© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(March 15) – Akerman announced on Thursday that Eduardo Espinosa and Michael Napoli (not the former Texas Rangers fan favorite) have joined the firm’s Dallas office as partners in its fraud and recovery practice group.
Espinosa and Napoli were previously at Dykema. It is the second lateral group Akerman has added in Dallas this year – last month, international trade partners Michelle Schulz and Elsa Manzanares jumped over from Gardere.
“Eddy and Michael are exceptional lawyers and highly regarded by the receivership community,” Sandra Heller, chair of the firm’s fraud and recovery practice, said in a statement. “They bring important experience in securities litigation and enforcement, and they are responsible for leading many notable recoveries.”
A former SEC enforcement attorney in Fort Worth, Espinosa has served as either the receiver, receiver’s counsel or trustee in various federal and state proceedings in the life settlement sector, fraudulent securities offerings, EB-5 offerings and general commercial litigation.
“Akerman is one of the very few national law firms with truly remarkable capabilities in the fraud and recovery space,” Espinosa said. “The firm’s extensive bench strengths in this area were a critical factor when Michael and I considered joining its growing Dallas office.”
Napoli has significant experience serving as a court-appointed receiver and counsel to receivers and trustees in life settlement matters. He predicts the return of market volatility after one of the longest bull runs in history will lead many investors to seek alternative investments such as cryptocurrencies to achieve attractive returns with seemingly lower risk.
“This trend provides the perfect breeding ground for the unscrupulous, who will use the volatility in the stock market and low interest rates to lure unwitting investors into fraudulent schemes,” he said.
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