Who We Are
Annual Report
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in 2008.
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in 2007.
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in 2006.
A Legal Road Less Traveled
Click here to read a message from Executive Director
Richard Grosso.
Senior Staff
RICHARD GROSSO
Richard Grosso is a Professor of Law at the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern
University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida., and the Executive Director and General Counsel
of the Everglades Law Center, Inc., (ELC) a public interest law firm which represents
citizens and environmental interests in environmental and land use matters concerning
the Florida Everglades, Florida Keys and the south Florida ecosystem inn general.
Mr. Grosso directs the Environmental and Land Use Law Clinic at the Shepard Broad
Law Center, where he also teaches Florida Land Development Law Workshop. Professor
Grosso is a widely recognized legal expert and policy advocate with 22 years of
experience litigating and advocating on state-wide and south Florida environmental
issues. His teaching and legal practice specializes in land use, growth management
and environmental policy and permitting issues.
Mr. Grosso is a former Legal Director for 1000 Friends of Florida, and is also a
former attorney for the Department of Community Affairs and Department of Environmental
Regulation. Mr. Grosso has an extensive litigation and appellate practice in the
area of growth management and land use law, including property rights law. He has
represented many clients in administrative and judicial proceedings involving Florida's
Growth Management Act and environmental permitting matters. He frequently appears
before local governments and other bodies concerning land use issues.
Mr. Grosso has successfully litigated a number of important and precedent setting
cases, including Pinecrest Lakes v. Shidel, where demolition of buildings built
in violation of a local comprehensive plan was ordered by the courts, 1000 Friends
of Florida v. Monroe County, the precedent - setting case on the issue of carrying-capacity
- based planning, Sierra Club, et al v. Miami-Dade County, which overturned the
state approval for a commercial airport at the former Homestead Air Force Base,
and Fla. Wildlife Fed. & Sierra Club v. US Army Corp of Engineers, which halted
construction of the Scripps Research Institute on the fringe of the Everglades in
western Palm Beach County and resulted in the relocation of the project to an urban
infill area. He won a major victory for citizen enforcement of the Growth Management
Act in Poulos v. Martin County, which guaranteed citizens the right to a de novo
trial in plan consistency challenges, and co-authored an influential amicus curie
brief in the ground-breaking case of Brevard County v. Snyder. On behalf of the
state of Florida, he successfully argued the inverse condemnation cases of McKay
v. DER and Namon v. DER, which strengthened the state's ability to protect wetlands
on private property; DCA v. Withlacoochie Regional Planning Council, which upheld
the state's authority to require Regional Policy Plans to be consistent with the
State Comprehensive Plan; and Homebuilders and Contractors v. Dept. of Community
Affairs, which upheld the state's ability to discourage urban sprawl.
Mr. Grosso has won major awards for his work on behalf of Florida's environment.
In 1995 he was named Individual of the Year by the Key West environmental group
Last Stand, in 1997 was presented with the Hal Scott Memorial Award by the Florida
Audubon Society for legal advocacy on behalf of the environment, in 1999 was named
the Florida Wildlife Federation's Conservationist of the Year, in 2000 was granted
the Public Service Award by the Martin County Conservation Alliance and was named
Environmentalist of the Year by CityLink Newspaper (Broward & Palm Beach Counties).
In 2002, he was named Conservationist of the Year by the Everglades Coalition and
the Audubon Society of the Everglades. In 2003, he was named Conservationist of
the Year by the Marshall Foundation, and in 2005 was awarded the Sierra Club Florida
chapter’s William K. ‘Red’ Howell Legal Services Award and was named the Most Effective
Environmental Lawyer in south Florida by the Daily Business Review. In 2008, he
was awarded the Bill Sadowski Memorial Public Service Award by the Florida Bar,
Environmental and Land Use Law Section. In 2009 he was granted the Lawyers Who Make
a Difference Award from the Urban Environment League.
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LISA INTERLANDI
Lisa Interlandi is Senior Counsel and the Project Manager for the ELC's Northern
Everglades Project. Operating out of the ELC's West Palm Beach office, Lisa's primary
practice areas are environmental and land use law, with a focus on greater Everglades
restoration issues, including implementation of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration
Plan, and land use and environmental permitting decisions in Palm Beach and Martin
Counties which impact Everglades restoration efforts. Ms. Interlandi has 7 years
experience as an environmental lawyer. Prior to joining the ELC, Lisa served as
Assistant General Counsel with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
in Tallahassee where she focused on state lands and natural resource litigation.
Lisa obtained her Bachelor's degree from the University of Florida and graduated
from the Florida State University College of Law, Magna cum Laude, in 1998.
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ROBERT HARTSELL
Robert N. Hartsell is Trial Counsel with ELC. Mr. Hartsell’s primary practice areas
are environmental, growth management, land use and everglades restoration law. Mr.
Hartsell is an adjunct professor at Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern
University where he teaches land use law and select clinical courses in advanced
environmental and land use law.
Prior to joining the ELC, Mr. Hartsell practiced environmental, land use, administrative
and governmental law. Mr. Hartsell also has 12 years experience in Environmental
consulting and engineering field of hazardous materials remediation. As such, he
provided consulting services to a host of government, private, and international
entities on environmental permitting, site assessments, contamination assessments,
remedial action, risk-based corrective action, quality assurance planning, laboratory
management, underground storage tank administration, and government reimbursement
programs.
Mr. Hartsell frequently lectures on current trends in Florida environmental and
land use issues. His most recent article, which he co-authored with Mr. Grosso,
is Old McDonald Still Has a Farm: Agricultural Property Rights After the Veto of
S.B. 1712, The Florida Bar Journal, March 2005, at 41.
Mr. Hartsell received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida
and his J.D. with honors from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center.
Mr. Hartsell is a member of the Florida Bar and United States District Court Southern
District of Florida and Middle District of Florida.
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JASON TOTOIU
Jason is ELC's Staff Counsel and works on a wide range of environmental and land
use issues impacting the Everglades ecosystem. In addition to his litigation responsibilities,
Jason represents clients before state and local government agencies in non-litigation
and policy related matters including federal and state agency rulemaking, planning
and project decisions. Jason has particular expertise in endangered species, national
wildlife refuge, and biodiversity protection issues. In 2008, Jason received an
Outstanding Achievement Award from the Martin County Conservation Alliance for his
efforts to protect the Haney Creek watershed.
Jason speaks often on environmental law-related topics. He was a moderator and panelist
on endangered species and growth management panels at the 2007 and 2008 Everglades
Coalition Conferences and a moderator of a climate change litigation panel at the
2008 University of Florida College of Law Public Interest Environmental Law Conference.
He has also served as a guest presenter for the Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education
program and was a recent guest speaker on endangered species issues at the University
of Miami School of Law.
Before joining ELC, Jason was a staff attorney at a public interest environmental
law firm in Alabama and Florida, where he focused on endangered species and water
quality issues. Prior to that, Jason was an attorney for the Indian Riverkeeper
where he represented the organization in a suit alleging violations of the National
Environmental Policy Act. The suit led to a commitment by the federal government
to undertake the first known comprehensive study of the environmental impacts of
coastal armoring on the Indian River Lagoon in Southern Florida.
Jason earned his J.D. from Tulane University Law School and his B.A. from Emory
University. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the United States District Court
Southern District of Florida and Middle District of Florida. He is a Florida native
and when time allows, shares his love for fly-fishing with others.
All ELC attorneys are licensed to practice in the State of Florida.
Members of the Board
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THOMAS T. ANKERSEN
Thomas T. Ankersen is an attorney and Director of the University of Florida College
of Law's Conservation Clinic, an interdisciplinary clinical program in applied legal
education that operates both domestically and internationally. Ankersen also directs
the UF Center for Governmental Responsibility's Conservation Law Program, a program
of applied research, policy development and training that lends supports to governmental
and non-governmental organizations in Latin America. He recently began a Summer
Program in Environmental Law in Costa Rica. He is an affiliate faculty member at
the University of Florida's Center for Latin American Studies.
Ankersen holds a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law where he was
a member of the Law Review, served as President of the Environmental Law Society,
and received the Dean Maloney environmental law writing award. He holds B.A's in
English and History and an M.A. in History from the University of South Florida
where he specialized in environmental history. Prior to joining the law school,
Ankersen served as an attorney in the Denver and Tallahassee offices of the Sierra
Club Legal Defense Fund. Prior to that he was senior litigation associate in the
law firm of Peeples, Earl and Blank in Miami, Florida, where he specialized in environmental
litigation. Prior to law school Ankersen worked as an environmental planner for
a design firm in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Ankersen has published numerous articles and essays in the area of conservation
law and policy, as well as in the area of environmental history. Recent law review
publications include: Bowles, Ian. A, Rosenfeld Amy B., Kormos, Cyril F., Nations,
James D. & Ankersen, Thomas T., The Environmental Impacts of International Finance
Corporation Lending and Proposals for Reform: A Case Study of Conservation and Oil
Development in the Guatemalan Petén, 29 29 Journal of Environmental Law 103 (Spring,
1999), and Ankersen, Thomas T. & Hamann, Richard, Ecosystem Management and the
Everglades: A Legal and Institutional Analysis, 11 Journal of Land Use and Environmental
Law 473 (1996). He recently completed a chapter in a forthcoming edited volume entitled
"Bioregionalism: The Tug and Pull of Place." (Routledge, London). His environmental
history essay, Law, Science and Little Old Ladies: The Many Hands That Made a Movement,
was published in the Journal of the Florida Humanities Council (XVIII Forum 28 (Summer,
1995). He also served as an essayist and guest editor for a special issue of the
Spanish language journal Mesoamerica, entitled Tendencias Actuales de la Legislacion
y Politica Sobre el Medio Ambiente en Mesoamerica. Ankersen has provided testimony
to congressional and legislative bodies in matters related to his expertise and
frequently advises governmental and non-governmental institutions in these matters.
Ankersen currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Environmental
and Land Use Law Center, is a member of the Tropical Ecosystems Directorate of the
United States Department of State Man and the Biosphere Program, a member of the
Board of Directors of the Forest Management Trust and serves on the Board of Advisors
of Florida Defenders of the Environment.
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RICHARD HAMANN
B.A., University of Florida 1971
J.D., University of Florida 1976, with honors
Richard Hamann is an attorney, researcher and teacher at the University of Florida
Levin College of Law's Center for Governmental Responsibility. Mr. Hamann has conducted
research on a wide variety of environmental, land use and water management issues.
Current research interests include the management of large scale ecosystems for
ecological sustainability, the protection of natural systems in water management,
the development of protected areas systems and basin management in Latin America,
and African wildlife management. Mr. Hamann has taught the following courses and
seminars in the College of Law: Environmental Law--Water, Wetlands and Wildlife;
Water Law; Wetlands Law and Policy; International Environmental Law and Policy;
Transboundary Environmental Issues in the Americas (coordinator), Ecosystem Management:
the Everglades Case Study, Florida Ecosystems: Ecology, Management and Law and Comparative
Environmental Law: U.S., Florida and Costa Rica.
Mr. Hamann is Immediate Past-Chair of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section
of The Florida Bar, President of Florida Defenders of the Environment, Vice-President
of the Alachua Conservation Trust and on the Board of Directors of the Florida Wildlife
Federation.
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LAURIE MACDONALD
Laurie Macdonald, a wildlife zoologist based in St Petersburg, FL, is the Director
of Florida Programs for the national nonprofit conservation organization Defenders
of Wildlife. Laurie had her own wildlife consulting practice for over 16 years working
on endangered species and habitat protection, management, research and education.
Combining science and advocacy continues to be of crucial concern to Laurie who
is on the national Endangered Species Coalition Board of Directors and served as
the national Sierra Club's Endangered Species and Habitats Chair for many years,
and has been the Florida Sierra Club's Biodiversity Chair. Currently, Ms. Macdonald's
work deals primarily with habitat protection, transportation issues, endangered
species issues, conservation of biological diversity through informing and catalyzing
citizen action, both lobbying and partnering with governmental agencies, working
with public and private land owners and managers, legislative lobbying, providing
expert testimony, and other efforts to protect biodiversity. Throughout her career,
Ms. Macdonald has worked from the local through the international level. She has
represented Defenders of Wildlife and Sierra Club at international conventions on
biodiversity.
Ms. Macdonald has a BA is from the University of Oregon, and an MS from the University
of South Florida.
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PROFESSOR JOEL A. MINTZ
Joel A. Mintz is a tenured Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University Law
Center, where he has taught Environmental Law and related subjects since 1982. He
holds a B.A. from Columbia University, a J.D. from N.Y.U. School of Law, and LL.M.
and J.S.D. degrees from Columbia Law School. Prior to joining the Nova Southeastern
law faculty, Professor Mintz was an attorney and chief attorney with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in Chicago and Washington, D.C. He participated in a number
of significant, precedent-setting environmental lawsuits and he was a recipient
of the EPA's Bronze Medal for Commendable Service, as well as the Agency's Special
Service Award, for his outstanding legal and supervisory efforts. Mintz has published
extensively in the fields of Environmental Law and State and Local Taxation and
Finance. He has authored or co-authored four well-received books in these areas,
as well as numerous articles in such prestigious journals and law reviews as the
Harvard Environmental Law Review, The Yale Journal of International Law, the Columbia
Journal of Environmental Law, the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review,
and the A.B.A.-sponsored Environmental Lawyer. Professor Mintz's biography appears
in Who's Who In America, Who's Who in American Law, the Directory of American Scholars
and Contemporary Authors. He is an elected member of both the International Council
of Environmental Law and the Environmental Law Commission of the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature, and a past chair of the Association of American
Law Schools (AALS) Section on State and Local Government Law (on whose board he
has served since 1991). Mintz is also currently the only lawyer or legal academic
serving as a member of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council's
Committee on Source Removal of Contaminants in the Subsurface.
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DAVID J. WHITE, J.D.
Mr. White is Director of The Ocean Conservancy's Southeast Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico Regional Office, where he is responsible for regional activities on fish
conservation, water quality protection, recovery of endangered marine wildlife,
and ecosystem conservation issues. Prior to joining The Ocean Conservancy, Mr. White
maintained an environmental law practice representing public interest clients in
citizen-suit litigation and environmental advocacy on matters involving wildlife
law, endangered species, wetlands, forest management on public lands, environmental
permitting, land use, and river restoration. Mr. White also served for nine years
as Regional Counsel for the National Wildlife Federation in Atlanta, Georgia, where
his practice focused on issues related to the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water
Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and National Forest Management Act. He is
a member of the Florida and Georgia state bars and numerous federal appellate circuits,
and is a frequent lecturer and writer on environmental law issues. Mr. White is
a former Chairman of the Board of the Florida Wildlife Federation, and also serves
on the board of the Environmental and Land Use Law Center. Mr. White is a Contributing
Author and Special Editor for the Treatise of Florida Environmental & Land Use Law.
Mr. White received his J.D. with Honors from the University of Florida College of
Law, his Master of Science in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida School
of Forest Resources and Conservation, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology
from the University of Florida.
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JANET RENO
Janet Reno has had a long standing and unprecedented career in the legal field,
as well as a great love for the environment. She grew up in the Everglades and as
quoted in her opening statement at her Senate confirmation hearings upon her nomination
as Attorney General by President Clinton, “I want to remember the splendid skies
of the city I love, and the Everglades and the coral reefs that I've explored all
my life, and I want to see that the laws of this country are enforced in every way
possible to protect the environment.” In 1971, Ms. Reno was named staff director
of the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives. In 1978, she
was appointed State Attorney General of Miami-Dade County and was returned by voters
four more times. In 1993 she became the 78th Attorney General of the United States
and the first woman to hold the position. She served under President Clinton until
2001, the longest serving attorney general since the Civil War. As the Chief Law
Enforcement officer, Ms. Reno enforced policies on civil rights, race relations,
corruption, the environment, gun control and immigration. Today she devotes her
time to numerous causes including children's issues, domestic violence and preservation
of the Everglades and other environmental concerns. Ms. Reno has served on the board
of directors of the Everglades Law Center since 2003. Ms. Reno received a Bachelor's
degree in Chemistry from Cornell University and an LL.B. from Harvard Law.