aDayintHeliFeoFanassistantcityattorney
Government lawyers Section Chairs : AlexaCline – StateAttorney ’ sOffice , ChristianKatchuk – 13thJudicialCircuitCourt & JudgeMarcMakholm – 13thJudicialCircuitCourt
In my many years of practicing primarily land use and local government law in Tampa , I think I have covered all the bases : assistant county attorney for a few years , ten years at “ big law ,” and ten years in solo practice . Almost three years ago , I closed the loop by joining the City of Tampa Legal department as a Senior Assistant City Attorney . Pursuant to the Tampa Home Rule Charter , the Legal department ( the city attorney who heads the department and her assistants ) is responsible for “ the management , charge and control of all the legal business of the city ,” and is “ the legal advisor [ s ] of the mayor , the city
it ' sexcitingtobea partofthelegalteam duringthispivotaltime intampa ’ shistory . council and committees thereof , and all of the several departments , officers and boards of the city government .” If that sounds like a tall order , I can assure you it is , and it ’ s only getting taller as Tampa continues to grow at breakneck speed .
Our office is divided into several subject matter practice groups , including the Land Use and Real Estate practice group which I currently lead . When my two children were younger and got dragged to more than their fair share of evening meetings of local governing boards , they used to tell me that I practiced the most boring law ever . I have always thought the exact opposite , but I ’ ll let you decide for yourself as you shadow me today .
My morning starts in a mediation for an eminent domain case the City brought to consolidate ownership in a nationally and locally designated historic landmark building that occupies two adjoining lots . Fractional ownership impeded maintenance efforts over the years , and in the mid-1970 ’ s the City began to acquire property
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