Steven M. "Steve" Puritz

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...

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...

With over 20 years of litigation and trial experience, Phillip Howell provides clients with early, accurate case assessments, always focused on trial outcomes and mediation strategy. He practices in commercial and insurance litigation with an emphasis on first-party insurance, maritime, construction defect, and professional negligence defense. A licensed Florida CPA, Phillip uses his accounting background to quickly analyze expert findings and financial issues. He also handles complex transac...

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...

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...

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.

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. ...

David L. McGee is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: White-Collar. David L., who practices law in Pensacola, Florida, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which David L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Virginia Buchanan is a shareholder at Levin, Papantonio, Proctor, Buchanan, O’Brian, Barr & Mougey, P.A., having joined the firm in 1989. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida in 1985, and received her Juris Doctorate Degree, with honors, from the University of Florida in 1989. She has served as lead/co-lead counsel in more than 50 jury trials, with results exceeding $500 million. She has a national practice and works extensively in her local Pensacola and sur...

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...