John Quick is an innovative and creative thinker who is both a local government attorney and a litigator. In his role as city attorney for municipal clients, John handles land use and zoning matters, statutory and code interpretation issues, ethics concerns, taxation and budget matters, special assessments, police and fire issues, disability accommodations, public development and historic preservation.
John’s trial practice experience includes contract disputes, business torts, real estate and construction litigation, bankruptcy and other creditor’s rights issues, maritime and aviation litigation, banking and secured transactions, and employment-related litigation before federal and state courts, as well as mediation and arbitration. John’s appellate practice includes cases before the Florida Supreme Court, Florida’s District Courts of Appeal, and United States Circuit Courts of Appeals. John also handles international litigation, involving the laws of multiple foreign jurisdictions.
John’s insights as a former in-house corporate counsel for Royal Caribbean Cruises inform his current work. At Royal Caribbean, he represented the company’s subsidiary brands in matters involving bankruptcy and creditor’s rights, shipboard and land-based employment and labor defense, premises liability defense, privacy law, intellectual property, and international law. John partnered with Royal Caribbean’s revenue and accounting departments to implement strategies and programs to capture and manage potential lost revenue.
Civically, John is a passionate advocate for enhanced community relations and improvement of our society and holds leadership positions in numerous organizations dedicated to those issues. He is Chair of the Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board, is President of the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade, and served on the Miami-Dade County Commission’s 2020 Census Task Force.
John served as the long-time Independent Counsel to the City of Miami Civilian Investigative Panel, which oversaw civilian complaints
against police officers prior to a change in state law. As one of only a few attorneys in Florida to serve as a civilian oversight practitioner, John was recognized as a Certified Practitioner of Oversight by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. One of John’s most significant litigation victories resulted in the Florida Supreme Court upholding the validity of civilian oversight of law enforcement in the face of a constitutional challenge. This unanimous decision freed local governments impacted by a previous adverse appellate decision to resume operation of civilian oversight agencies.
John is a Past President of the Friends of the Miami-Dade Public Library and in 2014 brought together community leaders to form the Coalition to Save Our Libraries. His efforts ultimately resulted in an increase of the annual library budget from $30 million to $54.4 million, putting an end to four years of budget reductions and marking a turnaround for the library system. Under John’s leadership, the Coalition successfully increased the library’s budget each year for a total increase of almost $35 million, thus expanding the library’s offerings.
John is a Past Chair of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Historical Society and served on the Board of Trustees for HistoryMiami. John was also previously appointed by the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners to serve on its Parks & Recreations Citizens’ Advisory Committee and was appointed by the Village of Palmetto Bay to serve on its Charter Revision Committee. John was also instrumental in the Town of Cutler Bay’s incorporation.
John has been quoted in the Huffington Post, Associated Press, Miami Herald and Sun Sentinel. He has appeared on NPR, Bloomberg Radio, Sirius XM, WPLG and WLRN.
John has also undertaken pro bono representation of individuals in criminal, probate and family law matters.
Florida, 2003
District of Columbia, 2004 (inactive)
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, 2004
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 2004
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, 2004
U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, 2004
U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 2004
U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 2004
U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, 2003
Boston University School of Law, J.D., 2003
University of California at Los Angeles, B.A., 2000
Certified Practitioner of Oversight, National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, 2018
Clerk, Honorable Stephen P. Nugent of the State of Rhode Island Superior Court
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