Robert J. "Bob" Friedman - Lawyer in Miami, FL

Robert Friedman practices in the area of ERISA, employeebenefits and executive compensation. Since 1996, he has been the head of thefirm's national Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and ERISA PracticeGroup. Mr. Friedman is also co-chair of the ESOP (Employee Stock OwnershipPlans) Practice Group. His clients include private, non-profit and governmentalemployers.

He is a frequent speaker on employee benefits, ERISA fiduciary matters andpension and tax planning. Mr. Friedmans practice frequently involves working onmatters with Holland Knight lawyers in other specialty areas, includingsecurities, investment funds, mergers and acquisitions, labor, employment andbankruptcy.

Mr. Friedman has extensive experience with all aspects ofbenefits work, including the design, qualification and drafting of pension,401(k), profit sharing and other qualified plans, corporate mergers andacquisitions and plan transfers, mergers and terminations, fiduciary matters,executive compensation, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements andERISA related litigation. Mr. Friedmans practice includes representation ofclients in matters with the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor andother governmental agencies.

Mr. Friedman also has been activelyinvolved with welfare benefit plans, flexible benefit plans and the rulesrelating to COBRA continuation coverage under such plans. He has experience withthe design, implementation, operation and communication of welfare benefitplans, and has been involved with such benefit plans in connection with mergersand acquisitions, reductions in force and other employee terminations andlayoffs.

In the area of stock option plans, ESOPs and other forms ofemployee ownership, Mr. Friedmans practice includes developing strategies toachieve employee ownership, creating individually designed plans, and complyingwith the applicable tax and other statutory and regulatory requirements. Hisclients in these matters include privately and publicly ownedcompanies.

Prior to joining Holland Knight as a partner inNovember 1988, he practiced law in New York and Miami.