Foley & Lardner LLP is pleased to announce that Michael A. Okaty, partner in the Orlando office, has been named to the Orlando Business Journal 40 Under 40 class of 2011. According to the publication, this distinguished annual recognition highlights Orlando area young executives who are successfully navigating the business world while giving back to their local communities.
Okaty has established himself as a well-respected attorney in the areas of corporate and finance law, and has represented clients in several projects which have improved the quality of life in Central Florida. He is helping to organize a merger of three of Florida’s largest independent, not-for-profit blood blanks that, if completed, will create the second largest blood bank in the nation. Okaty also served as disclosure counsel for the Orlando Utilities Commission in financings totaling more than $1.7 billion, helping to provide electricity and water services to customers in the Orlando area.
“Mike and his team have significantly helped a tri-party merger effort organize the structure and process of a detailed and complicated due diligence process,” said Rick Walsh, Chairman/CEO The Knob Hill Companies and Chairman Florida’s Blood Centers. “He understands the inherent tensions of negotiation and the information required to make the best decisions. He is contemporary, knowledgeable and detailed in his analysis while helping the parties review the right data, at the right time, in the right way. His integrity is without qualification and above reproach. Mike is a bright, determined, thoughtful and planful attorney who expects and gets the best from his interactions and is a testament to his profession.”
Additionally, Okaty has made a positive impact on the Central Florida community through his volunteer efforts, and played an active role in the merger of two of Maitland’s oldest and most prominent cultural organizations to form the Maitland Art and History Association (MAHA). He has since assumed a senior volunteer position with the MAHA and continues to work with the city of Maitland to secure a long-term lease of the merged organization’s land and buildings.
He co-founded Foley’s Senior Living Industry Team and continues to chair the practice, which has expanded to more than 50 attorneys. Okaty is also head of the Corporate Practice Department in Foley’s Orlando office and serves with members of the firm’s National Management Committee to head a task force on strategic growth.