Michael E. Hantman, a former assistant attorney general, practices in the firm's Litigation Section and focuses primarily on white collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations and complex civil litigation. Mr. Hantman is a member of the firm's White Collar Defense and Compliance Services Practice Groups.
Representative Engagements
- conducted an internal investigation of pharmaceutical sales and marketing practices for a Fortune 100 company subject to various criminal and civil investigations involving multiple U.S. Attorneys' offices and multiple investigative agencies, implicating the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and off-label issues
- successfully secured the dismissal with prejudice of a lawsuit against a Fortune 100 diversified global financial services company on counts of fraud, defamation and tortious interference brought by a former head of a large company subsidiary
- successfully represented lending consortium sued by over a dozen contractors for improperly cutting off tens of millions in loan funding for renovation of iconic luxury resort; cases were settled with no liability for lending consortium
- successfully obtained a multimillion-dollar judgment on behalf of an international luxury hotel chain against a hotel owner for breach of the hotel management agreement despite claims of gross mismanagement by the hotel owner
- represented significant hedge funds in major regulatory matters, including investigations conducted by the SEC and Department of Justice
- represented high-ranking executives of a worldwide accounting firm as white collar and civil litigation counsel; the executives were potential targets of the IRS, U.S. attorney and grand jury investigations
- served as white collar and civil litigation counsel to an international pharmaceutical company involving multijurisdictional litigation, receivership proceedings in various countries and alleged civil RICO violations
- represented multiple lenders in foreclosure proceedings involving more than $500 million in loans on various commercial real estate developments
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Hantman was a criminal appellate assistant attorney general for the state of Florida. At the Office of the Attorney General, Mr. Hantman authored more than 150 briefs, state court responses and federal habeas corpus responses, and argued 39 appeals before the Third District Court of Appeal, including the first en banc hearing held in several years. See Kasischke v. State (Case No. 3D04-2149). Significant victories included defeating a petition for writ of certiorari in a first degree murder case, defeating an emergency petition for writ of habeas corpus in a first degree murder conspiracy case and winning certification to the Florida Supreme Court of a conflict between the Third District and First District Courts of Appeal. See Galindez v. State, 910 So. 2d 284 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005).