Transforming a Company in Response to the Pandemic

Michael Platner is the managing partner of the Fort Lauderdale office of Lewis Brisbois. Mr. Platner is the chair of the Corporate Practice and co-chair of the Securities & Corporate Finance Practice. Michael works with clients to develop and execute business savvy legal strategies for businesses from early stage through maturity and sale or merger, with a view towards maximizing benefit to their owners and investors.

As an experienced corporate and finance “deals” lawyer and strategist, often Michael acts as primary outside counsel to middle market companies owned by private individuals, investment and private equity firms and public companies. He manages litigation matters strategically with the client’s ultimate business goals in mind to achieve the best financial impacts and business solutions. 

He has negotiated and closed several hundred transactions including partnerships, business sales and acquisitions, and corporate finance in technology, distribution, manufacturing, and real estate development. 

Lee Monahan is a Partner at Harren Equity Partners where he is a member of the investment committee and serves as a board member at several portfolio companies. He is responsible for evaluating new acquisition candidates, closing and financing transactions and managing existing portfolio companies with a primary focus on business services businesses.

Prior to joining Harren, Lee worked at H.I.G. Capital. Lee began his career in the Investment Banking Group of Lazard Frères & Co., a provider of advisory services to clients in mergers, acquisitions, restructurings and capital market activities.

Lee graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Finance from DePaul University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Keith Arnold is a nineteen year banking veteran and Senior Vice President for BB&T, now Truist, covering the middle markets.  He has worked with a number of top companies and financial sponsors in South Florida providing acquisition financing, working capital lines, equipment, syndications and asset base lending.  Keith and his team customize the financing/banking solutions tailored to the needs of each individual company and stays with the company throughout the business lifecycle. 

Keith is native Floridian and earned dual undergraduate degrees in English and business administration from Elon University, and a masters of business administration from William and Mary.  

David McCombie is Founder and CEO of McCombie Group, a strategic and M&A advisory firm focused on restructuring, turning around, and transitioning middle-market businesses. David is an ongoing contributor to Forbes regarding these topics, he has been a featured speaker at various private equity conferences and has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.  He also has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami and is a contributing author of "The Complete Direct Investing Handbook: A Guide for Family Offices, Qualified Purchasers, and Accredited Investors" published by Wiley.  

Previously David was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and an investment banker at Citigroup. He graduated from Harvard Law School with a focus on negotiation and corporate bankruptcy and also did extensive coursework in corporate finance at Harvard Business School. David received his Bachelors in Economics and Finance from the University of Miami and is a licensed Florida attorney.  

Patricio Casillas has US and international management experience, primarily in the Life Sciences industry. He’s built, developed and led high caliber organizations ranging from startup enterprises to PE-backed portfolio companies and has spearheaded business units within Fortune 100 companies.

Patricio is an alumni of Johnson & Johnson’s leadership program and also spent the early part of his career with Eli Lilly & Company. His foundational sales, marketing and strategy background combined with his strong P&L management and operations experience have allowed Patricio to generate significant value for shareholders. He has launched multiple $100M to $1B products and has generated millions in cost savings for companies.

He is relentless about finding big, needle movers for top line growth and operational efficiency. Idea generation and creative thinking starts with deep customer empathy. Patricio is fanatical about behavioral science and understanding customer attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. He is a purveyor of design thinking and similar innovative thinking concepts that are process-driven and teachable. He is practitioner of continuous improvement / six sigma lean management concepts and is versed in robotic process automation.

Ultimately, Patricio is focused on how to best deliver transformational growth.

Education Certification & Professional Affiliations

Patricio holds a BS in Biology from Duke and MBA from Stanford.