James J. Evangelista

PRACTICE AREAS Real property law Estate planning Probate General commercial law Corporate law Commercial loans Real estate DISTINCTIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS Admitted to The Florida Bar – Admitted 1973 St. Petersburg Bar Association 1973, Florida, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida and U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit The Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Law, Since 2009 EDUCATION Stetson University, J.D. Harvard University, A.B. BIOGRAPHY Member, Editorial Board, S...

Mike Magidson is Board Certified in Health Law by The Florida Bar. Board certification is the highest evaluation of an attorney’s competence and experience comprising only 5% of Florida’s lawyers. Fewer than 130 lawyers in Florida are Board Certified in Health Law. Mike is a transactional lawyer specializing in the representation of health care providers and health care companies in their regulatory, compliance and health care business matters. He also provides counsel to business...

James (Jim) L. Magazine is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Mr. Magazine has been licensed to practice law in the State of Florida since 1990 and has a national practice. He is admitted to practice before the United States Middle and Southern District Courts in Florida, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. Jim is a board member of the Florida Justice Association with nearly 30 years of personal...

Zachary D. Messa is a Board Certified Intellectual Property attorney. He has lived in Pinellas County since 1998 and joined Johnson Pope in the fall of 2001 after graduating from Stetson University College of Law. He is a member of the International Trademark Association and has served as an editor of The Trademark Report, The Law Journal of the International Trademark Association. Since joining the firm, Zachary has gradually focused his practice to all facets of intellectual property law, s...

Wil H. Florin was born in Salzburg, Austria and raised in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He received his B.A. from Ball State University where he was captain of the varsity soccer team and President of the University’s largest social fraternity (Sigma Phi Epsilon). He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Stetson University College of Law in 1980 where he won the school Moot Court competition and was a State Moot Court finalist. The Law School campus (which is perennially recognized by U.S. News and W...

Bob served as a Law Clerk to Honorable William Terrell Hodges, United States District Judge, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida from 1982 – 1984. From 1988 to 1998 he handled catastrophic child and infant injury cases throughout the United States and Canada. While clerking he learned of Johnson Pope’s well-known reputation for quality legal work and ended up joining the firm in April 1999. He is the author of “The Primary Carrier Caught in the Middle with Bad Fa...

Drew Aldikacti is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Family Law. Drew, who practices law in St. Petersburg, Florida, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Drew is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Tommy D. Roebig is a native Floridian, born and raised in Jacksonville. He received his undergraduate degree from Florida State University and his law degree from Stetson University College of Law where he was a member of the National Moot Court Team. In 2007, the Stetson Lawyers Association awarded Tommy and his partner Wil Florin its outstanding Alumni Award (Paul May Meritorious Service Award). He is a member of the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Foundation and numerous other association...

Ben Diamond serves as the managing partner at The Diamond Law Firm PA, situated in St. Petersburg, Florida. He focuses his legal practice on estate planning, estate and trust administration, and fiduciary litigation. Clients recognize Ben for his meticulous attention to detail, thorough preparation, and adeptness in addressing complex challenges. Ben is well-versed in all areas of fiduciary litigation and has been involved in numerous cases, defending against will contests and breach of fiduc...

Thomas B. Smith is a part of the Johnson Pope Health Care Team, and has been involved with the health care industry for more than thirty-five years. Tom is Board Certified in Health Law by The Florida Bar. After receiving his Master in Business Administration specializing in hospital administration, he served in senior administrative positions with several hospitals in Florida for seven years, including serving as Assistant Director for a major 600 bed teaching hospital. He then received his ...