Best Lawyers in America for Municipal Law
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State
Having worked as an urban planner, as chair of the Portland Zoning Board, and inside state government, Phil is well acquainted with municipal and land use law. That experience, combined with his legal expertise, makes him extremely adept at counseling municipal officials and boards and obtaining land use approvals at local, state, and federal levels for real estate developers and property owners. And he’s just as equipped to help clients with legislative issues: he helped draft and pass...
Ronald Bultje is a Member in Dickinson Wright's Grand Rapids office. His practice is concentrated in the areas of municipal law and labor relations. He represents numerous municipalities throughout the western half of Michigan’s lower peninsula. He has extensive experience in advising legislative bodies, planning commissions, and zoning boards of appeal. In representing municipalities, Mr. Bultje provides a full array of services, including advice on contracts, intergovernmental relatio...
G. Kenneth Bernhard is a principal in Cohen and Wolf's Municipal , Business & Corporate , Real Estate , Family Law and Appellate Groups. Dividing his time between the firm's Bridgeport and Westport offices, Mr. Bernhard represents municipalities and a wide range of businesses, as well as individuals, in litigation, real estate, matrimonial and commercial matters. Mr. Bernhard has extensive experience in all phases of municipal law, including land use, administrative appeals, condemnations...
William K. Fahey is a Michigan lawyer serving public utilities and municipalities for more than 32 years. He represents electric and natural gas utilities in administrative, regulatory, commercial and appellate matters, and has been involved in nearly every major matter affecting Michigan public utilities over the last three decades. Mr. Fahey has represented more than 100 Michigan municipalities throughout Michigan, both as municipal attorney and as special counsel, principally handling muni...
Mark E. Nettleton practices in the areas of public finance, municipal law, land use and zoning law, and real estate. In his law practice experience, Mark has assisted Michigan counties, cities, villages and townships with bond issues and financing transactions, ordinance and utility franchise issues, intergovernmental agreements, special assessment proceedings, drain proceedings, assessments and financings, and annexation matters. His practice also includes counseling public authorities such ...
Barbara B. Lapides has practiced law in Memphis, Tennessee for more than 25 years and is an attorney with Harris Shelton PLLC . She represents clients in matters involving real estate transactions, business matters, and Municipal Law throughout the greater Memphis area. Her practice includes advising businesses, developers, property owners, and municipalities on a wide range of legal and regulatory issues. Ms. Lapides has extensive experience handling real estate and business transactions, in...
Scott Dienes is a real estate, municipal and finance attorney assisting clients with complex projects that define and shape communities. With a strong municipal and real estate background, along with tax-exempt bond and public finance experience, Scott keeps projects on track and on budget. Scott has served as general counsel to municipal clients his entire career. He acts on behalf of local governments, development authorities, school districts, water and sewer authorities, district librarie...
Chris Reitzel is a partner in Nixon Peabody’s Project Finance and Public Finance group. He works with issuers, underwriters and financial advisors on public and project finance projects across a broad range of sectors. He serves as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriters’ counsel on public offerings and private placements. His diverse transactional background includes taxable and tax-exempt debt, complex variable rate products including subordinated and senior commercial...
Drew Weber focuses his practice on general corporate, real estate and local government law matters. He currently serves as outside general counsel for business entities of all sizes and in multiple industries. Drew’s corporate practice includes employment law issues, mergers and acquisitions, as well as corporate formation and organizational matters, including general business and closely held corporations, and all forms of partnership and limited liability company entities. Representat...
Spencer Ritchie focuses his practice on political advocacy and political law compliance with substantial experience in general and appellate litigation. Following law school, Spencer clerked for both a federal district court judge (Eastern District of Texas) and a federal appellate court judge (Fifth Circuit). Spencer also has an extensive background in federal, state, and local politics, having worked for a U.S. congressman and U.S. senator, as executive director of a state political party, ...
Pat has many years of experience in municipal and land use law. Representing a wide variety of clients including towns, cities and quasi municipal agencies, commercial and residential developers and opposition groups in a broad range of matters. Her municipal practice includes serving as Town counsel, land use counsel and special counsel. She provides advice on all aspects of municipal governance, assisting municipalities in the resolution of legal concerns of all types, from the review of ro...
Ronald M. Redick practices primarily in the areas of municipal, appellate and administrative law, with a focus on zoning litigation, land use and riparian rights litigation, and also general civil litigation. He has published articles on manufactured housing and exclusionary zoning, the Open Meetings Act and public universities, and has authored presentations for the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association on the topic of due process and government employment. Ron speaks ...
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.
