Best Lawyers Near You in St. Petersburg, Florida
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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...
Susan has specialized in tax planning for over 35 years. She has a Masters of Law in Taxation and formerly was Board Certified in Tax Law by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization (1995 – 2011). Her practice includes Federal and Florida tax issues related to the formation and operation of corporations (including S corporations), partnerships, and limited liability companies. She also consults with respect to the formation and operation of tax exempt entities. In addition, Susan i...
Gigi’s trial experience includes representing a leading U.S. supplier of coated optical fibers in a successful trial before the International Trade Commission, the leading accrediting organization for wholesale drug distributors in a successful injunctive proceeding in federal court in New Jersey, a global heart valve maker in winning a $394 million dollar patent jury trial in federal court in Delaware, and an Internet search patentee in a multi-million dollar jury trial in federal cour...
Joseph W. "Jay" Fleece, III, is a native Floridian having been born and raised in St. Petersburg. Mr. Fleece started practicing law in 1980 with the firm of Belcher & Fleece, P.A., and subsequently joined Holland & Knight, where he was a partner heading up the litigation department of the St. Petersburg office. In 2004, Mr. Fleece joined with Hamden H. Baskin, III, and founded the law firm of BaskinFleece, located in Clearwater, Florida. In 2017 Mr. Fleece moved his practice back to S...
Ryan is a partner in the firm’s St. Petersburg office. He is a state and federal trial lawyer as well as a certified civil court mediator. His litigation practice includes complex business disputes; construction law; corporate/partnership disputes; employment related litigation; hospitality law; probate litigation; appellate practice; and real estate law. His real estate matters encompass contract disputes, ad valorem tax challenges, commercial landlord/tenant matters and land use/zonin...
William B. McQueen is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law and Trusts and Estates. William B., who practices law in St. Petersburg, Florida, has been recognized since 2019. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which William B. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
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 ...
Ben Diamond serves as the managing partner at The Diamond Law Firm PA, situated in St. Petersburg, Florida. He focuses his legal practice on estate planning, estate and trust administration, and fiduciary litigation. Clients recognize Ben for his meticulous attention to detail, thorough preparation, and adeptness in addressing complex challenges. Ben is well-versed in all areas of fiduciary litigation and has been involved in numerous cases, defending against will contests and breach of fiduc...
Mike Magidson is Board Certified in Health Law by The Florida Bar. Board certification is the highest evaluation of an attorney’s competence and experience comprising only 5% of Florida’s lawyers. Fewer than 130 lawyers in Florida are Board Certified in Health Law. Mike is a transactional lawyer specializing in the representation of health care providers and health care companies in their regulatory, compliance and health care business matters. He also provides counsel to business...
Over 30 years of estate and gift tax planning, and asset protection planning, mostly for high net worth individuals and estates. Consultation, planning and preparation of revocable and irrevocable trusts, grantor trusts, family limited partnerships, S corporations, LLCs, LLPs; shareholder and other business continuation agreements, life insurance trusts; planned charitable giving; post-death tax planning for estates, trusts and the decedent’s family; complex probates.
PRACTICE AREAS Real property law Estate planning Probate General commercial law Corporate law Commercial loans Real estate DISTINCTIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS Admitted to The Florida Bar – Admitted 1973 St. Petersburg Bar Association 1973, Florida, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida and U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit The Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Law, Since 2009 EDUCATION Stetson University, J.D. Harvard University, A.B. BIOGRAPHY Member, Editorial Board, S...
Will handles a broad range of complex commercial real estate and corporate issues for his clients throughout Florida and the entire Southeast. His clients include developers, investors institutional private equity funds, EB-5 developers and funds, as well as high net worth individuals and their associated family offices. He also regularly counsels clients on corporate securities and financing related matters. Representative engagements include serving as lead counsel on the development of a 1...