Best Lawyers in Florida, United States for Land Use and Zoning Law
Select a city from the list below to find the best legal talent for your needs.
Cities
Marissa Amuial focuses her practice on land use and development, representing clients in all aspects of the development approval process including zoning applications, special area plans (SAPs), historic preservation matters, code compliance and enforcement, and other administrative and quasi-judicial hearings. Additionally, Marissa assists clients throughout South Florida in navigating public/private incentive agreements and in drafting land use development regulations.
Anthony (Tony) P. Pires, Jr. is a partner at Woodward, Pires & Lombardo, P.A., based in the firm’s Naples, Florida office. His practice focuses on Government Relations Practice, Municipal Law, Land Use and Zoning Law, and related areas of local government and administrative law. He represents public and private clients throughout Collier County, Lee County, and surrounding Southwest Florida communities. Tony has been Board Certified by The Florida Bar in City, County & Local Gov...
John assists clients in the areas of environmental law, real estate and land use and zoning law, with an emphasis on litigation. He helps individuals, developers and public entities in all aspects of environmental due diligence, permitting and entitlement. John also assists clients in navigating the complex web of state and federal environmental statutes and regulations, including counseling clients on compliance with the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA...
William “Bill” R. Scherer cofounded the firm in 1974 with his late partner Rex Conrad. Over the past five decades, Mr. Scherer has grown Conrad & Scherer into one of Florida’s leading law firms and has expanded the firm’s presence with offices in New York, New York, Brevard, North Carolina, and Quito, Ecuador. AV® Preeminent™ Peer Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® since 1987, Mr. Scherer is a seasoned trial attorney. He has litigated over 100 trials in bot...
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.
Melissa Tapanes Llahues has made her mark not only in the legal profession but also in the greater Miami community. She became a named partner at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin and Tapanes, PLLC in 2020. Melissa represents the interests of landowners, institutional clients, and developers seeking real estate licensing and regulatory approvals from governmental boards and agencies at the local, state and federal levels. She specializes in managing complex and politically sensitive legislative ...
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...
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...
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...
Clifford I. Hertz is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Land Use and Zoning Law and Real Estate Law. Clifford I., who practices law in West Palm Beach, Florida, has been recognized since 2011. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Clifford I. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
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.