Michael Dutko is my name. Conrad & Scherer is where I work as a partner. I work in the land use and zoning practice area of the company. I’m here with John Rodstrom, an acquaintance with whom I collaborate closely. Today, we’ll discuss some of the challenges surrounding land use and zoning, particularly in South Florida.
Conrad and Shear is unusual in that we not only assist with land use and development application processes, but we also represent clients in land use and zoning disputes. As a result, we can assist developers and others seeking land use licenses or applications in avoiding the risks of litigation. Alternatively, if they do find themselves in this scenario, we can continue to represent them throughout the legal proceedings. And that’s crucial because, as much as we’d like to avoid it, there are occasions when it’s unavoidable.
And, in general, many of the land use firms that handle the type of entitlement work that we’re talking about, especially here in South Florida, don’t also provide litigation services. Other firms will handle the litigation, while these others will take care of the entitlement work.
Shear hears a contract and does both. We have extensive trial experience. We’ve got an entire team here, folks who are well seasoned in trial law, and who are well versed in the land use issues that would ultimately be litigated, so we really are a one stop shop. I come here from the State Attorney’s office, where I had a significant amount of jury trial experience for everything from driving under the influence to first degree murder. We’ve got an entire land use and zoning attorney team here, folks who are well seasoned in trial law, and who are well versed in the land use issues that would And that’s not the case with many of the other companies you’ll encounter during the land use process.
