Best Lawyers Near You in Jacksonville, Florida for Banking and Finance Law
Florida is home to more than 23 million people, hundreds of industries and a wide range of legal needs. From individuals navigating personal matters like divorce or estate planning to businesses managing complex contracts or regulatory hurdles, legal guidance plays a critical role in daily life across the state.
Florida’s unique economic drivers—tourism, real estate, agriculture and healthcare—create specific legal demands that often require attorneys with focused regional experience. Whether you're in the Keys, the Panhandle, or Central Florida, understanding the local context can be just as important as understanding the law.
When it’s time to find the right attorney in Florida for your needs, language matters too. In Florida—as in most states—lawyer and attorney are often used interchangeably. But technically, only an attorney is licensed to practice law.
That distinction matters here. Best Lawyers only includes professionals who are fully licensed and actively practicing—legal advocates recognized by their peers for excellence in skill, ethics and service.
Whether you're facing a personal challenge, planning for the future, or trying to protect your business, Best Lawyers connects you with attorneys across Florida who are qualified, trusted and ready to help.
How to Use This Page
Our directory makes it easy to find a Florida attorney who fits your needs. You can search by practice area, city, or name. Whether you’re based in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tallahassee, or anywhere in between, the search tools are designed for speed and clarity.
Each attorney profile provides:
- Areas of practice
- Years of experience
- Peer-review distinctions
- Contact information and firm affiliations
This transparency helps you evaluate your options and choose someone with the right background for your specific legal issue. You’re accessing a curated list of professionals with proven reputations in their field.
This is more than a directory—it’s a research tool for making smarter legal decisions. Whether you’re hiring an attorney for the first time or seeking secondary advice on an ongoing matter, the information here helps you avoid guesswork. It’s especially useful for individuals managing high-stakes or emotionally charged issues, like a contested divorce or a business dispute with large financial consequences.
Legal Coverage Throughout Florida
No matter where you live or what kind of legal help you need, chances are we’ve got it covered. Best Lawyers recognizes attorneys in both high-demand and niche areas of practice across all corners of the state. This directory includes lawyers from large metro areas like Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville, as well as smaller communities like Gainesville, Pensacola and Sarasota, ensuring you can find representation no matter where you're located.
Some of the most commonly searched legal services in Florida include:
- Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice: With Florida’s population growth and busy roadways, personal injury and accident attorneys play a major role in helping people recover and rebuild.
- Family Law and Divorce: Family-related matters—from custody disputes to prenuptial agreements—require attorneys with both skill and sensitivity.
- Real Estate and Land Use: Florida’s hot real estate markets make it essential to have a qualified attorney for closings, zoning, development and litigation.
- Business and Corporate Law: From startups in Miami to legacy businesses in the Panhandle, attorneys guide everything from contracts to mergers.
- Criminal Defense: Experienced defense attorneys help clients navigate Florida’s criminal justice system with insight and integrity.
- Immigration Law: As a diverse and international state, Florida sees high demand for legal representation in immigration and naturalization matters.
- Estate Planning and Elder Law: With many retirees and aging residents, Florida has a strong need for attorneys who specialize in wills, trusts, Medicaid planning and probate.
We also include lawyers practicing in emerging or specialized fields, such as cybersecurity law, cannabis regulation, aviation law and education law. With so many attorneys practicing across Florida, it can be difficult to know who truly stands out. That’s where Best Lawyers adds genuine value by showing you not just every practitioner who’s licensed, but qualified attorneys who have earned the respect of their peers through years of dedicated service and proven results.
A Peer-Review Process You Can Trust
Every attorney listed in our Florida page has earned recognition through Best Lawyers’ rigorous annual peer-review process. This is a comprehensive methodology grounded in the insights of the legal community itself.
Here’s how it works:
- Nomination: Lawyers are nominated by peers or clients who have observed their work firsthand.
- Peer Review: Attorneys in the same practice area assess the nominee’s skill, integrity and results. This is confidential and weighted.
- Eligibility and Verification: Nominees must be in good standing with the bar and actively practicing law. We verify their status through state bar associations and other professional channels.
- Annual Re-evaluation: Because legal landscapes evolve, our recognitions are not static. Each year, the process begins again to ensure continued excellence.
This process helps ensure the integrity of our listings. If you’re selecting an attorney from our directory, you’re choosing someone who didn’t just claim to be the best—they were recognized by other attorneys as among the best in their field.
Start Your Search for an Attorney in Florida by Practice Area or City
Whether you’re dealing with a landlord dispute, a complicated contract, or a life-changing injury, finding the right attorney can make all the difference. Best Lawyers makes that search faster, clearer and more trustworthy.
Explore our Florida pages to find top-rated attorneys by:
- Practice Area: Choose the legal focus that best matches your needs.
- City: Get local insights and representation in your region.
Your legal matter deserves careful consideration—and the right advocate. With Best Lawyers, you’re not just searching. You’re starting from a foundation of credibility, clarity and peer-backed trust. Browse by practice area or location to get started today and feel confident knowing that every name you see here has been vetted by fellow attorneys who know what it takes to provide outstanding legal service in Florida.
Practice Area Overview
Corporate Law & Commercial Litigation Legal Guide 2024
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Mr. Breuer focuses on real estate and finance law. He has experience in a broad range of commercial real estate matters and specializes in real estate finance as he represents national, regional and local lending institutions in a wide variety of secured lending transactions. Mr. Breuer also has extensive experience representing clients in the workout of distressed credits.
Ivan A. Colao practices in the area of corporate and securities laws, as well as in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments and loan transactions. Mr. Colao has represented public and private companies, businesses and individuals in various types of financings and commercial transactions. His experience includes securities offerings, corporate acquisitions, dispositions, mergers, reorganizations, syndication and finance, asset acquisitions and dispositions, venture capital inves...
Christian George serves as managing partner of Akerman’s Jacksonville office. Christian has a statewide practice focusing on commercial litigation and creditors’ rights in all courts, including bankruptcy court. Christian routinely represents financial institutions and other lenders, shareholders, members and partners in professional corporations, LLCs and partnerships, as well as all types of businesses, individuals and families in all areas of commercial litigation. Additionally...
Richard W. Hawthorne is a partner at DMHD, where he focuses on real estate and banking law. He represents buyers and sellers in commercial and residential real estate transactions, landlords and tenants in commercial leasing and developers of multifamily housing and retail buildings. He also has significant experience representing buyers and sellers of debt obligations.Mr. Hawthorne previously worked for Arthur Anderson & Co. (Jacksonville, Florida) as a tax accountant, Foley & Lardne...
Matt McAfee is a founding partner at DMHD. He focuses his practice in the area of real estate and banking law. He represents buyers and sellers in commercial real estate law, acquisitions and dispositions, commercial development, and commercial leasing. He has extensive experience in real estate project finance, including securitized debt and mezzanine financing. Mr. McAfee also represents clients in real estate-backed lending and the workout of distressed credits.
Bryan is the chair of the firm’s Real Estate Department and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. He has more than 30 years of experience in commercial real estate law, with a focus on transactional finance, sales and acquisitions, leasing and title insurance. Bryan advises purchasers and sellers in all phases of contract negotiations and due diligence for property acquisition, development and sale. His work includes §1031 exchanges and large acreage agricultural propert...
John is a trial lawyer in the firm’s litigation department. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, insolvency matters, sports litigation, and environmental litigation. For more than a decade, John has represented plaintiffs and defendants in contract, business tort, and corporate governance disputes in a variety of industries, including banking, construction, manufacturing, and real estate. He also represents creditors in federal and state courts throughout Florida. His ...
Trey Wilson is a partner at DMHD. He focuses his practice in the areas of commercial real estate and banking law. He represents clients in sales, purchases, leases, development and construction. Mr. Wilson is experienced in real estate project finance, including financing, loan workouts and restructuring. Before joining DMHD in 2018, he worked for Smith, Hulsey & Busey (Jacksonville, Florida), first as an associate and then as a shareholder.
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.