Best Lawyers in Florida, United States for Land Use and Zoning Law
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Gina Grimes is counsel in Bradley’s Real Estate and Economic Development practice groups. She has extensive experience in land use, real estate development and investment, and economic development matters in Tampa’s active market. Prior to joining the firm, Gina served as the City Attorney for the City of Tampa. She formerly served as Chief Assistant City Attorney and City Council Attorney for the City of Tampa from 1985 to 2004. Her tenure with the City of Tampa provided her with...
Jim Porter is board certified by the Florida Bar as an expert in City, County, and Local Government Law. He concentrates his practice on land use and zoning, as well as government relations, and also has experience with the wireless communications industry, including cellular tower zoning issues. Jim is also the current School Board Attorney for the Hillsborough County School Board, the 8th largest school district in the nation. Jim formerly served as the Chief Assistant County Attorney for t...
Michael (Mickey) has been practicing land use and governmental law for more than two decades. His law practice is focused primarily on representing clients throughout South Florida in all areas of development approvals including zoning, land use, due diligence and permitting. Additionally, Mickey has helped clients with a myriad of code enforcement and compliance issues. In particular, he has recently been involved with major projects in the City of Miami Beach and the City of Aventura. He is...
Michael Larkin is a leading land use and zoning attorney in Miami-Dade County, widely recognized for his deep expertise in Miami Beach and his role in shaping some of the community’s most high-profile and design-sensitive projects. He regularly represents developers, property owners, and institutional clients before the City of Miami Beach’s City Commission, Historic Preservation Board, Design Review Board, Planning Board, and Board of Adjustment, where his command of process, pre...
William W. Merrill, III is a shareholder at Icard Merrill. His nationally recognized practice in land use, planning, transportation and environmental law includes representation of both developers and public sector clients. He has received the "AV" rating, the highest rating available, from Martindale-Hubbell, which is recognized as the most respected source of authoritative and dependable information about members of the legal community and reflects confidential ratings by other lawyers and ...
Barbara A. Hall concentrates her practice in the area of land use and environmental law. She has 21 years of experience in development law first representing local governments as an Assistant City Attorney and as Assistant County Attorney, and then representing private property owners and developers. Barbara has wide-ranging experience in comprehensive planning, developments of regional impact, zoning, site plan approvals, platting, environmental permitting, variances, annexation, due diligen...
Patrick W. Krechowski has over 25 years of experience in real estate, land use, environmental, governmental, administrative litigation, appeals and title insurance law. Patrick is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in City, County and Local Government Law. His practice focuses on all aspects of zoning and land use law, real estate due diligence, environmental permitting (including sovereign submerged lands and riparian rights), environmental remediation, water use permitting and planning, bea...
Graham has a broad range of land use and zoning law experience, particularly in Miami-Dade County, Miami Beach, Opa-locka, North Bay Village, Hollywood, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, Hallandale Beach, and Pompano Beach. Additionally, he handles appellate litigation matters before the Eleventh Judicial Circuit’s Appellate Division and the Third District Court of Appeal. His work has been broad, including complex Land Use Plan amendments, Development Agreements, and Development of Regional Im...
Lenore Brakefield is a partner at Woodward, Pires & Lombardo, P.A., where she focuses her practice on civil and commercial litigation, including construction litigation matters. She also represents clients in local government law, code enforcement proceedings, community association law, real estate matters, and contract and transactional work, providing practical and results-oriented legal guidance across a broad range of issues. A Naples native, Lenore earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude ...
Mr. Diebenow is a partner at the firm. His primary focus is real estate, land use, zoning, and government law. As a registered lobbyist across a wide range of issues, Mr. Diebenow represents individuals, corporations, landowners and developers to secure business and development incentives as well as entitlements including land use, zoning, concurrency and mobility fee approvals. He also provides legal counsel in real estate transactions including the acquisition, entitlement, financing, and d...
Gary Hunter is a partner at Holtzman Vogel, where he maintains a broad governmental law practice with emphasis on state government affairs, land use entitlements, property rights advocacy and environmental issues. In over three decades of practice in Florida, Gary has represented Florida’s largest landowners in complex land use strategic development, litigation, and large area planning. He has been equally privileged to represent everyday landowners in protecting property rights from re...
Nectaria Chakas is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Land Use and Zoning Law. Nectaria, who practices law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Nectaria is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Kerri L. Barsh represents public and private clients on an array of environmental regulatory, permitting and litigation matters, including transactional support and due diligence, environmental assessment and liability matters, energy and infrastructure projects, wetlands and coastal permitting, complex land use projects, air quality matters, hazardous materials contamination, and other compliance and enforcement cases.
Michael has an active land use and zoning practice in Miami-Dade County, with a broad specialization in Miami Beach, where he frequently appears in front of the City Commission, Historic Preservation Board, Design Review Board, the Board of Adjustment, and the Planning Board. Michael also does work in Bay Harbour, Sunny Isles, Key Biscayne, Aventura and Bal Harbour. Additionally, his practice extends to appellate litigation matters before the Eleventh Judicial Circuit’s Appellate Divisi...
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.