Joe Hernandez is a sought-after transactional real estate and business lawyer with a unique perspective: he is able to draw from his prior work experience as a banker and general counsel for a private equity firm to inform his representation of a variety of clients seeking to engage in complex commercial real estate and business transactions.
Joe’s clients include real estate developers, financial institutions, private equity firms, high net worth individuals, and public entities in all phases of complex commercial real estate and business transactions in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. He handles acquisitions, development, financing, leasing, joint ventures, and advises clients on raising capital for real estate projects.
Joe has also developed a particular niche representing condominium associations and cooperative corporations being pursued by developers for acquisition of the units and termination of the condominium or cooperative. Joe coordinates a multi-disciplinary approach in order to counsel clients in navigating the myriad of legal issues faced by associations and unit owners in these situations. Joe also represents condominium associations, community associations, developers of condominium projects, and groups of unit owners in a variety of condominium law and community association matters, including turnovers, dispute resolution, casualties and construction defects issues.
Joe is an agent for several national title insurance companies and has handled the resolution of complex title insurance issues involving real property in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining the firm, Joe served as general counsel for an asset management firm owned by Cerberus Capital. Prior to that, Joe was the head of the real estate practice group at the Miami office of an AmLaw 100 firm and a real estate shareholder at one of the largest law firms in the country. Prior to law school, Joe was a banker at a large money center bank in New York and also worked for the predecessor of Bank of America for five years as a corporate and real estate banker.
Joe was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) in 2017.
Active in the community, Joe is on the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Greater Miami. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law and teaches courses in real estate finance for the Real Property Development L.L.M Program.
Professional & Community Involvement
- American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL), Fellow
- The Florida Bar, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
- Dade County Bar Association, Real Property Committee
- American Bar Association, Real Property Section
- Junior Achievement of Miami, Former Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee Member, Member of Board of Directors
- Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Miami, Class of 2001
- Adjunct Professor, University of Miami Law School, Real Property Development L.L.M. Program
Awards & Recognition
- Chambers & Partners USA, Real Estate – South Florida, 2022
- Best Lawyers in America®, Real Estate Law, 2019 – present
- Daily Business Review, Dealmaker of the Year Award, 2015
- Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, 2007-2012; 2020, 2022