Stuart J. Freeman

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...

Bruce H. Bokor has been a member of Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns LLP since 1977, advising clients throughout Clearwater, Florida and the surrounding areas in matters involving Tax Law, Trusts and Estates, business transactions, and estate planning. His practice includes planning for the purchase and sale of businesses, complex estate planning strategies, and representation in tax controversy matters. Bruce works with business owners, professionals, closely held companies, charitab...

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...

Before joining Johnson Pope, Mary Jo Carney was a founding partner of a boutique law firm in St. Petersburg, Florida which enjoyed 34 years of providing legal services to many local and out-of-state clients. Mary Jo is a real estate transactional attorney specializing in commercial retail projects. Throughout her 40-year career, Mary Jo has represented clients in the acquisition, financing, leasing, development, re-development and sale of numerous grocery-anchored, build-to-suit and mixed use...

EXPERIENCE Charles joined the firm after graduating law school in 1989. He is a board certified civil trial attorney and handles a wide variety of civil litigation cases. His experience includes cases involving businesses disputes, trust and estate litigation, construction defect litigation, and litigation involving non-competition agreements and other restrictive covenants. DISTINCTIONS & MEMBERSHIPS Admitted to The Florida Bar – 1989 Florida Bar Board Certified in Civil Trial Law ...

Brandon D. Bellew is a partner at Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns LLP in Clearwater, Florida. His practice focuses on Litigation – Trusts and Estates, including trust, estate, and guardianship litigation . Brandon represents individuals, families, fiduciaries, and beneficiaries throughout Florida in contested trust, probate, and guardianship matters, including disputes involving incapacity, fiduciary duties, inheritance rights, and estate administration. Throughout his career, Bra...

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 ...

Jodi Leisure is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Jodi, who practices law in Clearwater, Florida, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jodi is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Michael G. Little is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Trusts and Estates. Michael G., who practices law in Clearwater, Florida, has been recognized since 2014. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Michael G. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

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...