Mr. Ahearn is Board Certified in both Wills, Trusts & Estates and Tax Law by The Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization. He has extensive experience in the areas of estate and business succession planning, asset protection planning, charitable planning and planning to minimize or avoid wealth transfer taxes. Mr. Ahearn handles all aspects of probate and trust administrations, including estate and gift tax audits before the Internal Revenue Service. He represents both beneficiaries and fiduciaries in contested matters.

Mr. Akins is a shareholder in Dean Mead’s Orlando office. He provides representation in the area of personal wealth planning, with an emphasis on gift planning, charitable planning, estate planning, probate, and the administration of estates and trusts. A significant portion of his practice is related to planning for family-owned and closely held businesses. He represents taxpayers in gift, estate and GST tax controversies with the IRS. Mr. Akins also represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in disputes involving estates and trusts.

Austin holds a lifetime of experience in challenges facing land development, developing his foundational understanding first-hand from each grandfather – one a farmer, the other an attorney. This experience, combined with that garnered throughout his career, provides him with a unique perspective which allows him to resolve issues often found in estate planning matters. A…

As the COO for Dean Mead, Don is responsible for the overall administrative management and operation of the firm.  He provides direction and leadership toward achievement of the firm’s mission, strategy, and fiscal goals.

Ms. Apfelbaum practices in the areas of federal income, estate, and gift tax law and family business succession planning. She counsels individuals in estate planning, with an emphasis on implementing the client’s objectives, asset protection and minimizing wealth transfer taxes. Ms. Apfelbaum also represents fiduciaries through all stages of probate, estate and trust administration. In addition, she represents businesses and business owners in all types of business and tax matters, including choice of entity, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, other general business matters, and succession planning. Ms. Apfelbaum is Board Certified by the Florida Bar as an expert in the area of Wills, Trusts and Estates.

Mr. Barker is a member of the Real Estate department in the Orlando office. He focuses his practice on real estate law, including sales, purchases, and large scale development for residential, warehouse and commercial development, and commercial leasing. Mr. Barker represents National and Regional home builders, developers and select individuals throughout the State of Florida in all phases of the acquisition, development and sale of real property. Mr. Barker is known for his ability to provide pragmatic and forward-thinking solutions, to guide his clients to successful business results. With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Barker provides pragmatic problem solving to all types of real estate issues. Mr. Barker and his team handles all transactional aspects of a deal, including contract preparation and negotiation, due diligence and title/survey review, deal structuring and joint development agreements, development agreements and closings.

Having based her practice on helping clients navigate the challenging and complex nature of litigation, Allison represents corporate client matters related to business disputes, real estate, contract actions, and fraud claims. Her experience allows her to develop creative solutions to her clients’ legal challenges, thereby putting clients in the best position to achieve positive outcomes….

Ms. Berman has been with the firm for 36 years. During that time, she has represented buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, borrowers and lenders, investors, brokers, developers and consultants in a wide variety of commercial and residential real estate transactions. She has significant expertise in all aspects of leasing transactions, including office, retail and industrial. She also leads the team which represents the firm’s largest client, a major Florida landowner, and has handled several significant transactions for the purchase and sale of real estate, including several 1031 transactions.

In addition, Ms. Berman is involved in a number of professional and civic organizations including Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) of which she has been a member since 1996 and has served on the Board of Directors and chaired and served on a number of committees over the years. She presently serves on the 2019 Host Committee for the 2019 National Convention to be held in Orlando, Florida. In addition, she serves as a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee for the onePULSE Foundation, and chairs the Design and Construction Committee tasked with designing and constructing both the Interim Memorial and the Permanent Memorial and Museum.