ST. PETERSBURG – Carlton Fields is pleased to announce that St. Petersburg Office Managing Shareholder, David R. Punzak, is the recipient of the distinguished 2011 "Heroes Among Us" Service Award by the St. Petersburg Bar Foundation. Punzak was honored for his leadership in many prestigious community organizations and for his long history of community and pro bono service.

The Heroes Among Us Service Award is given annually by the St. Petersburg Bar Foundation Board of Trustees to the attorney who best exemplifies the legal profession through extraordinary contributions and community pro bono service to others. The St. Petersburg Bar Foundation presented the award during their annual black tie dinner which was held on January 28, 2011, at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. Carlton Fields’ Tampa shareholder Sylvia H. Walbolt was honored with this recognition in 2009.

Punzak practices in the areas of real estate and commercial law, and represents nationwide lenders in large commercial transactions and numerous smaller, community-based lenders in loan transactions and corporate matters. For many years, Punzak has represented a Florida-based, nonprofit lender that specializes in making loans to nonprofit and charitable borrowers. He currently represents a number of Florida-based property and casualty insurers in a variety of commercial and regulatory matters, and also serves as Florida counsel to a large Bermuda based reinsurance company. Punzak received his B.S., with honors, from the University of Florida in 1981 and his J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1984.