Joel Hoppenstein has had a fifteen-year career in the practice of law, specializing in government relations. His principal focus had been on financial transactions, amongst which he helped to structure the tobacco settlement between 46 U.S. states and the tobacco companies. He has also assisted, along with his partner John Sears, in helping to sell the Taba Bay Sonesta Hotel to the Egyptian government for $50 million after the Camp David Accords. He also assisted Mordechai Yona and the Heftsiba group obtain financing from the International Financial Corporation (IFC) for a timber concession in Liberia.
Presently, Mr. Hoppenstein is in the process of obtaining a patent to enable corporations to limit their liability when faced with legislative or judicial threat. A native of South Africa, he received his undergraduate degree from American University, and his law degree from Georgetown University, both in Washington, DC.
Mr. Hoppenstein resides in Miami Beach, Florida, with his wife Monica, and their three children. Monica’s father, Rafael Samudio, was Colombian Minister of Defense, and in that capacity traveled to Israel. Additionally, Joel’s father was a South African diplomat who established trade ties between the Republic of South Africa and Israel in the 1970s.
