ATLANTA (December 1, 2010) - Carlton Fields is pleased to announce that for the second year in a row Atlanta shareholder Stephen A. Opler was selected for Georgia Trend magazine’s 2010 Georgia Legal Elite in the area of Business Law. Georgia Legal Elite are attorneys selected by their peers as the most effective in their area of practice. For more information about the publication or the entire list of Legal Elite, please visit http://www.georgiatrend.com/

Opler joined Carlton Fields’ Corporate, Securities & Tax group in March 2009. His legal practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate finance, securities, restructurings, and corporate governance. Prior to joining Carlton Fields, Opler was interim general counsel for Cameron Capital, a Toronto-based private equity firm. He has also served as a principal for Genesis Capital, LLC, an Atlanta-based independent investment bank; was co-founder, managing partner of the organizing Partnership, and a board member for One Georgia Bank; served as an independent business consultant and legal advisor; and was a partner in the law firm of Alston & Bird, LLP. Opler received his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1985 and his B.S. from the University of Virginia in 1981. He has passed the CPA exam as well as the Series 7 and 63 securities exams.