Chanae will be officially recognized as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion honoree during the IMLA’s 86th Annual Conference taking place in Minneapolis, September 29-October 3, 2021.

The post WSHC+B Attorney Chanae L. Wood is the Recipient of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award at the upcoming IMLA Annual Conference appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

Joe Serota has long been an advocate of the Miami-Dade Courthouse. He led successful campaigns to restore both the lobby and the ceremonial courtroom.  He was honored by the Historical Museum of Southern Florida with its Silverman Award recognizing his tireless and successful efforts.

Today, the needs are different, but the courthouse is still the center of attention.  Voters rejected a bond referendum to replace the overused building that is showing its age with visible decay, flooded floors and toxic air.   The referendum was well supported in the legal community, and well-articulated by Joe to on WFOR-TV CBS Four News.  He appeared on Facing South Florida just before Election Day.   

The lively debate between Joe and Raquel Regalado provides insight into what needs to happen to replace the 86-year old building and why it is so important.  

While the referendum has been defeated, the issue has come to the forefront.  This isn’t the last you’ll hear about a new courthouse.  

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Attorney Mitch Bierman of  Weiss Serota Helfman Cole Bierman & Popok hosted a panel of six of South Florida’s top public and private transit agency heads at the 2^nd Annual Miami Dade County Transportation Summit on January 22, 2015 at Miami Dade College’s Downtown Miami Campus.  The Transportation Summit, hosted by the Miami Dade Citizens’ Transportation Trust (CITT) and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce,  is held annually and is attended by top transportation stakeholders including elected officials, transportation vendors, agency directors, activists and business leaders who discuss the present and future of transportation in the South Florida region.  Mitch’s panel capped off the conference and focused on the near term and longer term development plans for the region’s six largest public and private  transit agencies.  The panelists were:  

Wilson A. Fernandez, Transportation Systems Manager, Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization

P. Michael Reininger, President, All Aboard Florida

Jack Stephens, Executive Director, Tri-Rail and Tri-Rail Coastal Link

Ysela Llort, P.E., Director, Miami-Dade Transit

Gustavo “Gus” Pego, P.E., District 6 Secretary

Javier Rodriguez, P.E., Executive Director, MDX

The audience got a close up view of the triumphs and challenges facing the key providers of transportation in the region.  Mitch commented that “this is the transportation equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game.” 

Mitch Bierman is a self-described “transportation geek” whose professional practice includes representation of business and government clients in all aspects of government contracts, Public Private Partnerships (P3), corridor development, government affairs and bidding and procurement disputes. 

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Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman announced that partners Mitchell Bierman and Mitchell Burnstein were named partners-in-charge for the firm.   Bierman will be responsible for overseeing the operations and day-to-day management in the Miami-Dade office, while Burnstein will work with the attorneys and staff to maintain smooth flow of business in the Broward office.  

Bierman was partner-in-charge in 2010.  He has been with the firm since 1997 and handles government affairs and administrative law matters for major international companies in the transportation, airport, environmental and solid waste, and engineering and construction industries.

Burnstein, who has been the partner-in-charge since 2011, handles real property litigation matters for the Firm, specializing in eminent domain, inverse condemnation, constitutional takings, title and boundary disputes and all aspects of private property rights litigation.  He has been with the firm since 1999, and established the Firm’s Eminent Domain and Private Property Rights Practice Group in 2001. 

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Attorneys in WSH’s Public Finance Practice Group provide high-quality legal service to every player in the public finance arena, from governmental to quasi-governmental entities that need access to capital markets, to underwriters and issuers. Our experience includes handling financings for almost every type of bond issue, ranging in size from under $1M to over $500M. This broad spectrum of experience gives the Group a unique ability to effectively advise clients on options that may be available for a given transaction and to structure and implement innovative solutions for difficult transactions. The Group complements WSH’s Local Government Division, which employs more than 30 attorneys practicing day-to-day municipal law, and includes many former city and county attorneys, including attorneys who are Florida Board Certified in this specialty.

You can read more about the PortMiami project here.

Author(s): Brooke P. Dolara

The post Bonds for Capital Improvements for PortMiami to be Priced and Sold This September appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

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This Bill provides that advertisements that are required to be published more than once (i.e. a comprehensive plan amendment and certain government initiated zoning ordinances) are entitled to a 15% discount off of the original rate charged for the second or successive advertisements. However, this discounted rate comes with one caveat: local governments must incur the actual costs of the advertisements (i.e. such advertisement costs can not be paid in advance by or allowed to be recouped from any private parties). Although this discount applies only to situations where multiple advertisements are legally required, this should come as some relief to local governments as they continue to struggle with lower ad valorem tax revenues and budget deficits.

Author(s): Chad S. Friedman

The post House Bill 937: Give Me a Break! (At Least a Little One on Advertising Costs) appeared first on Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman.

Edward G. Guedes – Appellate Law. Ed chairs the firm’s Appellate Practice Group, and is Board Certified in Appellate Practice by the Florida Bar. This is the sixth consecutive year that Ed has been recognized by BestLawyers. Ed has been recognized as a “SuperLawyer” since 2006, and has been selected as one of South Florida’s “Best of the Bar” and Florida Trend’s “Legal Elite”.

Stephen J. Helfman – Land Use & Zoning. Steve is one of three Founding Members for the Firm. He is the Village Attorney for both Indian Creek and Key Biscayne. Steve also serves as Town Attorney for Golden Beach. He is a member of the Florida Planning & Zoning Association, and has served as a member of the Coral Gables Planning & Zoning Board.

Michael S. Popok – Municipal Litigation. Michael is an AV rated attorney who has earned accolades for his zealous representation of municipalities, most recently for his work on behalf of cities’ use of red-light camera programs. Florida SuperLawyers has selected Michael as a “SuperLawyer” for the past four years. In addition to his zealous advocacy on behalf of municipalities; Michael has received awards for his ligitation skills in the private sector;the South Florida Business Journal has recognized Michael as a “Leading Lawyer” in Business Litigation for the past three years.

Clifford A. Schulman – Environmental Law, Land Use & Zoning. Cliff chairs the Firm’s Environmental Law Group. This is Cliff’s twenty-fourth recognition by BestLawyers, who have again recognized him in two categories of legal practice. Cliff has been recognized as a “Top Lawyer” in South Florida and a member of Florida Trend’s “Legal Elite.” He has been selected as a Florida “SuperLawyer” for six consecutive years. In 2011, Cliff was named “Lawyer of the Year” in Environmental Law.

Joseph H. Serota – Commercial Litigation. One of the Firm’s Founding Members, Joe is an experienced trial and appellate attorney with numerous reported opinions to his credit. He has been recognized by Florida SuperLawyers and the South Florida Legal Guide for nine consecutive years. Florida Trend has recognized Joe as one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” since 2004. In 2012, Florida Trend inducted Joe into the “Legal Elite Hall of Fame.”

Richard Jay Weiss – Government Affairs. One of the Firm’s Founding Members, Richard was named the 2012 Miami Government Relations Practice Lawyer of the Year by BestLawyers in 2012. Richard is an AV rated attorney who serves as City Attorney for Homestead and Village of Bal Harbour. He has been recognized by South Florida Legal Guide as one of the Top 1% Lawyers for the past ten years. He has been honored as a Florida “SuperLawyer” and a recipient of Florida Trend’s “Legal Elite” since 2004. The South Florida Business Journal has recognized Richard as one of the “Best of the Bar.”

Author(s): Brooke P. Dolara

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Significantly, the SEC has not asked to repeal the Tower Amendment prohibiting the SEC from requiring municipal bond issuers to register bond offerings and file disclosure documents with the SEC, a practice which is required of securities offerings of public companies.

The requested oversight authority is a result of what the SEC perceives to be an inadequate availability of information to investors of municipal securities, both in the initial offering of municipal securities and on an ongoing basis. In order to improve the content and timeliness of such information, the SEC has asked for authority to:

• Require that municipal issuers prepare and disseminate official statements and disclosure during the outstanding term of the securities, including timeframes, frequency for such dissemination and minimum disclosure requirements, including financial statements and other financial and operating information, and provide tools to enforce such requirements.
• Eliminate registration and filing exemptions to conduit borrowers of municipal securities that are not public entities, except for certain current exemptions, such as those available for small businesses, private offerings, and non-profit entities.
• Establish the form and content of financial statements for issuers of municipal securities, including the authority to recognize the standards of a designated private-sector body as generally accepted for purposes of the federal securities laws, and provide the SEC with authority over such private-sector body.
• Require municipal securities issuers to have their financial statements audited, whether by an independent auditor or a state auditor.
• Provide a safe harbor from private liability for forward-looking statements of repeat municipal issuers who are subject to, and current in, their ongoing disclosure obligations.
• Permit the Internal Revenue Service to share with the SEC information that it obtains from returns, audits, and examinations related to municipal securities offerings in appropriate instances and with the necessary associated safeguards, particularly in instances of suspected securities fraud.
• Provide a mechanism to enforce compliance with continuing disclosure requirements.

Our Public Finance Practice Group, chaired by Partner Jeffrey DeCarlo, provides preeminent legal service to players in the public finance arena, from governmental and quasi-governmental entities to underwriters and issuers. In a career that has spanned more than 30 years, Jeff has served as counsel on more than 800 bond financings totaling more than $10 billion. The Group handles financing for numerous types of bonds issue ranging from under $1 million to over $500 million. The Group works extensively with our Local Government Law Division in the representation of municipalities, counties, districts and community redevelopment agencies in a variety of public finance capacities.

Author(s): Jeffrey DeCarlo

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On August 17, a County Court Judge in the Tenth Judicial District denied a Motion to Dismiss Red Light Camera Citations on the basis that the movants failed to prove their assertion that the red light camera ticketing program was unconstitutional. Attorneys for the defendants attacked the constitutionality of the red light cameras on numerous grounds, including their assertion that the program violated equal protection. Because the red light camera program did not create a suspect class or deprive drivers of a fundamental right, the Court applied the rational basis test to determine whether the program was constitutional. The Court held that the defendants failed to show that the statutory language was not rationally related to the State’s interest. In a related case decided the same day, the Court ruled that the City of Haines’ contract with American Traffic Solutions (“ATS”) for red light camera services was a valid and legal contract. The Court held that the ATS-Haines City Contract was legal because ATS would be paid a fixed fee based on services rendered and not on a quota system of tickets issued.

WSH attorneys have extensive experience defending municipalities in challenges to their red-light camera systems. Our Litigation Division has represented several South Florida municipalities in red-light camera litigation, including Aventura, Coral Gables, and Hallandale Beach. Our Appellate Practice Group routinely handles constitutional challenges before appellate courts at the State and federal level. In 2011, WSH Partner-in-Charge Michael S. Popok and Partner Edward G. Guedes obtained a favorable decision from the Third District Court of Appeal, which upheld the constitutionality of the City’s red light camera program. The case, Aventura v. Massone, was widely publicized in newspapers and legal blogs in South Florida.

Author(s): Brooke P. Dolara

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