A subsidiary of a $2B impact investment firm claims real estate law firm Akerman LLP botched the drafting of a lease agreement that allowed a healthcare tenant to terminate seven leases and avoid paying tens of millions in termination fees.
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Turner Healthcare Facilities Fund filed a $45M malpractice lawsuit Monday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against Akerman and one of its partners, Andrew Wamsley. The suit stems from a deal the fund made to develop outpatient facilities for CareMax, a Miami-based healthcare provider that filed for bankruptcy last year.
The fund is controlled by Turner Impact Capital, a Santa Monica, California-based investment fund run by Bobby Turner, which seeks to invest in projects that have a social impact.
Turner claimed that Wamsley, working for Miami-based Akerman, reviewed and approved seven leases that left the landlord unable to enforce key remedies when the tenant defaulted on the leases, resulting in significant losses, according to the complaint.
In the lawsuit, Turner claims that another Akerman partner identified the flaws in the lease without realizing that his colleague had previously approved it.
“Akerman made a $45 million mistake,” Javier Lopez, an attorney with Vedder Price representing Turner, said in a statement. “Despite acknowledging their error, Akerman has refused to make things right financially with Turner Healthcare Facilities Fund. Akerman left us no other remedy than to file today’s complaint.”
CareMax exited the seven facilities after financial challenges began mounting in March 2024, causing “substantial disruption across Turner’s healthcare real estate portfolio,” the suit says. Turner is seeking $45.4M in damages.
“We do not comment on pending litigation,” an Akerman spokesperson said in a statement.
The facilities at issue sit across Florida, with one at 4074 Northlake Blvd. in Palm Beach Gardens and others in Port St. Lucie, Daytona Beach, Palm Bay, Titusville, Rockledge and Lady Lake.
The impact investor claims that the form lease, which Wamsley revised and approved, contains provisions around rent acceleration that are unenforceable by Florida law.
Rent acceleration is a common provision in commercial lease agreements that allows landlords to demand immediate payment of the remaining rent owed on a lease if the tenant violates the agreement. Under state law, a landlord can't accelerate rent if the lease is terminated and can only do so if the lease explicitly says the landlord is acting on behalf of the tenant, according to Lowndes Leasing Lawyers.
But the lease failed to allow the landlord to accelerate rent as a remedy, according to the suit. When CareMax decided to exit the locations in March 2024, Turner discovered it had no way to recover the remaining money owed on the leases.
CareMax filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, not too long after exiting the leases, with $639M in debt and $390M in assets, the Miami Herald reported.
“Akerman failed to advise Turner of the most basic and appropriate remedies available to landlords under Florida law in the event of a breach by a tenant,” the lawsuit says. “Because of Akerman’s malpractice, Turner was left holding the proverbial bag to the tune of tens of millions of dollars with no adequate remedies.”
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