Jonathan T. Johnson

Jason E. Merritt is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Public Finance Law. Jason E., who practices law in Tallahassee, Florida, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jason E. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Mike McLeod was born in 1954 in Andalusia, Alabama. He graduated from Auburn University in 1976 and from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1979. At Alabama he won every award available for written briefs and oral argument during the annual Law Day Moot Court competition. After completing law school he returned home to Pensacola, Florida where he worked as an assistant public defender before joining the firm in 1984, becoming a partner in 1985. Since 1987 he has been local counsel for...

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...

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

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...

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...

Mike Papantonio is a senior partner with the law firm of Levin Papantonio. He has received numerous multi-million dollar verdicts on behalf of victims of corporate malfeasance. His award-winning work handling thousands of mass tort cases throughout the nation has helped make Levin Papantonio one of the largest plaintiff law firms in the country. Mr. Papantonio is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is a fellow in the Internation...

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...

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...

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...