Kenneth M. Curtin,  Partner

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• West Palm Beach Office

222 Lakeview Avenue
Suite 800
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

TEL: 561-838-4511 (West Palm Beach)
772-873-5900 (Port St. Lucie)
FAX: 561-514-3411

Mr. Curtin concentrates his practice in complex commercial, construction, community association, and real property litigation as well as insurance defense and coverage issues. Further, Mr. Curtin has extensive experience representing clients before various Boards of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, including the Construction Industry Licensing Board, the Board of Architecture and Interior Design, and the Division of Real Estate. He represents both individual and corporate clients such as developers, interior designers, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, and temporary help agencies in state and federal courts and in arbitral proceedings.

Mr. Curtin is certified by the Supreme Court of Florida as a Circuit and County Civil Mediator and has mediated numerous complex commercial, construction, and insurance disputes. An AV rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, Mr. Curtin has been recognized as an "Top Up & Comer" by the South Florida Legal Guide, 2009 and 2010, and was selected by his legal peers as a 2006 Super Lawyer in the area of business and construction litigation. Mr. Curtin was recognized, October 15, 2009, in the Daily Business Review “Verdicts & Settlements” section for obtaining a verdict in excess of $4.6 million against a Boca Raton developer for breach of promissory note and personal guaranty.

Mr. Curtin interned for one summer at the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration in Paris, France and studied law during another summer in Paris. While in law school, Mr. Curtin also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Florida Journal of International Law.

Of Note

SIGNIFICANT REPRESENTATIONS

• Successfully represented a plaintiff gem merchant in a jury trial against another gem merchant and obtained a jury verdict in excess of $1,000,000.00, plus attorneys’ fees and costs. The final judgment included treble damages for a fraudulent and worthless check written by the defendant.
• Obtained a summary judgment in excess of $4,600,000.00 on breach of a promissory note, personal guarantee, and foreclosure of a mortgage, plus attorney’s fees and costs, against a Boca Raton developer and one of the largest landowners in Boca Raton.
• Successfully represented a vendor in a jury trial against a national information technology company for breach of contract and obtained a jury verdict in excess of $660,000.00 in lost profits and damages, plus $66,000.00 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
• Obtained a summary judgment in favor of a municipality being sued by a cruise company seeking to enforce a long-term lease of the municipality’s port paving the way for the municipality to proceed with its downtown redevelopment plan. Further, obtained a summary judgment on a counterclaim against the cruise company for $1,700,000.00 in favor of the municipality.
• Successfully represented homeowners in an American Arbitration Association arbitration against a general contractor who breached a contract for construction of a luxury residence, abandoned the job site, and performed inferior and defective work resulting in arbitral award in excess of $365,000.00.

Publications

• Administrative Pitfalls of Litigating Under the Florida Civil Rights Act
• An Examination of Contractual Expansion & Limitation of Judicial Review Arbitral Awards
• Redefining Public Policy in International Commercial Arbitration
• Arbitrating Maritime Cargo Disputes: Future Problems and Considerations

News

• Thirteen Ruden McClosky Partners selected as Top Lawyers and Top Up & Comer in the South Florida Legal Guide 2009