-profit organizations, tax free exchanges, business succession and exit strategy planning.
Business Transactions
Mark has over 25 years of experience providing legal services for various clients, including real estate developers, banks, borrowers and closely-held business entities in business transactions, real estate and title insurance matters, commercial transactions, contract negotiations, business acquisitions, mergers and divestitures. A sampling of past representations includes: (i) developer representation in development, purchasing and sales of multi-family properties, hotel portfolios, shopping centers, condominium projects and conversions, storage facilities, warehouses, manufactured housing communities, commercial and residential land sales, (ii) seller and buyer representation in sales and acquisitions of retail, service, brokerage and manufacturing businesses throughout Alabama and the United States, and (iii) lender and borrower representation in all types of financing transactions including real estate loans, construction loans, credit facilities, participations, and private school financing. Mark also routinely acts as agent for title companies in commercial real estate transactions.
Limited Liability Companies
Jo's practice is focused on family wealth transfers and civil tax litigation. She was the first woman certified public accountant in Alabama to become a practicing attorney, and for over thirty-five years, she has assisted families in planning for the effective transfer of wealth to younger generations while achieving significant asset protection for the family unit. Her transfer strategies utilize family limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and other closely held business entities, as well as various types of trusts. In addition to being an effective estate planner, Jo has a proven track record successfully representing individuals, corporations, estates and trusts in federal and state tax controversies, both at the administrative level and in federal courts. During her career, Jo has also managed forensic investigations associated with the prosecution and defense of a number of high profile white collar criminal cases, and she works closely with civil litigators in the development and presentation of the forensic aspects of financial litigation.
Shannon also has a true passion for representing small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofits – entities that often do not have in-house counsel – in a very close advisory capacity and in litigation. On the litigation front, she understands the high stakes litigation can often have for a small or mid-sized business and works closely wth her clients. She values being able to give advice that both takes into account her understanding of a business’s immediate needs and also, ideally, saves the client time and money. Adding value to her clients’ businesses is her priority. Her work runs the gamut from providing representation in connection with EEOC investigations and employment litigation, to writing and editing employee handbooks, working with the client to structure separation agreements, to handling defamation actions, to handling business litigation involving non-compete agreements and the like.
Mark Franco was named in the practice area of Real Estate Law. Mark was also named the Best Lawyers’ 2019 Real Estate Law “Lawyer of the Year”, which recognizes a single lawyer in the listed practice area for Montgomery, Alabama.
Construction Litigation
David's practice is committed to all stages of civil litigation, including appellate work, where he has been involved in over 20 reported decisions. David represents businesses and individuals, as both plaintiffs and defendants. His practice is primarily focused on commercial disputes, insurance coverage disputes, construction law, real property disputes, consumer litigation and administrative law. Having regularly represented both companies and individuals on both sides of the aisle, from the filing of the complaint or answer through appeal, David has acquired unique insight into how to prepare and present his client's case.
Real Estate Transactions
Copeland Franco is well-versed in the complex and far-reaching world of commercial real estate and property law. Our attorneys have substantial experience representing lenders, developers, buyers and sellers in real estate transactions including shopping centers, multifamily developments, office parks, hotels and manufacturing facilities. We have provided representation to a wide range of commercial real estate clients, in all capacities ranging from the negotiation table to the courtroom. Title examination and commercial closing transactions are a standard part of Copeland Franco's real estate practice and Copeland Franco acts as a title agent for several prominent national title insurance companies.
Bobby Segall was named in the practice areas of Appellate Practice, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Bobby has been recognized by his peers since 1987.
Alan's practice has historically revolved around the businesses that he has represented and the management and preservation of the wealth which the families derived from their businesses. He was the initial counsel to KinderCare Learning Centers, Inc., and helped shepherd its growth to become the largest provider of proprietary day care in the United States. He has been actively involved from the inception of KW Plastics and its related entities and has had the pleasure of seeing KW evolve into one of the world's largest producer of custom-engineered, recycled polypropylene co-polymer resins. Along the way, Alan has been actively involved in the pre-trial disposition or trial of many federal income tax cases. He has also pursued and developed many proprietary estate tax planning and estate administration strategies for the benefit of his clients.
The United States has one of the most complex and far-reaching tax codes in the world. It changes and grows with every legislative session, and those who work in tax law must work constantly to maintain their expertise. Copeland Franco has decades of experience managing the intricacies of U.S. tax law, and is always ahead of the curve.