Who We Are
2006 Annual Report
Click here to read about our activities in 2006.
We've Changed Our Name!
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A Legal Road Less Traveled
Click here to read a message from Executive Director Richard Grosso.
From left to right:
Richard Hamann,
Joel Mintz,
Laurie Macdonald,
Robert Hartsell (in rear),
Richard Grosso,
Janet Reno,
Thomas Ankersen,
Lisa Interlandi,
David White.
Not pictured:
Jason Totoiu,
Jennifer Tuby.
Senior Staff
RICHARD GROSSO
Richard Grosso is the Executive Director and General Counsel of the Everglades Law Center (ELC), formerly the Environmental and Land Use Law Center, Inc., a public interest law firm which represents citizens in South Florida in cases that defend the public interest in environmental and land use matters concerning the Florida Everglades, Florida Keys and Martin County. Mr. Grosso directs the ELC's public interest litigation practice and clinic at the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, where he is an Associate Professor. He 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 erected 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 new city 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. In his prior service to 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 frequently writes and lectures on growth management and land use issues,
including property rights law. His most recent article 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. 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
as the Environmentalist of the Year by CityLink Newspaper (Broward & Palm Beach
Counties), in 2002 was named Conservationist of the Year by the Everglades Coalition
and the Audubon Society of the Everglades, and in 2005 was named the Most Effective
Environmental Lawyer in south Florida by the Daily Business Review.
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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 at ELC's West Palm Beach office, Robert's primary practice areas are environmental, growth management, land use and everglades restoration law. Prior to joining the ELC, Robert practiced Environmental, Land Use, Administrative and Governmental Law. Robert 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. Robert received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and his J.D. with honors from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center. Robert 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. Before joining ELC, Jason practiced environmental law in Florida and Alabama, where he focused on endangered species and water quality issues. In addition to his litigation responsibilities, Jason is ELC’s project manager for non-litigation projects in the southern Everglades and the Florida Keys. 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.
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JENNIFER TUBY
Jennifer Tuby is the Legal Fellow at the Everglades Law Center, and works out of the ELC’s Ft. Lauderdale office on the campus of the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University. Jennifer works directly with the ELC’s Executive Director and General Counsel and assists in the management of all facets of the administration of the ELC and management of its complex and high profile projects and legal cases. Jennifer received her undergraduate degree from Florida Atlantic University and taught middle school science prior to entering law school. While attending law school she participated in the Environmental and Land Use Law clinical semester, interning at the ELC. She graduated Cum Laude from Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center in 2006 and was recently admitted to the Florida Bar.
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.