Florida Attorneys for Government Relations
Established businesses, emerging corporations, industries, and individuals are impacted by rapidly changing laws and regulations. The role of a government relations attorney is to represent clients in matters related to federal, state, and local laws for individual, corporate, and community interests. At Mateer & Harbert, we ensure that our client’s requests and grievances are heard by voicing their concerns before the government bodies that develop and implement laws and policies. Strong advocacy facilitates favorable solutions to meet the needs of clients. Our government relations attorneys have extensive experience in representing clients before the State Administrative Agencies and various local government entities, such as counties, cities, hospital boards, and other special districts.
Client Advocacy for Land Use Ordinances
On a local level, our law firm represents clients in issues of zoning ordinances and licensing, requesting the local legislative body to amend or make an exception to the existing policy. City Councils meet regularly to review the growth of an area, ensuring that it meets the guidelines of government regulations. We represent clients, corporations, and industries that challenge those regulations by applying for variances. We dispute cases of eminent domain for government procurement of land and advocate for clients regarding setback regulations for commercial properties. We handle controversial infrastructure changes that affect commerce and many other land use issues.
Representation for Special District Matters
Legislative authorities meet specific needs by creating special districts for schools, hospitals, fire protection, electric, waste management, libraries, and other public services. These districts provide focused services with accountability to the citizens they serve. Funding for special districts comes from local citizens in the form of taxes and assessments, and are governed by elected board members. Mateer & Harbert successfully represented many public projects in the State of Florida, including counsel for all types of special district entities. Our law firm has substantial experience in all aspects of special districts, such as organizational policies, elections, public record-keeping, financing, and dissolution. For community residents and corporate concerns, we communicate their interests to key members of special districts to negotiate resolutions. Some common concerns are annexation, tax protests, condemnation, utility rates, and environmental issues.
We Challenge Property Assessments through Administrative Appeals
The Government Relations Attorneys at Mateer & Harbert have extensive experience in challenging tax assessments of residential and commercial property. We provide counsel on the various local and state tax incentive programs and research real property classification, such as agricultural and homestead exemptions. Denials for these exemptions are challenged through in-depth research and analysis on similar property assessments, improvements, just value, and primary use of the property.
Talk to Us About Your Legal Issue in Florida
Mateer & Harbert provides a broad range of legal services, including government relations practice. Effective representation in government relations requires in-depth knowledge of the interaction between public and private entities and their challenges. We have decades of experience in public policy matters and are focused on achieving our client’s objectives.
For more information regarding our government relations practice, contact Mateer & Harbert in Orlando at 407-425-9044.