Top best L Lawyers in Valrico | 18 available

Robert ("Bob") Bivins is Managing Partner of Bivins & Hemenway, P.A., a full service commercial law firm emphasizing real estate, business law, and estate planning and serving clients throughout West Central Florida from offices located in the commercial heart of the fast-growing community of Brandon, Florida. I am deeply committed to providing sophisticated legal services to my clients in a timely, practical, and effective manner that emphasizes value, and personal attention.  I also have made a strong personal commitment to community involvement in various civic, charitable, and business associations within my community. Martindale-Hubbell, the nation's oldest law firm directory, has rated me "AV" (the highest rating available). An “AV” rating is given to approximately 6% of law firms and lawyers nationwide based both on professional expertise and ethical standards. Our firm also is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers published by Martindale-Hubbell and is a member of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms, which is a nationwide alliance of law firms carefully selected for membership based on each firm’s proven dedication to the highest standards of integrity, civility, and quality of work product.  A life long Tampa Bay area native, in addition to my law practice I also am co-owner of cattle operations in Hillsborough and Pasco Counties and a property management company operating in the Tampa Bay area.

Prior to starting his own law firm, Mr. Johnson was a criminal defense and business litigation attorney at a well-respected Tampa Bay area law firm, served nearly six years as an assistant public defender in Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit (Pinellas and Pasco counties), worked directly with the office of the president of the Orlando Magic on issues of trademark registration, and served as legislative legal aide to former State Representative Sylvester Turner (now mayor of Houston) for the 77th Legislative Session. While serving the state representative, he worked with legislators to create and pass the Texas Fair Defense Act which required, for the first time, all criminal courts in Texas to adopt formal procedures for providing appointed lawyers to indigent defendants.

Mr. Wells is a trial attorney who has been a member of the Florida Bar for over three decades. He has represented both insurers and their insureds over the course of his career and has practiced extensively in the Central Florida/Tampa Bay area for many years. His practice originally concentrated in the areas of insurance, bad faith defense, and the defense of bodily injury claims and he was retained by insurance companies to represent them and their insureds. Over the years his practice evolved and his practice is now dedicated to representing injured persons as well as consumers in insurance disputes in cases against their own insurance companies. These insurance cases include, but are not limited to, first party property matters (hurricane, windstorm, sinkhole, water damage, vandalism, theft, hail and fire losses), other insurance claims (life, disability and other direct actions against insurers), bad faith claims (claims against an insurer for improper claim handling), insurance agent negligence, and bodily injury cases in both the state and federal courts.. Mr. Wells is an experienced litigator, having tried numerous bodily injury, insurance coverage, and bad faith matters.  He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. The Martindale-Hubbell "Peer Review Ratings" are an indicator of a lawyer's high ethical standards and professional ability based on the confidential opinions of local attorneys and judges. A rating of AV Preeminent is a significant rating accomplishment - a testament to the fact that a lawyer's peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.. He is a member of The Florida Bar and admitted to United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, as well as the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.  Mr. Wells' current professional memberships include the American Bar Association, Florida Justice Association, American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA),  Windstorm Insurance Network, Chairman--Windstorm Insurance Network’s Legal Committee, Hillsborough County Bar Association, and the Brandon Bar Association.  He was formerly a member of the Florida Advisory Committee on Arson Prevention, The International Association of Arson Investigators, Defense Research Institute, as well as the Manatee, Leon and Sarasota County Bar Associations.. A native of the small Northern Michigan community of Kalkaska, Mr. Wells attended Michigan State University and graduated from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan in 1983 where he earned a B.S. degree in Business/Marketing, with minors in Advertising and Management. He earned his Juris Doctorate degree at Stetson University College of Law in 1986. Mr. Wells is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Brandon and a former Legal Advisor to the Florida State Elks Association, Inc. and Florida Elks Properties, Inc.  Mr. Wells has also prepared and presented seminar materials in the area of bad faith.. Mr. Wells is proud to be a veteran.  He served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from 1977 to 1981 and was honorably discharged.

Justin J. Klatsky is a Partner in the Valrico Law Group practicing in the areas of estates and trusts, general business and corporate law, and taxation.. When Justin is often asked to generally describe his practice, he regularly tells his clients that his job is to help people plan, preserve, and protect their legacy.. In the field of estates and trusts, that process starts with proper planning for both death and incapacity.  Accordingly, basic estate plan typically involves a last will and testament, living will, health care surrogate, durable power of attorney, and declaration of preneed guardian.  For those people with more complex estate planning needs, revocable living trusts are used to provide for management, privacy, and probate avoidance.  As a tax attorney, Justin also assists those that have transfer tax (estate, gift, and generation skipping transfer) and income tax concerns by utilizing various advanced planning techniques (ILITs, FLPs, QTIPs, etc.).. Justin’s estate planning practice is informed by his experience in the administration of trusts and estates.  In this aspect of his estates and trusts practice, he assists clients that have legal questions when someone passes.  He has experience with formal, summary, and ancillary administration, trust and will disputes, and reformation of trusts through modification and decanting.  Also, Justin represents clients in the preparation of gift and estate tax returns (Form 709 and Form 706).. Just as Justin helps clients plan for various stages of their natural lives, he also helps business owners at the various stages of the lives of their businesses.  At the “birth” of a new enterprise or idea, he provides counsel to businesses on entity selection and formation with an eye on both tax and liability concerns.  During the “life” of the business, Justin has experience with asset and stock sales and purchases, shareholder or member buyouts and redemptions, reorganizations, and, perhaps most notably, various conversions of entities from one form to another (most often from a corporation to a limited liability company for additional liability protection for the owners).  Also, Justin has experience with drafting, review, revision, and conflicts involving numerous business agreements, including, but not limited to, independent contractor and employment agreements, noncompetition and nondisclosure agreements, buy-sell agreements, shareholders agreements, and services agreements.  Because of his experience in estate planning and taxation, Justin also assists in succession planning for those business owners that want to keep the family business operating within the family.. Associated with his experience in providing counsel to owners of for profit enterprises, Justin also has similar experience working with nonprofits and their founders, but with special attention to those aspects that are particular to the nonprofit sector such as preparing the Form 1023 (Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code), providing guidance on adherence to state fundraising rules, and analyzing concerns such as excess benefit transactions, private inurement, and unrelated business taxable income (UBTI).. Justin’s other area of practice is that of tax controversy.  He represents individuals, businesses, and organizations in federal tax matters at all levels including IRS collections, audit, and appeals, and the U.S. Tax Court.  He also has experience with international tax issues involving foreign assets and offshore accounts under audit or the disclosure procedures.. When not assisting his clients, Justin can be found participating in the sport of Schutzhund with his two working line German Shepherds (Bianka and Cade), relaxing with a good book, or traveling the back roads of Florida on the hunt for antiques with his wife, Lily.  He is also a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA).

John M. Hemenway is a founding partner of Bivins & Hemenway, P.A.  John’s educational background included substantial coursework in computer programming and systems design at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.  He serves as a trusted legal advisor to business owners, real estate investors, and families seeking to preserve and pass down their wealth and values.  John’s practice focuses on estate planning and probate, small and closely held businesses, and real estate.

I believe in preparing every case as if it is going to trial. It is only by being ready for trial that you can expose the weaknesses in the State's case and have any real leverage for plea negotiations.. Criminal defense is my passion and I truly believe that my clients are entitled to my absolute best efforts on every single case. Whether your charge is a minor misdemeanor, DUI, or serious felony, my representation of you does not change.. I accept cases on every type of crime short of death penalty cases. You have to be certified to handle death cases and I have not reached the point in my career where I am eligible to be certified.. While I am proud of my past achievements, unfortunately Bar rules prohibit me from posting them on this website.. I am licensed to practice in Florida and Federal court (Middle District Florida)

I am a Partner with Bivins & Hemenway, P.A., a law firm located in Valrico, FL. My practice focuses on business law, real estate transactions, and estate planning, but I also practice in other areas such as commercial law, corporate law, contracts, commercial real estate, real estate title insurance, leases and leasing, banks and banking, trusts, and probate, among others. I assist clients in both transactional and litigation matters. I also currently handle the majority of the residential real estate closings completed by my firm.I earned my law degree, cum laude, from the University of Florida. My education included a strong emphasis on business and estate planning topics, and I developed further experience with estate planning and probate matters by serving as a student extern in the probate division of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Alachua County, Florida.

Experienced L attorney serving clients in Valrico and surrounding areas.

Experienced L attorney serving clients in Valrico and surrounding areas.

Experienced L attorney serving clients in Valrico and surrounding areas.

Experienced L attorney serving clients in Valrico and surrounding areas.

Experienced L attorney serving clients in Valrico and surrounding areas.

Experienced L attorney serving clients in Valrico and surrounding areas.

Experienced L attorney serving clients in Valrico and surrounding areas.