Mr. Kaufman is the founder, chairman and CEO of The Kaufman Group, Ltd. Before retiring, he served as a practicing attorney for over 36 years, a judge for 14 years, and has been active in business, concentrating in the fields of:
Banking, finance, lender liability, corporate, business, strategic planning, restructuring, turnarounds and workouts, health care, and all phases of significant litigation. He has represented banks, foreign and domestic corporations, manufacturers, automobile and marine distributors, dealers, and suppliers, real estate developers and health care providers. Mr. Kaufman’s expertise addresses all aspects of start-up, successful, and distressed companies, including SOT, floor plan and capital financing defaults, strategic negotiations and mediations, acquisitions, mergers, and reconstruction of assets.
In the health care sector, Mr. Kaufman has served as Special Counsel on business/cost containment issues involving the Florida/Medicaid – US Tobacco Litigation; has represented hospitals, doctors, nurses, and others in the health care industry including negotiation and closing of a multimillion dollar A&M of a complex radiological practice and litigation and interstate negotiation with multiple hospitals and other providers.
In the automobile sector, he has represented and provided comprehensive business and strategic advice and guidance to mega dealers including extensive floor plan, SOT and other negotiations with manufacturers, banks and captives; litigation and “hands-on” operational experience. He has lectured at numerous JD Powers Round Tables and NADA annual meetings.
In the finance sector, he has represented banks and mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers, engaging in strategic workouts of multimillion dollar loans and Federal litigation against major securities firms; he has litigated and provided strategic advice and counsel on substantial cases to various corporations throughout the US in multimillion dollar lender liability suits against banks and other lenders.
In the corporate sector, Mr. Kaufman, a negotiator and certified mediator (trained by Duke, Durham, North Carolina and Learn from the Masters, Dallas, Texas), has served as strategic advisor to numerous corporations and boards and has written extensive SEC/Blue Sky offering and private placements plans.
In the international business sector, Mr. Kaufman has served as legal counsel and worked with companies in Australia, Europe, Italy, Greece, and China (including joint ventures with the China National Corporation of Medicine and founded Danamer, a joint venture between a US city and Dandong, China).
In the marine sector, he served Riviera Marine as its first East Coast Distributor, US operations manager, President and CEO of Riviera Yachts of the Americas and continues to serve Riviera as a senior advisor; created the Blue-Ribbon Panel with the marine CEOs of Caterpillar and Cummins; engaged in negotiation with and provided strategic advice to GEC regarding a broad range of highly problematic marine dealer floor plan issues. Currently, he has developed a unique Price Point Analysis which enables TKG’s Marine Analytic Division to assist marine manufacturers in making current, effective, and up to date pricing decisions for their products.
Mr. Kaufman’s government service includes having served as a delegate to the US/China Joint Session on Trade, Investment & Economic Law in Beijing, China; a member of the New York 7th Judicial Grievance Committee and New York Policy and Ethics Committee; a Town Justice for 14 years; Counsel of the Genesee Regional Health Planning Council, Chairman of the Genesee Regional Health Planning Council Noise Task Force; a panel member of the Commerce Technical Advisory Board on Noise Abatement; Legislative Assistant, Administrative Assistant and Legal Counsel to Congressman Theodore R. Kupferman (US House of Representatives, 17th Congressional District, Washington, DC) where he drafted the nation’s first noise control legislation and was thereafter engaged by the government to review and assess all the noise ordinances in the US.
Mr. Kaufman’s publications include: Noise, a Problem to be Heard, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC; Control of Noise Through Laws and Regulations, American Speech and Hearing Assoc., Washington, DC; What to do Before the Money Runs Out – A Road Map for America’s Automobile Dealers; and Trial Structure and Conduct, North Carolina Trial & Appeal, West Publishing, American Inns of Court Civil Procedure, and The Collectibles Trilogy, three best-selling novels (The Collectibles, The Concealers, and The Conciliators).
Ratings: During his legal practice, Mr. Kaufman enjoyed Martindale-Hubbell’s highest “AV” rating (1976-2002) and being listed in Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.
Until recently, Mr. Kaufman was, for many years, a member of the esteemed Players, Gramercy Park, and a member of the preeminent Union League Club, both in New York City, as well as a member of the Cape Fear Club in Wilmington, NC. He is also a former Board Member and Chairman of Imaging the World (ITW), a not-for-profit health care company delivering ultrasound services to Uganda and other underserved populations and in the process saving many lives.
Kaufman lives in Tradition, Port St. Lucie, Florida, with his wife.
