The firm’s attorneys included in the guide are listed below.

Top Lawyers

Mitchell A. Bierman – Government Relations, Litigation

Mitchell J. Burnstein – Eminent Domain

Jamie A. Cole – Government Litigation, Corporate And Business Litigation

Andrew Demers – Banking and Financial Institutions

Alan K. Fertel – Entertainment And Sports, Civil Litigation

Chad S. Friedman – Land Use, Zoning and Environmental Law

Edward G. Guedes – Appellate Law

Alen H. Hsu – Business and Real Estate Litigation

Michael J. Kurzman – Construction Law

John Quick – Litigation

Anthony L. Recio – Real Estate – Land Use And Zoning

Brett J. Schneider – Employment Law

Clifford A. Schulman – Environmental, Real Estate – Land Use And Zoning

Joseph H. Serota – Corporate And Business Litigation, Government Litigation

Marc I. Solomon – Business Organizations, Acquisitions and Conveyances

Richard J. Weiss – Government

Rana M. Gorzeck – Banking or Commercial Real Estate

Lewis R. Cohen – Banking or Commercial Real Estate

Top Up and Comers

Alicia Gonzalez – Real Estate, Eminent Domain

Justin D. Luger – Litigation

Edward O. Martos – Land Use And Zoning

Click here to view the full 2022 South Florida Legal Guide.

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The firm is incredibly proud of WSHC+B partners Lily Arango, the Surfside Town Attorney, and Tony Recio, who heads the firm’s private land use and zoning practice, who both dedicated countless hours working with officials on a plan of action in the days, weeks, and months after the catastrophe. And when the impending litigation arose, WSHC+B litigators Eric Hockman and Joe Serota stepped in as part of the team of attorneys who negotiated the nearly $1 billion in settlements, a result that presiding Judge Michael Hanzman called “beyond extraordinary.”

Eric spoke with several media outlets about the stunning settlement result. He told Law360 that Judge Michael Hanzman “was pushing everybody really, really hard. He really did a tremendous job. This case belonged in front of him.”

Judge Hanzman, who had no advanced warning that the victims’ attorneys would announce the resolution of their claims against dozens of entities for $997 million, was “at a loss for words.” But then he added, “The result that has been achieved in this case and the speed with which it has been achieved is beyond extraordinary. If the right people were not running this case, this could have turned into a decade-long slog.”

Eric elaborated to Law360, “This is one of those cases where the last thing in the world you want to happen is to have a jury decide that your client is at fault for this terrible tragedy. It’s far better to buy your peace and deny liability than have a jury say you caused this. For a lot of insurers, keeping their clients’ exposure down within policy limits is a good, strategic choice.”

Once the settlements are approved, the parties’ investigations into the cause of the collapse will cease, although Eric said Surfside will continue its contract with structural engineer and collapse expert, Allyn Kilsheimer. Despite objections from some of the participants, Judge Hanzman concluded that Surfside was entitled to continue its investigation into the cause of the collapse.

Our hearts go out to the families of the victims as we approach the painful anniversary of this tragedy.

Click here to read the full Law360 article.

Click here to read the Miami Herald article.

Click here to see CBS Miami’s coverage of the news.

The post WSHC+B’s municipal, zoning and planning, and litigation teams come together to represent the Town of Surfside appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

The Firm was also selected as a Top Law Firm, which highlights firms with excellent credentials. Firms included are nominated by the Top Lawyers and Top Up and Comers in the publication’s annual submission.

The Firm’s attorneys included in the guide are listed below.

Top Lawyers
Mitchell A. Bierman – Government Relations, Litigation
Mitchell J. Burnstein – Eminent Domain
Jamie A. Cole – Government Litigation, Corporate And Business Litigation
Ignacio G. Del Valle – Real Estate, Corporate And Business
Andrew Demers – Banking and Financial Institutions
Alan K. Fertel – Entertainment And Sports, Civil Litigation
Chad S. Friedman – Land Use, Zoning and Environmental Law
Edward G. Guedes – Appellate Law
Alen H. Hsu – Business and Real Estate Litigation
Michael J. Kurzman – Construction Law
John Quick – Litigation
Anthony L. Recio – Real Estate – Land Use And Zoning
Brett J. Schneider – Employment Law
Clifford A. Schulman – Environmental, Real Estate – Land Use And Zoning
Joseph H. Serota – Corporate And Business Litigation, Government Litigation
Marc I. Solomon – Business Organizations, Acquisitions and Conveyances
Richard J. Weiss – Government

Top Up and Comers
Alicia Gonzalez – Real Estate, Eminent Domain
Justin D. Luger – Litigation
Edward O. Martos – Land Use And Zoning
Alison F. Smith – Labor And Employment

Click here to view the full 2021 South Florida Legal Guide.

The post 2021 South Florida Legal Guide Recognizes WSHC+B as a Top Law Firm and 17 Attorneys as Top Lawyers appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

The post COVID-19’s Impact to Land Use Regulations and Variances appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

Tony was the only lawyer in the retreat. He successfully completed the retreat and said four out of ten people had left by the time it ended.

After a while, he began to miss the stress and craved the challenges of being a lawyer. “I really missed the people. I missed the problem solving. I missed, believe it or not, the stress,” Recio said. “There’s a certain energy that is generated by our minds and bodies when we’re under stress, and that can be debilitating if not channeled correctly, but if it is channeled skillfully, it can be invigorating.”

Tony hopes to “help people learn ways and methods to better cope with stress, maybe we can have happier, more gentile lawyers and better serve our clients.”

Read the full story here.

The post Now or Never: How Three Years of Isolation Made Tony Recio a Better Lawyer appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

The Firm was also selected as a Top Law Firm, which highlights firms with excellent credentials. Firms included are nominated by the Top Lawyers and Top Up and Comers in the publication’s annual submission.

The Firm’s attorneys included in the guide are listed below.

Top Lawyers

• Mitchell Bierman
• Mitchell Burnstein
• Jamie Cole
• Ignacio Del Valle
• Alan Fertel
• Edward Guedes
• Michael Kurzman
• John Quick
• Anthony Recio
• Brett Schneider
• Clifford Schulman
• Joseph Serota
• Richard Weiss

Top Up and Comers

• Justin Luger
• Edward Martos
• Alicia Gonzalez

Click here to view the full 2020 South Florida Legal Guide.

The post South Florida Legal Guide Recognizes 16 Attorneys from Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman in 2020 Edition appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

On Friday, March 20, 2020, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) confirmed that the state of emergency presented by COVID-19 a/k/a novel coronavirus (see Executive Order 20-52) triggers state law protections pursuant to Section 252.363, Florida Statutes that allow permit holders to toll the expiration and even extend development orders. There is a wide variety of eligible orders including local and state-issued state building permits, zoning approvals, and certain environmental permits issued by Florida Department of Environmental Protection and local governments.

Over the years, developers, property owners, and lenders have likely become familiar with Florida law that authorized the tolling and extension of development approvals during times of emergency. DBPR’s confirmation was necessary because a 2019 amendment to the law appeared to narrowed eligible emergencies to “natural emergencies” like “a hurricane, a storm, a flood, severe wave action, a drought, or an earthquake.”

Despite DPBR’s March 20th guidance, some local governments have raised material questions about the application of the emergency extensions, particularly which development approvals can be extended and under what circumstances. One reason for local governments’ uncertainty is that the state law is very broad—it extends to just about any action that has the effect of authorizing the development of land—from demolition, site clearing, and soil work, to zoning approvals and master permits for new construction. Another cause for hesitation—and the reason the law was amended in 2019—is the fact that, in the past, extensions were authorized for events whose impact on development was not obvious and sometimes questionable, like wild fires in distant areas, the Zika virus outbreak, and the Opioid epidemic.

On behalf of our private clients, we have secured extensions of development orders for dozens of projects throughout Florida in connection with previous emergency declarations. We are currently pursuing extensions under the current state of emergency pertaining to COVID-19 a/k/a novel coronavirus. In limited circumstances where state law does not extend to a project or development order, our attorneys have developed alternative, creative solutions relying on local code provisions or the pursuit of legislative amendments to extend or even revive approvals. Further, for certain types of approvals and conditions, we have crafted and implemented strategies to combine extensions offered by both state and local jurisdictions.

The post Florida Law Preserves and Extends Existing Development Orders and Approvals Through the COVID-19 a/k/a Novel Coronavirus Pandemic appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.