Published on November 28, 2008
EXHIBIT
5.1
OPINION
OF COUNSEL
November
26, 2008
NeoGenomics,
Inc.
12701
Commonwealth Drive, Suite 9
Fort
Myers, Florida 33913
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
We
have
acted as your counsel in connection with the Registration Statement on Form
S-1
(the “Registration Statement”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”) for the registration of
7,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of NeoGenomics,
Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”). The Registration Statement includes
for registration (i) 3,000,000 shares of common stock subject to issuance by
the
Company pursuant to a Common Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”)
and a Registration Rights Agreement dated as of November 5, 2008 by and between
the Company and Fusion Capital Fund II, LLC (the “Fusion Capital Purchase
Agreement Shares”); (ii) 400,000 shares of common stock issued to Fusion Capital
as a non-refundable commitment fee in connection with the Purchase Agreement
(the “Commitment Fee Shares”); (iii) 17,500 shares of common stock issued to
Fusion Capital as an expense reimbursement in connection with the Purchase
Agreement (the “Reimbursement Shares”); (iv) 2,540,585 shares of common stock
previously issued to Aspen Select Healthcare, LP (“Aspen”) on April 15, 2003
(the “Aspen Shares”); (v) 398,648 shares of common stock currently held by the
persons and entities (the “Investors”) described in the “Selling Shareholders”
section of the Registration Statement, which shares were previously issued
by
the Company to Aspen and distributed by Aspen to such Investors in September,
2007 (the “Investor Shares”); and (vi) 643,267 shares of common stock previously
issued to Dr. Michael Dent as founder shares and subsequently transferred to
Mary S. Dent in February, 2007 (the “Founder Shares”). The Fusion Capital
Purchase Agreement Shares, the Commitment Fee Shares, the Reimbursement Shares,
the Aspen Shares, the Investor Shares, and the Founder Shares shall be referred
to collectively as the “Shares”.
You
have
requested our opinion as to the matters set forth below in connection with
the
Registration Statement. For purposes of rendering this opinion, we have examined
the Registration Statement, the Company’s articles of incorporation, as amended,
and bylaws, and the corporate action of the Company that provides for the
issuance of the Shares, and we have made such other investigation as we have
deemed appropriate. We have examined and relied upon certificates of public
officials and, as to certain matters of fact that are material to our opinion,
we have also relied on certificates made by officers of the Company. In
rendering our opinion, in addition to the assumptions that are customary in
opinion letters of this kind, we have assumed the genuineness of signatures
on
the documents we have examined, the conformity to authentic original documents
of all documents submitted to us as copies, and the Company will have sufficient
authorized and unissued shares of common stock available with respect to any
Shares issued after the date of this letter. We have not verified any of these
assumptions.
This
opinion is rendered as of the date hereof and is limited to matters of Nevada
corporate law, including applicable provisions of the Nevada Constitution and
reported judicial decisions interpreting those laws. We express no opinion
as to
the laws of any other state, the federal law of the United States, or the effect
of any applicable federal or state securities laws.
Based
upon and subject to the foregoing, it is our opinion that the Fusion Capital
Purchase Agreement Shares subject to issuance are duly authorized for issuance
by the Company and, when issued and paid for as described in the Registration
Statement, will be validly issued, fully paid, and nonassessable, and that
the
Commitment Fee Shares, the Reimbursement Shares, the Aspen Shares, the Investor
Shares, and the Founder Shares previously issued by the Company were duly
authorized for issuance, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable when
issued.
We
consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration
Statement and to the reference to this firm in the related Prospectus under
the
caption “Legal Matters”. In giving our consent we do not admit that we are in
the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the 1933
Act or the rules and regulations under such act.
Very
truly yours,
/s/Burton,
Bartlett & Glogovac
Burton,
Bartlett & Glogovac