Florida Law Firm’s Partner Leads 33-Attorney Team Providing Legal Counsel to Condos, Coops, HOAs and Other Community Associations

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL, July 18, 2006 -- Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., a diversified commercial law firm with more than one hundred attorneys in fifteen offices throughout Florida, today announced the appointment of attorney and shareholder Kenneth S. Direktor to lead its expanding Community Association law practice, providing a full range of legal counsel and services to condominiums, cooperatives, homeowner and other associations statewide.

As Chair of the Community Association Practice Group, Mr. Direktor will work closely with the law firm’s 32 other community association attorneys, who practice from Becker & Poliakoff offices located throughout the state. Based in the firm’s West Palm Beach office and continuing to represent community associations in Palm Beach County and along the Treasure Coast, he will report directly to the firm’s management committee.

"Ken Direktor is well-placed to lead Becker & Poliakoff's growing Community Association practice by virtue of his longtime experience providing legal and business counsel to our clients, and his solid leadership skills and deep understanding of community association issues in Florida,” said Gary Poliakoff, firm founder and President of Becker & Poliakoff, P.A.

“I’m very pleased to have been appointed to chair the Community Association practice at Becker & Poliakoff and to have the opportunity to leverage our firm’s leadership to serve the best interests of the tens of thousands of condominium, homeowner and other community associations statewide,” Direktor said. “As chair of the practice, I am firmly committed to Becker & Poliakoff’s tradition of working closely and fostering personal relationships with the many community association leaders and professionals who continue to be instrumental in the growth and success of community living in Florida.”

Mr. Direktor joined Becker & Poliakoff in 1986 and has practiced law continuously in Southeast Florida since his admission to the Florida Bar in 1984. He has a broad knowledge and deep understanding of legal issues impacting business, finance and property development, having practiced in commercial and real estate related litigation. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Federal District Court, Southern District of Florida, as well as the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida.

Having focused his legal practice for the past 12 years on providing legal counsel and representation to condominium, cooperative and homeowner associations in Southeast Florida, Mr. Direktor is widely recognized as an authority on community association matters and frequently addresses topics that include effective community association covenant enforcement, effective collection of assessments, bankruptcy and creditor's rights, insurance, disaster recovery, casualty repair and related issues.

He has spoken on community association issues to audiences at the Community Association Institute of Broward County, Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Seminars, Nova University’s Law School and numerous civic associations in Broward, Palm Beach and Martin Counties and will be teaching a course on Condominium Law at Nova University’s Shepard Broad Law Center this year. Mr. Direktor also has been active in the Florida legislative process, helping to draft laws, advocate change and provide comment on proposed legislative changes that might impact condominium, cooperatives and homeowner associations.

A contributing co-author of Florida Admissibility of Evidence (Harrison Company, 1989), Mr. Direktor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, and received his JD degree in 1984 from the University of Toledo College.

Becker & Poliakoff has been a pioneer in the development of Community Association law in Florida, with many of the leading cases in the field bearing the firm’s name. Becker & Poliakoff’s Community Association attorneys, recognized as individual leaders in the field through published works, legislative activities and industry group leadership positions, work together as a team to provide community association clients the benefit of more than 100 years of collective experience in the field of Community Association law and practice.

In 2003, Becker & Poliakoff also established the Community Association Leadership Lobby (CALL) to monitor and respond to legislation emerging from Tallahassee that can significantly impact condominiums, homeowners' associations, mobile home communities and cooperatives throughout the state. The leading organization working to enhance the quality of life and protect property values for Florida's community association residents, CALL advocates on behalf of more than 4,000 member communities statewide.

About Becker & Poliakoff P.A.
Becker & Poliakoff, P.A. is a diversified commercial law firm based in Ft. Lauderdale with more than one hundred attorneys in fifteen Florida offices and international and affiliated offices in New York, Czech Republic, Germany, China, France and Israel. In addition to Disaster Recovery, the firm counsels clients in legal issues relating to Real Estate, Condominium and Homeowners Association Law, Construction, International Business & Trade, Government Relations, and Civil and Commercial Litigation and many other areas of law. For more information, visit: www.becker-poliakoff.com.