Alan Bennett Garfinkel

Alan Garfinkel is the co-founder of the nationally recognized law firm Garfinkel Whynot, and advocates for community associations both as an attorney and in the Legislature as the Chairman of the Community Advocacy Network (CAN). Alan was also elected President of the Community Association Institute (CAI) central Florida and these respected organizations represent 8 million Floridians who live, serve, and work in community associations. Alan continues to organize Legislative Town Halls statewide where community association leaders meet face to face with their elected representatives. Named “One of the Best Attorneys in America,” by Rue publications, selected as “Florida Legal Elite” by Florida Trend Magazine, and recipient of the Orlando Top Lawyer Award, Alan holds the highest peer review rating of “AV,” awarded only to the most outstanding attorneys demonstrating professional excellence and superior ethical conduct by attorney peer-review rating service, Martindale-Hubbell. Legal peer-review rating firms, Thompson Reuters and AVVO, named Alan to their list of “Super Lawyers,” and awarded him a “Superb” rating, respectively. Further, Alan’s accomplishments on behalf of his clients earned him admission to The Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an eminent organization comprised of less than 1% of U.S. trial attorneys who have won multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements for their clients. 

 

Alan attended Florida State University, Mercer University Law School, and Harvard University. Mr. Garfinkel’s bar admissions include the states of Florida and Tennessee, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta Georgia, the United States Middle District of Florida, the Florida Supreme Court, and The United States Supreme Court. Growing up in Miami, Alan knows firsthand the threat of hurricanes and tropical storms. “I was a young lawyer with a two-year old son when Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. I helped my friends and neighbors who were hitting the same brick walls with insurance companies as I was when my parents home was damaged,” he reminisced. "Then in 2004 and 2005 when storms struck Florida mercilessly, we helped thousands recover tens of millions of dollars from insurance companies that refused to pay." A nationally recognized leader in the field of property damage insurance disputes, Alan teaches attorneys and community leaders how to receive a fair shake from their insurance companies after any insurance dispute. He's published numerous articles, and provided dozens of interviews with national media organizations. Alan was selected by Lexus/Nexis as its Insurance Moderator and continues to work with elected representatives on issues critical to community association living. With a distinguished legal career and successful law firms obtaining multi-million dollar verdicts, national recognition and numerous publications; Alan remains most proud of his two sons. His youngest, Landon, is attending NYU and his oldest, Bennett, is attending Stetson Law School as a merit scholar.