June 27, 2001
Weston Attorney named 2001 Small Business of the Person of the Year
More than ten years ago Roy Oppenheim was a successful Wall Street at- attorney, who routinely put in 80-hour workweeks and rarely saw his family. He was chasing the American dream. The only problem - there was no time to enjoy his success. So, Oppenheim turned his back on high-pressure life, and together with his wife,
Since starting the practice, Mr. Oppenheim has built the oldest, most successful Weston-based law firm and founded Weston Title and Escrow, one of the area's larger independently-owned title companies. He's also thrown himself into community service and made a real difference in South Florida. Ellen Pilelsky, chose July 4,1 990 to hang out a shingle in Weston. Thus, Oppenheim Pilelsky was born.
His success and contributions to the Weston area have not gone unnoticed. On June 16th, Mr. Oppenheim was honored by the Weston Area Chamber of Commerce as the 2001 Small Business Person of the Year. The award was presented at the Twelfth Annual Dinner Dance at the Sheraton Suites in Plantation for
Mr. Oppenheim's business and civic contributions to the community. The recipient of the award cannot have an excess of 50 employees.
According to the Weston Area of Commerce, Mr. Oppenheim.
was selected for the award because of his deep commitment and tireless involvement in the Weston Community.
And now, the firm originally designed by Mr. Oppenheim to meet the needs of a young, up- start community near the Everglades is serving an international client base - all from the Weston offices of Oppenheim Pilelsky.
Mr. Oppenheim's practice areas are diverse and his small firm often handles very big cases. He recently made head- -lines as founder and President of Private AG, a private corporation that represents the state under the Florida Whistleblower Act. Private AG is seeking to recover hundreds of mil- lions of dollars from relocation companies that have failed to pay doe stamp fees to the state. During the last legislative session, Mr. Oppenheim was instrumental in defeating a bill that would have thrown out the Private AG lawsuit and made it legal for relocation companies not to pay their doe stamp fees. The proposed legislation that was defeated by Oppenheim would have also granted the relocation companies amnesty for their illegal misdeeds.
Last summer, Mr. Oppenheim was involved in filing one of the first class actions against Bridgestone/Firestone concerning their defective tires. The lawsuit asked the company to is- sue vouchers so that Ford -Explorer owners could replace their defective tires immediately. Mr. Oppenheim is currently suing the U.S. Government concerning the wrongful death of a two-year old who died of meningitis after a misdiagnosis by a doctor at MacDill Air force Base in Tampa, Florida.
While building his legal practice, Mr. Oppenheim has also grown into one of the pre-eminent title and escrow experts in South Florida. Weston Title and Escrow is currently developing a state of the art, e-commerce platform that is generating substantial business at WestonTitle.com. The site that allows builders, banks, realtors and individual consumers to place and track orders via their secure web site.
Mr. Oppenheim's contributions to the community go far beyond his successful businesses. He is involved in several organizations and groups that have left their mark. Mr. Oppenheim is a director and founder of the Weston Foundation, serving as Chairman of its Allocation Committee. This organization purpose is to improve the cultural life in Weston. He was instrumental in creating the Association of Homeowners of Weston, as a founder and attorney for the group. Mr. Oppenheim and his family were founding members and Mr. Oppenheim served as President of Temple B'nai Aviv.
Dedicated to Democratic politics, Mr. Oppenheim served on the Executive Committee of the Broward Democratic Executive Committee and was a Florida Delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. In 1998 he was President of the Weston Democratic Club, which he co- founded in the early 1990's.
Oppenheim is a partner in the firm, along with his wife Ellen Pilelsky.
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