Ricardo "Rick" Rivera

Joseph W. "Jay" Fleece, III, is a native Floridian having been born and raised in St. Petersburg. Mr. Fleece started practicing law in 1980 with the firm of Belcher & Fleece, P.A., and subsequently joined Holland & Knight, where he was a partner heading up the litigation department of the St. Petersburg office. In 2004, Mr. Fleece joined with Hamden H. Baskin, III, and founded the law firm of BaskinFleece, located in Clearwater, Florida. In 2017 Mr. Fleece moved his practice back to S...

Brandon D. Bellew, a partner at Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns, LLP, provides outstanding representation in the areas of trust, estate and guardianship litigation and has done so during his entire career. He represents clients throughout Florida in all types and phases of contested issues relating to trusts, estates and guardianships.He frequently writes articles and lectures on trust, estate and guardianship litigation topics. He is very active in the Florida Bar’s Real Property...

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 ...

Serving as of-counsel, Joseph W. Gaynor, joined the firm Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns, LLP in January 2008. Joseph W. Gaynor, P.A. (1995 – present), was the successor to Jacobs, Robbins and Gaynor, P.A. and its successors by merger (1971-1995) specializing in real estate; acquisition, financing and conversion of manufactured home communities and apartments; development of shopping centers, office buildings, apartment complexes, condominiums and planned unit developments, inc...

Chuck has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1981 and has a diverse commercial and business litigation practice. Those areas include real estate litigation, special asset work, employment disputes, probate litigation, construction litigation, personal injury, and a wide range of civil and business related litigation matters. He was previously employed at Harper, Kynes, Geller and Buford, P.A. and joined Johnson Pope in 2007. He is board certified by the Florida Bar in business litigation....

Joel has over 40 years of experience in tax, business, asset protection, and estate and gift tax planning for high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs. He consults on business entities, including limited liability companies (LLCs), S corporations and limited liability partnerships (LLPs). He structures and prepares shareholder agreements, operating agreements and other business agreements. He also routinely handles sophisticated estate planning including the preparation of wills, revocabl...

A firm member since 1977, Bruce has extensive experience in planning for the sale and purchases of businesses. He also developed a special expertise in complex estate planning, purchases and sales of businesses and tax controversy matters. His clientele includes successful businesspersons, professionals, closely–held businesses, charitable organizations and individuals with special tax planning or estate planning needs. Bruce is a former chairman of The Florida Bar Tax Section and a for...

Rachel N. Barlow focuses her practice on estate planning, probate and trust administration, as well as probate and trust controversies and litigation. As a Board Certified attorney by the Florida Bar in the area of Wills, Trusts, and Estates, Rachel brings valuable qualifications to her clients. She acquired her Master of Laws (LL.M. in Taxation) from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2013. Before joining The Diamond Law Firm PA, Rachel practiced at the national law firm of Cu...

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...

Thomas W. Carey is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Thomas W., who practices law in Clearwater, Florida, has been recognized since 2007. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Thomas W. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.