Alicia Gonzalez represents private and public sector clients in litigation involving real property and local governments. As a former lawyer for the Florida Department of Transportation, Alicia leverages her experience to represent clients in the areas of eminent domain and inverse condemnation. She also handles complex litigation involving acquisition and valuation of private property rights, governmental regulation of private property, and business disputes.
Prior to joining the firm, Alicia served as a Senior Attorney and an Assistant General Counsel for the Florida Department of Transportation. There she served as lead trial counsel in several multi-million dollar eminent domain and inverse condemnation lawsuits. She worked closely with Department officials to draft and negotiate intergovernmental contracts for roadway projects, and advised the Department in property acquisition, access management, permitting, zoning, and forfeiture. Her work at the Department on large capital improvement and property acquisition projects provided Alicia with a strong background and the knowledge to counsel clients and litigate a wide range of issues including property acquisition, governmental operations, transportation planning, facility design, and project construction. Alicia’s work included collaborating with transportation experts in many disciplines, including appraisal, engineering, land planning, construction, and architecture, and she has extensive knowledge about the critical roles of those areas of expertise in complex litigation.
While in law school, Alicia served as a summer intern for the Honorable Judge Shelby Highsmith of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She was appointed Articles Editor for the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Quarterly Journal, and was awarded the Manuel and Ana Maria Benitez Award for Clinical Excellence for her work representing indigent immigrants in the George Washington University Immigration Clinic.
Alicia is a native of South Florida and is fluent in Spanish.
Professional & Community Involvement
- Broward County Hispanic Bar Association, Director 2018-2019; Treasurer, 2019-2020; Member, 2017-2018
Awards and Recognition
- Best Lawyers in America®, Real Estate Law, 2025
- Fort Lauderdale Illustrated, “Top Lawyer”, 2021
- Florida Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2020-present
- South Florida Legal Guide, Top Up and Comer, 2020 – present
- Broward County Hispanic Bar Association, President’s Award, 2019
Presentations
- Easing into Easements, American Eminent Domain Professionals Summer 2018 Educational Seminar, September 2018
- Acquiring and Litigating Easements – Point/Counterpoint, The Florida Bar 2019 Eminent Domain Committee Meeting, June 2019
- Women’s History Month Conference, Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman, March 2021
- “Litigating for the Government – What Could Possibly Go Wrong,” 2023 Florida Law Con Annual Virtual CLE Conference, March 2023
Press Mentions
Publications
- Legislature Can Eliminate Legislatively Created Property Rights Without Paying Compensation, Daily Business Review, January 26, 2023
- Decision on Pandemic Takings Issues Released, But Booster Shots Are Expected, Daily Business Review, July 12, 2022
- Deciding Where to Take Your Takings Case Post-Knick, Stetson Law Review, Co-Author, Vol. 49, No. 4, Summer 2020
- The Broward County Hispanic Bar Association – Thirty Years Later, Daily Business Review, May 21, 2019
- Legal Alert: Owners in HOAs Beware: What You Don’t Know About Eminent Domain May Hurt You, Weiss Serota Blog, March 2019