Alan L. Goodman Attorney At Law

Alan is a shareholder in the Boca Raton office, where he leads the Boca Raton commercial litigation practice. He focuses his practice on commercial and employment litigation. For over 30 years, he has practiced in the areas of complex commercial litigation representing individuals, businesses and institutions involved in an array of matters, such as commercial and business litigation, fraud and misrepresentation, dissolution or business breakups, unfair business practices, trade secrets, non-compete covenants, creditors’ rights, including proceedings supplementary, director and officer liability, professional liability, employment litigation, and real estate litigation. 

• Background

  Alan obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in 1988 with high honors in business administration and a major in finance. He continued at the University of Florida for law school, where he received his Juris Doctor in 1991. Alan is a member of The Florida Bar, and he is admitted to practice in the Southern and Middle Federal District Courts of Florida.

  Alan has lived in Florida his entire life. He has two children, Jessica and Jared, and he currently resides in Delray Beach with his wife, Samantha.

• Education
  • University of Florida, business administration (high honors 1988)
  • University of Florida Levin College of Law, J.D. (1991)
    • Moot Court Team (Chair)
• Admissions
  • Florida, 1991
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
• Professional Associations and Memberships
  • The Florida Bar
    • Grievance Committee, past Chair
  • Palm Beach County Bar Association, member
    • Business Litigation Committee, past member
    • Circuit Court Civil Practice Committee, past member
    • Professionalism Committee, past member
    • Judicial Relations Committee, past member
• Civic
  • Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, past member
    • Board of Directors, past Vice Chair of Legal
  • The Bridges Homeowners Association
    • Board of Directors, Vice President and member
• Awards and Recognitions
  • AV Preeminent® rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Best Lawyers in America, Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), 2023
• Articles and Publications
  • "COVID-19 Layoffs Likely Won't Nullify Fla. Noncompetes," Law360, July 2020
  • "Appellate Court: Contractual 'Anti-Waiver' Clauses Will Be Enforced (Usually)," Daily Business Review, May 2019
• Presentations and Seminars
  • "Proceedings Supplementary: Enforcing Your Judgment," Palm Beach County Bar Association Seminar, 2014
• Representative Highlights
  • Alan secured a $1.5 Million settlement for his corporate client in connection with enforcing the company’s non-compete agreement against one of its former employees. The former employee was a highly-placed, extremely valuable salesperson with his client, who resigned to start a competing company. In lieu of litigation, the parties were able to reach an amicable resolution pre-suit.
     
  • Procured a $1 Million jury verdict for his corporate client in Palm Beach County against a company which hired away several top sales people in contravention of their non-compete agreements. The Defendant company thereafter hired Alan to represent it in future matters.
     
  • Maltby, et al. v. Angostura Limited, et. al (Palm Beach County, Florida). Alan represented the Plaintiffs as co-lead counsel in a $9 Million breach of contract action in which the Plaintiffs sought to recover monies owed to them after they sold their controlling stock interest in the then publicly-traded company, Cruzan International, Inc. The case was amicably resolved through a significant confidential settlement on the eve of trial. 
     
  • Temporary Housing Directory v. All Clear Restoration and Remediation (Santa Rosa County, Florida). Obtained final judgment on behalf of his client, Temporary Housing Directory, in excess of $250,000. The matter was settled post-judgment.
     
  • McGraw Research, LLC v. Jordan Gavin (Duval County, Florida). Alan successfully defended McGraw Research, LLC against claims of fraud, and "fraud on the court", asserted by Jordan Gavin, who had sold McGraw some of his structured settlement payments pursuant to Florida's Structured Settlement Transfer Act. Gavin sought to vacate the court’s order approving the transfer. In its order, the court ruled that absolutely no fraud was committed by McGraw in any respect, and that some aspects of Gavin’s testimony were potentially perjurious. The court also made significant interpretive findings relating to certain provisions of Florida’s Structured Settlement Transfer Act. The court’s detailed ruling can be found here.
     
  • Termilus v. Marksman Security Corporation (Federal Court, Southern District of Florida). Obtained summary judgment for Marksman and a dismissal of the former employee’s sexual harassment claim based on a hostile work environment. The Plaintiff asserted that although the "harasser" was not her supervisor, he had the "apparent authority" to tangibly affect her employment, and should therefore, still be deemed her supervisor for purposes of imposing vicarious liability on the company. In a first-of-its-kind decision at the time in the Southern District of Florida, Alan successfully argued that based on the seminal Supreme Court case of Vance v. Ball State University (2013), an "apparent authority" theory of liability is not viable as the Vance decision changed the legal landscape regarding the definition of supervisor under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
     
  • Karina Dominguez v. Marksman Security Corporation (Dade County, Florida). Obtained dismissal with prejudice on behalf of Marksman regarding its former employee's claims of alleged gender discrimination and retaliation in purported violation of Florida’s Civil Rights Act. No money, or other consideration, was paid by Marksman in exchange for the dismissal.
     
  • Chimila-Jean Baptiste v. Marksman Security Corporation (Broward County, Florida). Obtained dismissal with prejudice on behalf of Marksman regarding its former employee's claims of alleged race discrimination and retaliation in purported violation of Florida’s Civil Rights Acts and related statutes. No money, or other consideration, was paid by Marksman in exchange for the dismissal.