Best Lawyers Near You in Fort Myers, Florida
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Mr. Truxton attended the University of Florida where he received his Bachelors degree in Business Administration in 1977 and his Juris Doctor degree in 1980. Mr. Truxton is a member of The Florida Bar and the American Bar Association. He practices in the areas of commercial real estate and general corporate and business transactions. Mr. Truxton has been named to Florida Trend’s Florida Legal Elite® representing the top 2% of Florida Bar members. He has also been recognized by Flori...
Jonathan Freidin is the Managing Partner at Freidin Brown, P.A. Since joining the firm in 2014, he has handled some of the firm’s most serious personal injury cases and represented clients in several jury trials involving catastrophic injuries. Jonathan’s practice focuses on medical malpractice, complex personal injury, and whistleblower/qui tam claims. He takes great pride in representing his clients and is recognized throughout the firm for his attention to detail in every case ...
James L. Holloway, a Partner in the firm’s Fort Myers office, practices in the areas of litigation and local government law. He represents municipalities, local governments, and private clients in matters relating to land use, permitting, code enforcement, and eminent domain. James also handles litigation matters throughout all phases, including drafting pleadings, directing discovery, and researching and drafting dispositive motions. James frequently appears before Florida courts, the ...
Douglas B. Szabo is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation. Douglas B., who practices law in Fort Myers, Florida, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Douglas B. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
David J. Ledermann advises publicly traded companies, closely held businesses and nonprofit employers on complex employee benefits and executive compensation matters under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. His practice encompasses tax-qualified retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, group health plans and employer-sponsored welfare benefit programs. David counsels employers on the design, implementation, operation and termination of retirement plans, including 4...
Philip Freidin has been practicing law for 50 years and has devoted his life to representing clients who have been seriously injured by the wrongful acts of others. Phil has represented plaintiffs in some of the most significant personal injury and medical malpractice cases in Florida’s history and has earned his status as a pillar in the South Florida legal community. As one federal judge recently wrote, “he is unquestionably among the upper echelons of lawyers in our district.&r...
Robert A. Cooper, a member of the firm’s Board of Directors, focuses his practice in all areas of real estate law, construction law, condominium and homeowners association law, lien and foreclosure law, loan and financing transactions, commercial leasing, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate and business law. Well-known and well-respected for his community association law practice, Robert has extensive experience providing legal counseling to boards of directors, officers and...
Thomas H. “Tom” Gunderson is Florida Bar Board Certified in Real Estate Law and has maintained his Board Certification for more than 25 years. He represents clients in sophisticated commercial real estate development projects, including residential communities, commercial subdivisions, hotels, apartment complexes, shopping centers and office buildings. His practice also includes complex commercial leasing, banking and real estate finance matters. Tom previously served for many yea...
Philip V. Howard is a partner in the Fort Myers office. He focuses his practice in the areas of Trust and Estate Litigation, Guardianship Litigation, Fiduciary Litigation, and Estate Planning. Philip has significant trial experience in the areas of inheritance disputes, fiduciary disputes, contested wills and trusts, guardianship disputes, elder exploitation injunctions and elder exploitation lawsuits and other contested probate matters. Although Philip focuses his practices on the 20th Judic...
Erin Houck-Toll is Florida Bar Board Certified in both Health Law and Tax Law. She chairs Henderson Franklin’s Health Care, Mergers & Acquisitions, Business Organizations & Planning and Tax practice areas. Erin advises businesses, health care organizations, entrepreneurs and nonprofit entities on federal and state taxation, business planning, mergers and acquisitions, health care law and tax-exempt organization matters. She also represents taxpayers before the Internal Revenue S...
Danielle M. Balczon is a partner in the firm’s Ft. Myers office. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology. She subsequently obtained her Juris Doctor Degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama. While in law school, Balczon studied abroad at Cambridge University and served as an intern in Alabama State University’s Athletic Department. Prior to joining Cole, ...
Kenneth A. Jones has more than 40 years of experience practicing eminent domain, condemnation and property rights law. Ken has handled hundreds of eminent domain cases on behalf of individual and business property owners throughout Florida. He has defended his clients’ rights against government entities including the State of Florida Department of Transportation, South Florida Water Management district, Florida Gas, and various counties, municipalities and utility companies. His represe...
Scott Atwood chairs Henderson Franklin’s Labor and Employment Law Group and has practiced for three decades, representing employers, entrepreneurs and public entities in Florida, Georgia and throughout the United States. His practice encompasses employment litigation and counseling involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour matters, FMLA leave, restrictive covenants, trade secrets and employment agreements. A Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator, ...
Before joining the firm in 2013, Joel H. Brown was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chief Judge for the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida in 2009. Joel was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1971 and had been practicing personal injury law as a civil trial lawyer prior to his appointment by former Governor Bob Martinez to the County Court in 1990. Following his appointment, Joel served as Associate Administrative Judge of the County Court, Criminal Traffic Division, and then served as Adminis...
J. Matthew Belcastro is Florida Bar Board Certified in Construction Law and chairs Henderson Franklin’s Tort and Insurance Litigation Department. He represents clients in construction disputes, contract and business litigation, real estate matters and appeals, drawing on extensive experience handling complex disputes in Florida state and federal courts. Matthew is admitted to practice before all Florida state courts, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the Eleven...