Oppenheim Law

Roots and early focus

The firm opened in 1989. A husband and wife legal team founded it, and it calls itself a boutique firm. Its attorneys report more than 75 years of combined legal experience. The early work centered on real estate law and foreclosure defense.

Those two fields shaped how the firm grew. Real estate matters brought in developers and property owners who needed contracts drafted and deals closed. Foreclosure work placed the attorneys in contested cases between lenders and homeowners. In my opinion, that starting point explains the practical, transaction-heavy character of much of what the firm handles today.

A boutique size shapes how the firm handles clients. Clients usually deal with the same small group of lawyers across a matter, and partners tend to stay close to the file. For a firm built around real estate and business work, that structure fits how such clients prefer to work.

Focus and practice areas

The firm has widened its work well beyond its first two fields. The current list covers residential and commercial real estate transactions, foreclosure cases, business and corporate law, and commercial litigation. It also covers consumer rights matters and employment law for employers.

The range keeps going. The firm names estate and asset protection planning, intellectual property, probate litigation, personal injury, and class action lawsuits among its areas. A spread this wide is uncommon at a boutique. It points to attorneys who work on both transactional drafting and courtroom disputes, which are different daily skills.

Real estate and foreclosure work

Real estate transactions generally move through a purchase contract, a title search, and a closing where funds and deeds change hands. Commercial deals add layers such as financing terms, zoning checks, and entity structuring for the buyer. Oppenheim Law works this side for developers and property owners. Its foreclosure background gives the same team a view of what happens when a mortgage later goes into dispute.

Foreclosure defense usually begins once a lender files suit over a missed mortgage. The homeowner files a response, and the case can turn on loan documents, notice requirements, and the ownership record behind the loan. Florida courts often route these cases through mediation before trial. This is general context on how such matters proceed, and the firm's history in the field reaches back to its founding.

Business and dispute work

Business and corporate law at the firm runs alongside its litigation practice. Corporate work tends to involve forming entities, drafting agreements, and advising owners on day-to-day decisions. Commercial litigation picks up when those agreements break down and a dispute reaches court. Having both under one roof lets a client keep the same lawyers when a contract turns into a courtroom claim.

Class action lawsuits are among the firm's larger disputes. These cases group many claimants with a shared complaint into a single action, and they turn on questions such as certification of the class and common proof. Probate litigation, by contrast, deals with contested estates after a death. Both demand courtroom work, which matches the litigation side the firm has built.

Consumer and employment matters

Consumer rights work covers disputes where an individual has a claim tied to a purchase, a debt, or a lender's conduct. These cases often rest on federal and state statutes that set out what a company must disclose and how it may collect. Employment law for employers is the other side of the workplace: the firm advises businesses on hiring, policies, and claims brought by staff. The firm names both among its areas, which rounds out its consumer and business coverage.

How the team is built

Three attorneys carry the firm's public profile. Roy D. Oppenheim is a co-founder and senior partner. Ellen B. Pilelsky is also a co-founder and senior partner. Geoffrey E. Sherman is a partner.

The two co-founders are the husband and wife team behind the 1989 start.That continuity in leadership matters for a client picking a firm. As a reviewer, I read a firm still led by its founders after decades as a sign of stability. The site does not publish individual bios, law schools, or bar admission years on the pages we reviewed.

Who the firm represents

The client base leans commercial. The firm works with residential and commercial developers, homeowner associations, business owners, and corporations. It also serves national, international, and local clients from its Florida base.

One detail is worth flagging. The firm provides outsourced in-house counsel for some businesses. That arrangement puts its attorneys inside a company's day-to-day legal questions across many matters at once. Companies that want steady legal support on an ongoing basis often value this kind of relationship.

Offices and reach

The main office is in Weston, Florida. The firm also keeps satellite offices in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and West Palm Beach. That spread covers much of South Florida's coast and its inland suburbs, which puts the attorneys within reach of courts and clients across the region.

Reach beyond the region shows up in the client mix. A South Florida base that handles national and international clients fits a real estate and business practice, where deals and disputes often cross state lines. The firm also lists social profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram for anyone tracking its updates.