Best Lawyers in America for Land Use and Zoning Law
State
Ms. Ohira is a Director of the firm and concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate and land use law, hotels and resorts, business structure and operations, and commercial transactions. She brings more than 15 years of experience to her work on a variety of real estate acquisitions and sales, commercial leasing and commercial residential developments, including representing condominium associations and the creation of in condominium and community developments. Ms. Ohira’s comm...
Area of Emphasis Max Junker is a shareholder in the Public Sector, Energy and Natural Resources, and Employment and Labor groups of Babst Calland. He is currently the chair of the Firm’s Public Sector Group and is on the Firm’s Board of Directors. Mr. Junker has served as a municipal and school district solicitor for several years, and he is currently the solicitor for the Borough of Franklin Park, Borough of Bell Acres, and O’Hara Township Zoning Hearing Board. He is also t...
Jacob W. Steen is a shareholder at Larkin Hoffman and head of the firm’s real estate and land use department. He advises and represents businesses, developers, and property owners seeking government approvals, including zoning, environmental, real estate, and other regulatory matters. Jake's clients include data center developers and operators, developers of single-family subdivisions, multi-family developments, and commercial and industrial projects. In the evolving field of data cente...
Karl Kobayashi concentrates his practice in the area of commercial real estate with an emphasis on sales, acquisitions, leasing, financing and development. He also practices in the area of entitlements (land use and zoning law) and has represented clients in contested case and other regulatory proceedings before agencies such as the State of Hawai`i Land Use Commission, the Hawai`i Community Development Authority (Kaka`ako), the City and County of Honolulu Zoning Board of Appeals, the Maui Pl...
Reid Wilson is recognized as southeast Texas’ preeminent land use attorney, a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL), and one of few practicing real estate attorneys holding the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) designation. Board-certified in commercial real estate law and homeowners association law, he brings to his practice his relationships and reputation with governmental lawyers and officials throughout southeast Texas. As the Chairman of Wilson Cribbs + Goren...
Thomas Leslie is the managing shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s White Plains office. He focuses his practice on the areas of banking and finance and he represents some of the largest financial institutions in the United States. His practice concentrates on representing financial institutions and developers in connection with the purchase, sale and financing of real estate, the sale and financing of loan portfolios as well as the financing of fine art, private aircraft and other forms o...
Don Pinto has more than 30 years of experience as a civil litigator, with a focus on complex real estate and land use disputes. He handles cases at the trial and appellate levels in the state and federal courts and before administrative agencies. Outside the courtroom Don has successfully resolved many disputes through negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Don has extensive litigation experience representing clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 500 companies that own, buy, sell, and...
John L. Arnold is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Commercial Finance Law, Commercial Transactions / UCC Law, Corporate Law, Land Use and Zoning Law, Litigation - Land Use and Zoning and Real Estate Law. John L. practices law in Concord, New Hampshire Best Lawyers has recognized John L. Arnold since 2024. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the profe...
John VanLuvanee is acknowledged to be one of Pennsylvania’s premier land use attorneys. He handles zoning, subdivision and land development matters, as well as real estate transactional matters, for developers and property owners. During his career, he has been involved in many significant, precedent-setting land use cases decided by the Commonwealth Court and Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Mr. VanLuvanee works closely with his clients in the acquisition of real estate for development and ...
Melissa Tapanes Llahues is a nationally recognized land use and zoning attorney, strategic advisor, and civic leader shaping the built environment across South Florida. As a shareholder and Chief Executive Officer of Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin & Tapanes, PLLC, she operates at the intersection of law, policy, and urban strategy—guiding complex development projects from vision to entitlement to realization. Melissa represents institutional investors, landowners, and developers in ...
Robert Volpe is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Environmental Law, Land Use and Zoning Law, Litigation - Land Use and Zoning and Real Estate Law. Robert practices law in Tallahassee, Florida Best Lawyers has recognized Robert Volpe since 2026. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Robert Volpe is held by other lawyers.
C. Kim Shierk possesses more than thirty years of experience and maintains one of the most highly regarded real estate law practices in Michigan. Ms. Shierk’s practice focuses on residential and commercial real estate development, with an emphasis on condominium law and a wide range of community property development. She also has extensive experience in telecommunications law. Ms. Shierk is a frequent lecturer on a variety of real estate-related topics for the Institute of Continuing Le...
Cecily Barclay focuses her practice on land use and entitlements, real estate acquisition and development and local government law. She regularly assists landowners, developers and public agencies throughout Northern California in all aspects of acquisition, entitlement and development of land, including land use application processing, drafting and negotiating purchase and sale agreements, negotiating and securing the approval of development agreements, general plan amendments, specific plan...
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.
