15
STETSON L AWYER
ALUMNI
SUCCESS STORIES
BRAD KAUFMAN J.D. ’86
B Y K ATHRYN B O N T I
how you will be better,”
said Kaufman.
Kaufman, in his role
at Greenberg Traurig,
also serves as the global
hiring partner and
chairman of professional
development.
Outside of his leadership
positions,
Kaufman is still highly
involved in the day-today
legal practice. His
list of career highlights
could go on and on,
from representing O.J.
Simpson’s attorney,
F. Lee Bailey, on ethical violations, to winning
a two-billion dollar case involving the president of Morgan
Stanley.
But the one that has meant the most to him involves his mother
and father, who were able to stand on the steps of the Supreme
Court with their son right before he was to argue in front of the
highest court in the nation, defending a national figure, Ken
Starr. Kaufman may not have won the case, but looks back to
the day with fondness, remembering just how proud he was to
share the day with his parents, who had loved and supported
him throughout his entire academic and professional career.
Kaufman is currently working on a securities case based in
London, involving Barclays Bank. The work is hard, Kaufman
notes, but rewarding.
Although Kaufman may not have envisioned himself ending up
here, it is evident from his continued dedication to the betterment
of the legal community that he was always destined to be a
lawyer, a lawyer of whom even Perry Mason would have been
proud.
A LUMNI S U C C E S S
Brad Kaufman J.D. ’86, a first generation college graduate,
never imagined when he sat in his first class at Stetson
Law that one day he would end up becoming one of the
most recognized and respected legal professionals in the nation.
His only dream at the time was to become the next Perry Mason.
But fast-forward 33 years, and one can now find Kaufman traveling
from city to city, working on some of the largest securities
cases in the nation and abroad, humbly serving in his role as
co-president for Greenberg Traurig, one of the nation’s largest
law firms.
“I grew up in Florida and always knew I wanted to go to law
school. I just really didn’t know much about law firms, how they
worked, or how the industry worked. All I thought I wanted to
do was become a prosecutor.”
Kaufman realized early on his talent for advocacy and grit for big
law life. He finished his first year at the top of his class with a
clerkship at one of the most coveted law firms at the time, Fowler
White. Kaufman went on from there, navigating the legal
market, graduating with a job offer at Gunster for their Palm
Beach County office.
Kaufman met his wife, Jill, three days before his first class at
Stetson. The two met at the school’s bookstore and started dating
in their third year, a couple of months before graduation. The
two now have three children.
Kaufman eventually was recruited by Steel Hector, or “the Steel,”
as many young lawyers referred to it at the time, a law firm that
was known to not hire Stetson grads. But to Kaufman, it was his
opportunity to prove that he belonged and in 1992, he ended up
making partner.
Six years later, Greenberg Traurig and Kaufman crossed paths
and Kaufman made the decision to move firms. He brought his
entire 20-person team, from secretaries to paralegals to fellow
associates, with him when he made the move. The team, even 20
years later, that Kaufman credits with his success is still with him.
“Find what you are not good at and hire people who are. You
will never be great at everything. You can be great at some of it.
But find people who will make up for your weaknesses. That is
Brad Kaufman