Alan Becker, trailblazing condo association lawyer and state legislator, dies at age 74
Alan Becker, co-founder of the Becker & Poliakoff law firm that blazed the trail in the 1970s and 1980s on a revolutionary area of Florida law governing condominium ownership, died Saturday at his home in Southwest Ranches after an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 74.
Becker counted thousands of condo associations throughout Florida as clients.
“When it comes to condo law, they wrote it,” Becker’s daughter Marni Becker-Avin said. “The legislation didn’t exist before Becker and Poliakoff created it. They both came from humble beginnings and felt a strong sense of responsibility to the underdog. They wanted to give elderly people living in condos the rights they deserved and the tools to control their own destiny.”
Becker and Gary Poliakoff met during their first year of law school at the University of Miami when they won a mock trial competition. Together, they drafted laws on shared ownership housing in Florida, a new specialty that became known as community association law. When they first formed a partnership that would last 42 years, they worked out of the trunk of a car representing condo owners. Their firm grew into one of the 20 largest firms in Florida, with offices in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
Poliakoff died in 2014 at age 69.
A passionate writer, teacher and painter, Becker began his career as an assistant public defender before becoming, at age 26, the youngest person elected to the Florida House of Representatives. During his three terms, from 1972 to 1978, Becker, a Democrat, was principal author or sponsor of much of Florida’s condo homeowner association law. He also helped draft the Florida Corporation Act, Mechanic’s Lien Act, Evidence Code and Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve Act and reform of the Miami-Dade County grand jury system.
“One of the things that was really important to my dad was reaching across the aisle and working together with all people for the benefit of our community and state,” said Becker’s daughter Ilana Becker. “He used to say ‘power abhors a vacuum,’ and it was essential to him as an attorney to safeguard the rights of everyone, especially the little guy.
“We also grew up hearing a lot of Winston Churchill quotes about never giving in or quitting.”
Before he retired, Becker continued to play an active role in his firm, working with the government law and lobbying, litigation, construction and international practice areas.
Becker and Poliakoff opened offices in Prague and in Quangzhou, China, 27 years ago and assisted post-communist countries with the transition to capitalism from state-controlled housing and business to private ownership.
“I saw opportunity there because of rapid changes and because there was very little competition,” Becker told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 1994. “A lot of people ask, ‘Why not go to London or Paris?’ Well, there are 200 American law firms there and they’ve been there for 100 years. You go to China and there are a handful for one billion people. Where would you go?”
Becker served as Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic from 1992 to 2016, and learned Czech so he could pass the Czech Bar — one of very few foreigners to do so.
“I’m receiving a lot of texts and emails from people who said my father was always the smartest person in the room but he never made anyone feel that way because he was so authentic and down to earth,” Marni said. “He listened to people. He loved to learn and he loved to teach — his attorneys, his students, his kids. He was always rooting for you.”
Becker grew up in Brooklyn, son of Jack and Lorraine Becker. He spent summers with his late brother Martin at Sun Mountain camp. He enrolled at Brooklyn College at the age of 16 and graduated from University of Miami law school in 1969.
A lifelong theater fan, he used to take his daughters and grandchildren to see plays on Broadway every summer. He loved George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald, Frankie Valli, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Pink Panther movies and his Vizsla dogs. At his vacation house in Maine, he enjoyed painting landscapes.
“He was constantly working hard so when he’d surprise you with a joke it was delicious,” Ilana said. “He had a wry sense of humor.
“Though we are heartbroken to say goodbye to our devoted, supportive and tenacious father, we felt so overwhelmingly fortunate to have had the time we’ve shared with him. We will always carry with us so many happy memories of the man who taught us persistence, resilience and the importance of a good milkshake.”
Becker taught “The Business of Law” at the University of Miami and lectured on leadership at Keiser University.
Becker was recognized by Florida Trend magazine as a member of the “Legal Elite” every year since the award’s inception and by South Florida CEO Magazine as a member of South Florida’s “Power Elite.” His peers voted him one of the “Best Lawyers in America” from 2005–2020.
Becker was a member of the Enterprise Florida Board of Directors and received the Governor’s Business Ambassador Medallion for contributions to economic development. He was chair of Miami’s Beacon Council from 2011 to 2012.
Becker is survived by his mother, Lorraine Becker, his wife, Debra Jean Becker, daughters Marni (and son-in-law Roie) and Ilana, and grandchildren Adam and Sabrina.
Services will be held virtually on Zoom at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with Shiva to follow from 2 to 4 p.m., and again on Wednesday, from 5 to 7 p.m. To attend, visit https://tinyurl.com/AlanBeckerServices.
In lieu of flowers or food, please consider a donation to his grandson Adam’s Wuf Shanti Children’s Wellness Foundation, https://wufshanti.com/.
