Jeffrey Allen Harrington

The founder, Jeff Harrington, came to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2008 and established the firm Harrington Law Associates, PLLC.

Having studied international business law in Spain, France and Argentina, Jeff immediately set up the practice to focus on business law, with particular emphasis on cross-border ventures.

Since the very beginning, the firm has maintained a balance of litigation and transactional work. As Jeff says:

I don’t favor the traditional divide between litigators and transactional attorneys. I think clients get better service from a trial lawyer who understands agreements, as only someone who drafts them can, and a contract attorney who knows from experience the issues that come up in a dispute.

The economy being what it was in 2008, the practice took an unexpected turn. Before coming to West Palm Beach, Jeff worked in-house at a real estate investment company. Naturally, the company did not survive the collapse of the real estate market but, before it closed, Jeff got plenty of experience dealing with distressed property issues. That experience was something very few attorneys had at the time.

So, when HLA arrived in Palm Beach County, it was essentially the only firm around that could provide solutions to homeowners in distress. As a central player in developing foreclosure defenses and strategies for property owners, HLA received considerable attention from the media and legal publications. As a result, the firm grew very quickly in the first couple of years, expanding to a 5-attorney practice with multiple offices.

Now that the real estate crisis is over, the the Firm has gotten back to its original mission: business and real estate, with emphasis on international clients.  As part of this transition, the firm has gone away from the associate model — hence, the change in name to Harrington Legal Alliance.

Today, the firm’s real estate practice includes title services (i.e. real estate closings) and representing buyers and sellers in real estate transactions and disputes.  We also represent private lenders in financing real estate backed ventures, and we provide eviction and foreclosure services.

Immigration: Business & Investor Visas

The last piece of the puzzle was the immigration department. With the firm’s international emphasis and multilingual staff, immigration practice was a natural fit. Add to that the overlap of business and real estate law with visas for businesses and investors, and you have the perfect storm.

In many ways, HLA’s immigration practice represents a culmination of the firm’s particular experience and expertise.  The immigration component has turned out to be very synergistic since foreign investment is currently very much on the rise.

Harrington reasoned: "This is a unique window of opportunity for international investors. We can connect the investors with business and investment opportunities and get them a green card or visa in the process. It’s a win-win-win."

That is our story . . . so far.