Alan L. Goodman Attorney At Law

Accomplished business litigator representing corporate, institutional, and individual clients across Florida.  

Alan Goodman represents business clients in complex commercial and employment-related litigation throughout Florida. A skillful first chair advocate with a background in finance, he has served as lead and co-lead counsel in hundreds of business disputes over the course of his more than thirty-year career. Alan protects and defends a wide array of clients spanning various sectors, including real estate, professional services, and the structured settlement transfer industry, among others.

Alan understands the impact of protracted litigation on business operations and reputation. He works closely with clients to resolve disputes swiftly and decisively, minimizing cost and disruption. He guides clients through the litigation process with a strategic approach informed by decades at the negotiating table and an eye toward advantageous resolutions.
His casework includes fraud and misrepresentation, dissolution and business breakups, unfair business practices, trade secrets, non-compete covenants, discrimination and retaliation, creditors’ rights, including proceedings supplementary, director and officer liability, professional liability, employment litigation, and real estate litigation.

Alan is an active thought leader on evolving commercial litigation trends and the continuing impacts of COVID-19 on employment-related legal matters. He frequently teams with GrayRobinson colleagues in the labor and employment and real estate sections to provide comprehensive counsel to business clients. 

• Notable Work
  • Secured a $1.5 million settlement for a 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, 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 a client in Palm Beach County against a  corporate defendant that hired away several top salespeople in contravention of their non-compete agreements. The corporate defendant thereafter retained Alan for its future litigation needs.
  • Maltby, et al. v. Angostura Limited, et al. (Palm Beach County, Florida). 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 client, Temporary Housing Directory, in excess of $250,000. The matter was settled post-judgment.
  • McGraw Research, LLC v. Jordan Gavin (Duval County, Florida). Defended McGraw Research, LLC against claims of fraud and “fraud on the court,” asserted by Jordan Gavin, who 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, claiming McDraw defrauded him into selling his payments. 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.
  • Termilus v. Marksman Security Corporation (Federal Court, Southern District of Florida). Obtained summary judgment for Marksman and a dismissal of its former employee’s sexual harassment claim based on a hostile work environment. The plaintiff asserted that although the “harasser” was not the plaintiff’s 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 that 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.
• Recognition
  • AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Best Lawyers in America, Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), 2023-2024
• Media
  • “COVID-19 Layoffs Likely Won’t Nullify Fla. Noncompetes,” Law360, July 7, 2020
  • “Appellate Court: Contractual ‘Anti-Waiver’ Clauses Will Be Enforced (Usually),” Daily Business Review, May 24, 2019
• Affiliations
  • The Florida Bar
    • Grievance Committee, past Chair
  • Palm Beach County Bar Association
  • 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
• Credentials
  • J.D., University of Florida Levin College of Law, 1991
  • B.S., University of Florida, 1988, with High Honors
• Admissions
  • Florida
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida