Best Lawyers in Tallahassee, Florida
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Practice Areas
A former deputy general counsel of the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (now DEP), Silvia Alderman is the chair of Akerman’s Water Task Force, a team of multidisciplinary legal professionals and consultants advising on the regulatory and environmental challenges facing our clients. Recognized by Chambers USA , Silvia is praised for her “wealth of knowledge representing utilities” as well as being “very strong on administrative law.” Silvia represent...
David C. Ashburn represents a diverse array of clients in their dealings with numerous state and federal regulatory agencies. David’s understanding of governmental regulatory processes has also enabled him to provide counsel to buyers and sellers of health care related businesses, and to lenders and private equity groups that finance those transactions. The many types of health care, managed care and insurance related clients David has represented include the following: Ambulatory surge...
Chris Barkas is a shareholder in Carr Allison’s Tallahassee, Florida office where his practice focuses primarily on the defense of commercial vehicle claims, employment-related claims, professional liability claims and retail/premises liability claims. An AV-rated attorney through Martindale-Hubbell, Chris has practiced law in the North Florida area for more than 20 years and has conducted jury trials in many of the counties in the area. In the early part of his career, Chris was an Ass...
Lo Bielby is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who appears throughout Florida in all Courts, representing business as well as state and municipal entities with complex commercial and civil litigation, smoking and health cases, medical product disputes, regulatory administrative matters, employment, medical cannabis regulatory items, and select criminal matters. Lo is regularly listed in The Best Lawyers in America and has completed more than 100 jury trials, as well as bench and admin...
Michael J. Cherniga is Co-Chair of the firm's Health & FDA Business Practice. On a regional and national basis, Mike's practice involves representation of a diverse client base consisting of health care organizations (and clients which support the business of health care), both for-profit and not-for-profit. He also has substantial experience serving health care professionals and allied health care personnel who serve or support those organizations. The types of clients involved in the bu...
David Childs, a partner with Holtzman Vogel, helps clients solve problems with government. Often the solutions involve successful modifications to Florida statutes and regulations. Other times it involves supporting budgetary items critical to a client’s interests or helping clients identify and pursue procurement opportunities. David has earned a reputation for forthrightness and an in-depth understanding of water policy, the legislative process, and state administrative procedures. Da...
Lawrence N. Curtin has practiced environmental and administrative law since 1978. He has represented and counseled clients on a variety of matters in the environmental area. Since beginning his environmental practice, he has been involved in the implementation of a number of important regulatory statutes, including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, as well as the dev...
Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law, Martin Dix focuses his practice primarily on pharmacy and drug distribution law. His clients encompass nearly all aspects of the legal drug delivery system, including pharmacies, pharmacists, and pharmacy benefit managers; drug wholesalers; drug and dietary supplement manufacturers; retail medical oxygen dealers; and compressed medical gases wholesalers. He has also represented a variety of other health care providers and entities, such as phy...
Mr. Graham’s practice involves a wide variety of commercial practice areas including commercial litigation, business transactions and business law. His transactional work has included the formation and development of corporations, not for profit entities, LLC’s and partnerships. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Graham has represented numerous counties throughout North and Central Florida. He regularly provides defense representation to local governments on a wide array of tort claims. ...
A former interim Medicaid Director, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Deputy General Counsel, and Chief Medicaid Counsel for the State of Florida, Steven Grigas has presided over the State of Florida’s $15 billion Medicaid program with particular focus in managed care, disease management, pharmacy services, long term care, and hospital services. Steven is well-versed in Medicaid policies and procedures, reimbursement issues, program integrity, and fraud control. His deep healthcare sector kno...
JAMES W. GUSTAFSON JR . is a Shareholder with Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., a member of the firm’s executive committee, and the managing partner of the firm’s Tallahassee office. He is a sixth generation Florida native who served with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and studied at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, before becoming a trial lawyer. Mr. Gustafson is a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a worldwide organization limited to ju...
Shannon Hartsfield Salimone is the regulatory and litigation leader of the firm's Healthcare & Life Sciences Team and co-chair of the Data Privacy and Security Team. She practices in the area of health law, advising clients on state and federal healthcare regulatory matters, including corporate and regulatory compliance, data privacy, licensure, prescription drug distribution and pharmaceutical pedigree requirements and telemedicine. Ms. Salimone's clients include assisted living faciliti...
Gary Hunter is a partner at Holtzman Vogel, where he maintains a broad governmental law practice with emphasis on state government affairs, land use entitlements, property rights advocacy and environmental issues. In over three decades of practice in Florida, Gary has represented Florida’s largest landowners in complex land use strategic development, litigation, and large area planning. He has been equally privileged to represent everyday landowners in protecting property rights from re...
Mohammad “Mo” Jazil is a partner with Holtzman Vogel. His broad litigation practice includes state and federal constitutional cases, white-collar criminal matters, government investigations, election disputes, Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act rulemaking and enforcement cases, federal telecommunications matters, Everglades restoration, takings cases, pricing disputes, and general civil appeals. He has served as first chair in federal and state court trials; and briefed and argued ...
Doug Jones is a shareholder in the Tallahassee, Florida office of Carr Allison. He has over 35 years of trial experience and currently defends physicians, nursing homes, hospitals, dentists and other health care professionals in malpractice suits across the state and before state licensing agencies. He has extensive experience defending health care providers against claims involving complex medical issues, punitive damages, fraud and allegations of associated corporate misconduct. Mr. Jones c...
M. Hope Keating handles appeals for clients in both state and federal courts. Her areas of representation include all aspects of civil and administrative law. She also provides litigation support during all stages of litigation in all facets of law. Hope regularly advises a myriad of health care facilities and providers on a wide array of complex and practical regulatory matters such as licensure, medical records, end-of-life issues, patient discharge, contracts, and Medicare and Medicaid cer...
CAMERON KENNEDY is a shareholder with Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. Throughout his career, he has dedicated himself to representing clients in cases across the State of Florida and throughout the Southeastern United States. As a trial attorney with an unparalleled work ethic and attention to detail, Mr. Kennedy has recovered more than $100 million on behalf of his clients, including many multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements in cases involving dangerous and defect...
Halley B. "Hal" Lewis, III, is an 11th Generation Floridian who is Board Certified in Personal Injury Law. He has obtained more than 55 verdicts or settlements in excess of $1,000,000 for his clients over his career, and his wrongful death verdict of $75,000,000 in 1997 was the third highest in the United States for that year. He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and has been regularly selected to Best Lawyers in America and SuperLawyers.
D. Bruce May Jr. heads the firm’s Public Utility practice. For more than 28 years, he has been actively involved before the Florida Public Service Commission and other regulatory agencies on a variety of matters relating to electric, natural gas, water and wastewater utilities. He is also active in legislative matters involving public utility, energy and environmental law issues. Mr. May’s electric and natural gas utility experience includes: representation of utilities in contest...
Maribel Nicholson-Choice's practice focuses on various aspects of environmental, real estate, and financial institution representations, and governmental affairs. Maribel had more than 20 years of experience negotiating and resolving complex environmental regulatory, permitting, and litigation matters. Maribel's practice consists of environmental matters for financial institutions. She advises lending clients on environmental liability including permitting and remediation projects associated ...
Sonya Penley represents clients in the health care sector with respect to corporate, regulatory, administrative and governmental issues. Her diverse clients include long-term care providers, physician group practices, assisted living facilities, hospitals, hospices, home health agencies, DME suppliers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). She has particular experience with health facility acquisitions, mergers and other cha...
Bruce Platt serves as managing partner of Akerman’s Tallahassee office and as deputy chair of the Healthcare Practice Group. With a background in healthcare and medical technology, he helps insurers, providers, and related companies navigate federal and state regulations and administrative law. Clients rely on Bruce for guidance on complex regulations, such as the Florida Insurance Code, HIPAA, and the Affordable Care Act. His clients include Aetna, AvMed, Florida Blue, Health First, an...
Steven Richardson is a partner in the Tallahassee office of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A. He has been with the firm since 2013 and has worked in both the Tampa and Tallahassee offices. Mr. Richardson has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® since 2024 for Insurance Law. Mr. Richardson's practice focuses in the areas of catastrophic and personal injury, general civil litigation, premises liability, trucking defense, security negligence, vehicle negligence, wrongful death, defectiv...
CARTER W. SCOTT is licensed to practice in both Florida and Georgia and has been admitted pro hac vice to handle cases in various states throughout the country. He maintains a practice focused on wrongful death and serious injury cases resulting from brain injury, spinal cord injury, burns and catastrophic orthopedic injuries. He has represented clients in all types of complex litigation, with a focus on large personal injury lawsuits, including trucking collisions, products liability, medica...
Robert Scott is a seasoned trial lawyer, who has devoted his entire practice to serving the injured. In 2010, at the age of 27, Robert founded Scott & Wallace LLP with his law partner, Clint Wallace. In 2012, at the age of 29, Robert obtained his first recovery over $500,000. He tried his first wrongful death case to a jury verdict at the age of 31. At the age of 32, Robert obtained his first multimillion-dollar recovery. In 2021, Robert served as lead counsel and secured a seven-figure v...
Lawrence E. Sellers Jr. practices administrative and governmental law, with a concentration in environmental and land use matters. He regularly provides advice on permitting and enforcement matters involving a variety of federal, state, regional and local administrative agencies. He has substantial experience in administrative law, including rulemaking, adjudicatory hearings and appellate review. For more than 25 years, he has represented clients before the Florida Legislature, primarily on e...
The Michael Ufferman Law Firm is committed to assisting clients in need of representation in the legal system. The firm’s number one goal is protecting the client’s rights in a time of need. The firm offers experience and dedication, with particular attention paid to the personal interests of the client. The firm concentrates on state and federal criminal appeals and state and federal postconviction motions. Mr. Ufferman is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the Unit...
Karen D. Walker serves as executive partner of the Tallahassee office and practices in the firm’s Public Policy & Regulation Group. Ms. Walker’s practice encompasses all aspects of Florida administrative law, and she has a broad range of experience in Florida state and local government procurement matters and public utility law. Ms. Walker also regularly counsels clients on Florida ethics and election law issues. She practices before the Florida Division of Administrative Hear...
Jerod M. Rigoni serves as counsel in Carr Allison’s Tallahassee (FL) office where his practice includes workers’ compensation, insurance and labor and employment. He is admitted to practice before all state courts in Florida, the US District Court for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida and the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Jerod earned his bachelor’s degree, cum laude , from Georgia Southern University. He then earned his Juris Doctor from...