FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coral Gables-Based Business Law Firm Achieves Tier 2 Ranking in Construction Litigation; Two Partners Receive Individual Best Lawyers® Honors
CORAL GABLES, FL – McArdle Franco PLLC, a prominent Coral Gables business litigation law firm representing clients across Florida and throughout the United States, has earned a Tier 2 designation in Miami for Litigation – Construction in the highly anticipated 2026 edition of Best Law Firms®. The recognition places the firm among an elite group of legal practices in the Miami metropolitan area and affirms its longstanding reputation for delivering strategic, results-driven counsel to businesses confronting complex disputes and high-stakes commercial transactions.
The Best Law Firms® designation is widely regarded as one of the most respected and authoritative benchmarks in the American legal profession. The selection process is far from routine—firms are evaluated through a rigorous, multi-layered methodology that encompasses direct client feedback, confidential peer assessments from fellow attorneys in the same practice areas, in-depth interviews with recognized industry leaders, and a thorough review of each firm’s credentials, case history, and professional achievements. Only those firms that demonstrate sustained excellence and consistent client satisfaction across all of these criteria earn a coveted place in the annual rankings. For McArdle Franco, the Tier 2 distinction is a testament to years of dedicated advocacy and the trust the firm has earned within the South Florida legal and business communities.
Adding to an already remarkable year, two McArdle Franco partners received distinguished individual recognition. Xavier Franco was named to The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for his outstanding work in Litigation – Construction, a practice area in which he has built a formidable reputation over the course of his career. Michael Mullavey earned a well-deserved place on the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America 2026 list for both Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Construction, signaling his rapid emergence as one of the region’s most talented young litigators. Together, these selections underscore the exceptional depth of legal talent that defines the firm at every level.
Since its founding in 2002, McArdle Franco Miami Law Firm has distinguished itself by seamlessly combining deep legal knowledge with hands-on business experience. The firm’s attorneys have personally managed large-scale land development projects, overseen private equity and debt portfolios, and built thriving companies across multiple industries—experience that fundamentally shapes their ability to see legal challenges through the eyes of their clients and craft strategies with tangible, real-world impact. This entrepreneurial DNA runs through every engagement, enabling the firm to offer the kind of practical, business-minded legal guidance that larger institutions often struggle to deliver.
Core Practice Areas
McArdle Franco’s capabilities span four interconnected practice areas, each informed by the firm’s distinctive blend of legal rigor and business acumen. Below is a closer look at three of the firm’s cornerstone disciplines.
Transaction Structuring
McArdle Franco serves as trusted counsel for partnerships, corporations, and entrepreneurial ventures engaged in complex business, commercial, and real estate transactions. Widely recognized as a go-to South Miami business transaction structuring practice, the firm guides clients through every critical phase of a deal—from preliminary due diligence and term sheet negotiation to final execution and closing. The attorneys bring decades of combined experience to a broad spectrum of transactional matters, including real estate acquisitions and dispositions, construction and development agreements, corporate mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing arrangements, government procurement contracts, joint ventures, supplier and vendor agreements, public-private partnerships, and cross-border commercial deals.
What distinguishes the firm’s transactional practice is its commitment to consequential thinking—a disciplined approach that focuses on anticipating future risks before they have a chance to materialize. Rather than simply drafting documents that reflect the terms on the table, the McArdle Franco team proactively identifies fault lines in deal structures, stress-tests key provisions against a range of potential outcomes, and negotiates terms designed to protect clients from costly disputes down the road. This forward-looking methodology has helped countless clients avoid litigation altogether, saving significant time and resources while keeping transactions firmly on track.
Business Structuring
McArdle Franco works in close partnership with clients to design corporate frameworks that position their businesses for sustainable growth, operational resilience, and long-term stability. Whether a client is preparing to launch a new venture, expanding into new markets, or restructuring an existing organization to accommodate outside investment, the firm’s attorneys bring a comprehensive understanding of the tax, legal, and economic forces that shape critical business decisions.
The team specializes in creating sophisticated multi-tiered entity structures that effectively shield assets, contain potential liabilities, and open clear pathways for outside investment and favorable market exits. The firm takes a methodical approach to every engagement, beginning with a deep dive into the client’s industry, competitive landscape, and strategic objectives. From there, the attorneys develop customized structures that address liability and litigation risk, asset preservation through strategic segregation, the tax implications of single- and multi-entity configurations, exit strategies for founders, owners, and investors, and financing plans for future growth and acquisitions. Drawing on their own entrepreneurial backgrounds in the construction and real estate sectors, the firm’s senior partners offer a rare perspective that blends legal precision with the kind of practical business instinct that only comes from having built and operated companies firsthand.
Land Development and Construction
The firm’s land development and construction practice stands at the very heart of its professional identity and is the practice area most directly connected to the 2026 Best Law Firms® recognition. As a leading South Florida Land Development Law Firm and established South Florida Construction Development Law Firm, McArdle Franco represents virtually every stakeholder in the real estate development lifecycle—from developers and property owners to general contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineering firms, commercial tenants, and both mortgage and commercial lenders.
The attorneys negotiate and draft the full range of project documents that complex developments demand, including land development and construction contracts, professional service agreements, surety bonds encompassing bid, performance, and payment obligations, real estate purchase and sale contracts, commercial financing instruments, private placement memorandums and capital participation offering memorandums, joint venture and public-private partnership agreements, and commercial leases. Every document is prepared with meticulous attention to the interconnectedness of contractual provisions, ensuring that clients fully understand the legal, tax, business, and practical implications of every material term before they commit.
What truly sets this practice apart is the firsthand industry experience of the firm’s senior partners, who have personally built successful real estate, construction, and mortgage enterprises from the ground up. This operational knowledge provides clients with strategic insights that extend far beyond what traditional legal counsel can offer—from understanding the practical realities of project timelines and budgeting to recognizing the regulatory and financial pitfalls that can derail even the most carefully planned developments. It is precisely this unique combination of courtroom skill, transactional sophistication, and industry knowledge that earned McArdle Franco its Tier 2 ranking as a Coral Gables construction litigation law firm in the 2026 Best Law Firms® edition.
Built on Collaboration and Enduring Client Relationships
What ultimately sets McArdle Franco apart from other firms is a deeply ingrained culture of collaboration that permeates everything the practice does. The partners regularly convene to share insights across practice areas, pressure-test legal strategies from multiple angles, and develop innovative solutions as a unified team. When a matter demands specialized expertise beyond the firm’s core disciplines, the attorneys draw on a carefully cultivated network of top-caliber industry professionals—including accountants, financial advisors, engineers, and consultants—to ensure clients receive the most comprehensive and well-rounded guidance available.
This collaborative ethos has been instrumental in forging deep, lasting client relationships—many of which span decades. Clients return to McArdle Franco again and again not simply because of the firm’s legal acumen, but because they trust the attorneys to treat every matter with the same level of care, urgency, and strategic rigor, regardless of its size or complexity. It is this foundation of trust, transparency, and an unwavering focus on results that continues to drive the firm’s success and its recognition among the nation’s best.
Contact Information
McArdle Franco PLLC 255 Alhambra Circle, STE 925 Coral Gables, FL 33134 Phone: (305) 442-2214 Email: info@mcper.com Website: www.mcardlefranco.com
