Founding Partner - Secured Lending, Public Finance and Commercial Transactions
Mr. Portuondo's practice centers on real estate, corporate and public finance transactions. Mr. Portuondo started practicing law in New York City at the law firm of Brown & Wood and continued his practice at a major Miami law firm negotiating and documenting complex commercial and real estate transactions. Mr. Portuondo also served approximately three (3) years as general counsel to one of the largest banks in Florida at the time.
Mr. Portuondo is the head of the firm's transactional practice. He represents a wide array of national financial institutions in connection with the documentation of secured loan transactions. He has extensive experience serving as lender's counsel in connection with the negotiation and documentation of acquisition and development loans for commercial and residential real estate projects. He has also documented numerous other real estate lending transactions, including loans for the acquisition and construction of warehouses, apartment buildings, office buildings and shopping centers. For example, Mr. Portuondo has served as lender's counsel in connection with several major real estate development projects for the largest developer in the Florida Keys and in connection with the development of a major golf resort in Naples. Mr. Portuondo has also documented construction loans and letter of credit financings for affordable housing projects. Mr. Portuondo's practice includes the representation of financial institutions in the restructuring of defaulted loans.
Mr. Portuondo has also developed an extensive public finance practice. Due to his efforts, the firm was selected by Miami-Dade County in 1998 to serve as bond counsel to the County's municipal bond issuing authorities. Mr. Portuondo also has extensive experience serving as underwriters' counsel in a variety of complex tax-exempt bond transactions. In 2000, the firm was retained by Orange County, Florida to serve as disclosure counsel to the County. Most recently, the firm was retained to serve as disclosure counsel to the Miami-Dade County School Board and as disclosure counsel to the City of Orlando.
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1956, Mr. Portuondo was admitted to the New York Bar in 1983 and to the Florida Bar in 1988. Mr. Portuondo received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in 1978, graduating magna cum laude, and his Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center in 1982.