SACHER ZELMAN HARTMAN, P.A. - Key Persons

Barton S. Sacher

Job Titles:
  • Founder and Former President

Richard M. Zelman

Job Titles:
  • Founding Director of Sacher
  • Vice President and Co - Managing Director
  • Vice President and Co - Managing Director / Two Datran Center
Richard M. Zelman is a Founding Director of Sacher, Zelman and has practiced law in Miami, Florida since 1974. Currently, he manages the Financial Services Group. Mr. Zelman received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University magna cum laude with a B.A. in both History and Government in 1971, and graduated in 1974 from Harvard Law School, cum laude. Mr. Zelman has been a frequent lecturer at bank and lending conferences and legal education seminars. During the past twenty-eight years, he has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Miami Law School, where he taught a course entitled, "Real Estate Planning" in the graduate program in Real Property Finance and Development. Mr. Zelman's client base is comprised of institutional mortgage lenders, banks, and individual investors and developers. He has particular expertise in advising lenders and borrowers in loan restructurings and work-outs and is widely recognized for finding creative, practical solutions for his clients involved in complex real estate projects. Among his many accomplishments, he successfully negotiated the resolution of the The Cadillac Fairview Corporation's high-rise condominium project liabilities in Florida. He regularly represents clients in single and multi-unit commercial and residential loan transactions, land development, zoning, financing, and the formation of domestic and foreign corporations related to financial transactions. In recent years, Mr. Zelman's practice has extensively focused on representing financial clients regarding compliance with regulatory matters, often providing unique cost-effective solutions to state and federal regulatory requirements. He often advises banks on maintaining positive relationships with the Florida Department of Banking, the FDIC and other regulatory agencies. Mr. Zelman is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, The Florida Bar, and the Dade County Bar Association. He is a Trustee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Past Chairman of the Florida International University "President's Council," and both the General Counsel and a member of the Executive Committee of the Florida International Bankers Association. Mr. Zelman has been consistently recognized and listed as a "Top Lawyer" by the South Florida Legal Guide, Florida Super Lawyers, and the Bar Registry of Preeminent Lawyers. Married, and the father of two, Mr. Zelman is an avid cyclist.

Roy M. Hartman

Job Titles:
  • Co - Managing Director
  • Co - Managing Director / Two Datran Center
  • Director of the Firm
Roy M. Hartman, a Director of the Firm since 1992, is a member of the Firm's highly experienced complex litigation practice group which represents public accounting firms; banks and financial institutions; and private litigants, including regulated professionals, such as CFOs, Controllers, CEOs, and other executives, in such diverse matters as securities litigation and regulatory matters (including government investigations and enforcement actions), RICO, trade secrets and non-compete litigation, and other complex litigation matters. Mr. Hartman also heads up the Firm's bankruptcy and creditors' rights practice. He also represents lenders and borrowers in mortgage loan financing, asset based lending, line of credit loans, and letter of credit transactions. He is a nationally-recognized and frequent lecturer to accountants and attorneys on matters pertaining to professional liability claims, SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and PCAOB (Public Accounting Accounting Oversight Board) inspections, investigations and enforcement actions; securities regulation; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; lender liability; creditors' rights; and bankruptcy issues, among other topics. He is also a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator. Mr. Hartman earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1977, and his law degree from the Thomas Franklin Backus School of Law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in 1980. In 1980, Mr. Hartman became a member of the Ohio Bar, and in 1981 he was admitted to The Florida Bar. Mr. Hartman is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida; the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for each of the Districts in Florida; the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Second, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits; and the U.S. Tax Court. Prior to the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley, Mr. Hartman's practice primarily involved litigation concerning accountant's liability, and financial fraud. With the advent of Sarbanes-Oxley, the Firm, and Mr. Hartman in particular, has developed a vibrant, nationwide Sarbanes-Oxley practice, with Mr. Hartman's focus on advising accounting firms on SEC regulatory compliance, PCAOB compliance, and avoidance of accountant's liability and government regulatory claims. Mr. Hartman has also represented small, local, mid-sized, regional and national accounting firms in SEC and PCAOB inspections, investigations and enforcement actions; defense of professional liability claims; professional liability insurance claims; drafting proper client engagement letters; avoidance of professional liability claims; drafting quality control manuals, employment and severance agreements, confidentiality and non-solicitation agreements, employee handbooks, and shareholder and operating agreements, among other matters. Mr. Hartman has spent his entire legal career in Miami. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Hartman spent over three years with the Miami Branch Office of the SEC in the Enforcement Division, where he investigated public companies, transactions of broker-dealers and investmentadvisors, and the securities transactions of individuals and entities. While he was at the SEC, Mr. Hartman successful brought an enforcement action that resulted from a fraudulent tax shelter scheme that artificially inflated the financial statements and resulting price per share for a public company. SEC v. A.T. Bliss and Company, Inc. (S.D. Fla. 1983). That enforcement action also resulted in the permanent bar of the auditors of the public company who had failed to observe inventory of the public company. Mr. Hartman is well versed in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the progeny of SEC rules promulgated thereunder, as well as the standards of the PCAOB. Mr. Hartman has lectured in Florida and nationwide on these matters, as well as accountant's liability under state and federal laws. After he left the SEC, Mr. Hartman began his career in private practice first with Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston, Dunwody and Cole, and later with a national law firm, Weil, Gotshal and Manges, in its Miami office. Since 1990, he has been with the Miami law firm of Sacher Zelman Hartman, P.A. He has negotiated, documented and closed various types of loan transactions, such as mortgage loans, single unit, condominium and multi-unit financing, commercial and residential projects, and asset based lending for banks and other lenders, as well as developers and domestic and international borrowers. Mr. Hartman has also actively represented both secured and unsecured creditors (lenders), debtors and trustees in bankruptcy matters. Within this context, Mr. Hartman has handled claims of fraudulent conveyance and bankruptcy preference, stay relief litigation, objections to claims, and non-dischargeability of particular debts due to allegations of fraud. As a result of his representation of financial institutions and other creditors, he is equally experienced in foreclosure and replevin actions, mechanics' lien litigation, defense and prosecution of claims of lender liability, actions based on fraud or breach of fiduciary duty, letter of credit transactions, and contract and business disputes. Mr. Hartman also is experienced in alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation and arbitration. Mr. Hartman also advises business clients on loan transactions, documenting the relationship and obligations of the business owners and business formation, confidentiality, trade secrets and other non-disclosure agreements, employment and severance agreements, and drafting business contracts. Mr. Hartman has represented accounting firm and CPA clients before the SEC and the PCAOB in Miami, New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Mr. Hartman has litigated matters in the State and Federal court throughout Florida and in such diverse and varied locations as New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Phoenix, and Pensacola. Mr. Hartman has also prosecuted and defended arbitration cases before the AAA. Married and a father of two sons, Mr. Hartman was active in the Plantation (Florida) Athletic League as a team sponsor as well as a former league administrator. Together with his wife, Debbi, a public school teacher, they are active in community affairs.