Rochelle Friedman Walk

Managing Attorney, Tampa Office
Location:
Tampa, FL
Phone:
Fax:
813-839-4896
Email:


Rochelle Friedman Walk, Esq. is an experienced, thoughtful and strategic attorney, business executive and neutral mediator. She has been court-appointed as a receiver and mediator, and is a member of the FINRA arbitration and mediation panels. She is known for her negotiating skills and the ability to bring parties together in win-win, creative solutions. She offers a practical and business-oriented approach to the practice of law. Her background in business enables her to relate well to clients and to quickly define the work and potential solutions.
In her more than thirty years of business and legal experience, she has served as the chief restructuring officer, chief administrative officer, chief legal officer and Business Unit Manager to several national and multi-national business organizations. As an attorney, she has represented clients in a wide range of legal transactions including complex commercial, ecommerce, technology, real estate, financial restructuring and employment matters. She has served as an ombudsman in employment, elder care, NAACP, creditor and shareholder matters and has worked with a number of different international unions to resolve concerns. Most recently she has been engaged to help business partners and owners as a neutral mediator or arbitrator resolve disputes and differences so that their businesses can operate more effectively. Her work includes mediating and negotiating buy-sell agreements, partner or member buy-outs and new partner or member admissions for LLCs, partnerships and corporations.
Ms. Walk is a Martindale-Hubbell Preeminent (AV)-rated lawyer for more than 15 years, has been consistently named as one of the Top Lawyers in Tampa Bay since moving to Florida in 2007 and is included in Martindale-Hubbell's inaugural and all subsequent editions of its Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers (2011-present). A graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Colgate University, she is a Florida Supreme Court Circuit Civil, Family and Appellate certified mediator, licensed to practice law in the States of Florida and Ohio, and is a member of the America Bar Association, the Hillsborough County Bar Association and the Florida Academy of Professional Mediators. She has been awarded the Leo Levinson Award for Leadership, and has been recognized by the YWCA as a Woman of Professional Excellence and by the Tampa Jewish Community Federation as a Woman of Distinction. She volunteers for SCORE as a presenter on various business topics and serves on the Boards of a number of not-for-profit community agencies in the Tampa Bay area, including a community foundation and assisted living facility. Previously, she served on the Board of a Crisis Nursery.
In her more than thirty years of business and legal experience, she has served as the chief restructuring officer, chief administrative officer, chief legal officer and Business Unit Manager to several national and multi-national business organizations. As an attorney, she has represented clients in a wide range of legal transactions including complex commercial, ecommerce, technology, real estate, financial restructuring and employment matters. She has served as an ombudsman in employment, elder care, NAACP, creditor and shareholder matters and has worked with a number of different international unions to resolve concerns. Most recently she has been engaged to help business partners and owners as a neutral mediator or arbitrator resolve disputes and differences so that their businesses can operate more effectively. Her work includes mediating and negotiating buy-sell agreements, partner or member buy-outs and new partner or member admissions for LLCs, partnerships and corporations.
Ms. Walk is a Martindale-Hubbell Preeminent (AV)-rated lawyer for more than 15 years, has been consistently named as one of the Top Lawyers in Tampa Bay since moving to Florida in 2007 and is included in Martindale-Hubbell's inaugural and all subsequent editions of its Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers (2011-present). A graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law and Colgate University, she is a Florida Supreme Court Circuit Civil, Family and Appellate certified mediator, licensed to practice law in the States of Florida and Ohio, and is a member of the America Bar Association, the Hillsborough County Bar Association and the Florida Academy of Professional Mediators. She has been awarded the Leo Levinson Award for Leadership, and has been recognized by the YWCA as a Woman of Professional Excellence and by the Tampa Jewish Community Federation as a Woman of Distinction. She volunteers for SCORE as a presenter on various business topics and serves on the Boards of a number of not-for-profit community agencies in the Tampa Bay area, including a community foundation and assisted living facility. Previously, she served on the Board of a Crisis Nursery.
Areas of Practice
- Business & Commercial Law
- Corporate Law
- Mergers, acquisitions, divestitures
- Business Transactions
- Business Transition
- Business Planning and Counseling
- Partnership
- LLC
- Trusts
- Contracts
- Employment and Labor, including EEOC
- Intellectual Property
- Mediation
- Arbitration
- Real Estate Transactions
- Commercial Leases
Certified Legal Specialties
- Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil and Appellate Mediator since 2010
- Arbitrator
- FINRA Mediator and Arbitrator
- Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil, Appellate, Family and Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediator
Bar Admissions
- Ohio, 1986
- Florida, 2011
- U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 2011
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 1987
Education
- Case Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, Ohio
- J.D. - 1986
- Honors: cum laude
- Colgate University, Hamilton, New York
- A.B. - 1983
- Honors: cum laude
- Honors: With Honors
- Honors: Dean's List
- Major: Urban Studies
- Darden School of Business Administration, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
- Strategic Marketing Management - Certificate - 1995
- Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
- Communications Strategy - Certificate - 1993
Representative Clients
- Hotels, restaurants, bars, event planning and other entertainment industry companies
- Real Estate Brokerages and management companies
- Retailers, including online sellers and resellers, including Amazon.com, Jet.com and Ebay.com sellers
- Ecommerce
- Manufacturers and distributors
- Professional Associations, including Doctors, Lawyers, Financial Planners, Engineers, Insurers and other regulated industries
- Professional Investors and Funds
- Entrepreneurs
Classes/Seminars
- Presenter, Going into Business, SCORE, 2011 - Present
- Presenter, Advising the Corporate Board, Ohio Bar Association, 2006
- Panelist/Presenter, Business Law Section Spring Meeting, ABA, 2007
- Panelist/Presenter, Glasser Legalworks SEC Conference, 2002 - 2004
- Start-Up Week Tampa sponsored by Chase Bank (2015, 2016, 2017)
- HuB Sarasota
Honors and Awards
- AV-rated attorney for more than 15 years
- Leo Levinson Award for Leadership Excellence, 2017
- Merrill Jacobs Leadership Award
- Woman of Distinction, Tampa Jewish Community Federation
- Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers
- Tampa Bay's Top Lawyers by Tampa Bay Magazine
- Leadership Cleveland, Class of 2002
- Cleveland YWCA Woman of Professional Excellence
Professional Associations and Memberships
- The Florida Bar Association, Member, 2011 - Present
- Florida Academy of Professional Mediators, Member, 2010 - Present
- American Bar Association, Business Law and Dispute Resolution Sections, Member
- Ohio Bar Association, Member, 1986 - 2016
- Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar Association, Member, 2010 - Present
- Hillsborough County Bar Association, 2011 - Present
- Tampa Jewish Community Centers and Federation, Immediate Past President, Treasurer and member of Board of Directors, 2017 - 2018
- Tampa Jewish Community Centers and Federation, President and member of Board of Directors, 2014 - Present
- Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, Member, 1999 - 2010
- Weinberg Village LLC, Member, Board of Managers, 2007 – present; secretary to the Board 2010 - 2014
- Tampa Orlando Pinellas Foundation, Trustee; Tampa Community Chair 2011- 2014
- GMP Retiree Medical Trust, Trustee, 2008 - 2010
- Providence House, Trustee, Fund Development and Governance Committees, 2000 - 2006
- Providence House, Secretary, Governance and Executive Committees, 2001 - 2003
- Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, Ohio Chapter Treasurer, 2005 - 2005
- Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, Secretary, 2006 - 2006
- Greater Cleveland General Counsel Society, 2003 - 2006
Past Employment Positions
- McIntyre, Panzarella, Thanasides, et al., Of Counsel, 2011 - 2012
- The Flat Fee Lawyer/ Corporate Governance Solutions, PLLC, CEO, 2010 - 2011
- Anchor Glass Container Corporation, VP, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer & Secretary , 2007 - 2010
- Oglebay Norton Company, VP, General Counsel & Secretary, 1998 - 2007
- Sherwin-Williams Company, Business Unit Director, Licensed Brands, 1995 - 1998
- Sherwin-Williams Company, Director, Marketing Communications, 1993 - 1995
- Sherwin-Williams Company, Corporate Counsel, 1990 - 1993
- Ulmer & Berne, LLP, Attorney, 1986 - 1990
Pro Bono Activities
- Bankruptcy Mediation for US Bankruptcy Court for Middle District of FL, 2011
- Presenter, SCORE - Business Counseling and Workshop Presenter, 2011
Ancillary Businesses
- Mediation, Arbitration and ADR
- Business Planning