Dean Mead Opens New Office in Tallahassee

Dean Mead Continues Florida Growth with New Office in Tallahassee 

Well-known attorneys strengthen firm’s governmental relations and regulatory capabilities

Tallahassee, Fla. – Dean Mead announced today the opening of their new office in Tallahassee, located at 215 South Monroe Street. With offices already in Orlando, Fort Pierce, Viera and Gainesville, the Tallahassee location expands Dean Mead’s footprint to five offices and more than 50 attorneys strategically positioned throughout Florida.

The Tallahassee office is home to four attorneys including Peter Dunbar, Martha Edenfield, John Wharton, and Ashley DiNunzio-Gault. Dunbar, Wharton and Edenfield will each serve as Of Counsel, and DiNunzio-Gault will join the firm as Associate.

“The Tallahassee office will enhance the premier services Dean Mead already provides to an existing, state-wide client base – particularly those with regulatory and compliance needs,” said Dunbar. “The firm’s continued growth ensures that new and current clients have more access and representation within our state’s capital. I’m very excited to help enhance and expand on the unique experience that Dean Mead offers its clients in the areas of agribusiness, water law and regulatory issues.”

The new Tallahassee-based Governmental Relations & Regulatory Team will advise businesses and public sector clients on a wide range of services including:

• Administrative Law

• Agri-business Regulation and Permitting

• Commercial Litigation

• Government Regulations and Legislative Advocacy

• Land Use and Environmental Law

• Professional Licensure Defense

• Real Property and Condominium Law

• Utility Law and Regulation

• Water Resources, Permitting and Regulation

“I’m delighted to become a part of the Dean Mead team,” said Wharton. “The firm is known for the extent and depth of its resources and legal talent, and the new Tallahassee office will only add to the firm’s versatility and capabilities.”

Dunbar has more than 40 years of experience practicing in governmental, administrative, and real property law. He began his long career in Florida government in 1967 as staff director in the Florida House of Representatives. Dunbar later served for five terms as a distinguished member of the Florida House representing Pinellas and Pasco counties in the Florida Legislature. Upon leaving the Legislature, he held the posts of General Counsel and Director of Legislative Affairs under Governor Bob Martinez and as General Counsel at the Department of Financial Services. Dunbar served as Chief of Staff during the transition from the Martinez administration to the administration of Governor Lawton Chiles, and he is former Chairman and two-term member of the Florida Ethics Commission.

Edenfield’s practice focuses on governmental affairs, environmental land use and administrative law. Since entering the private practice in 1984, she has gained a wide variety of experience representing clients before the Florida Legislature, the Governor, the Cabinet and state agencies, having served as legal and governmental counsel for agricultural trade groups, industrial associations, medical doctors and local governments.

Wharton has more than 25 years of experience in Tallahassee representing both public and private clients in cases from application creation to administrative litigation before state and federal agencies. He also practices general litigation in state and federal courts. On a regular basis, he is litigating before numerous state agencies in the areas of water resource planning, permitting and regulation; mitigation banking; health care; utility law and utility regulation; professional regulation and environmental law.

DiNunzio-Gault’s practice focuses on Real Property and Administrative law. While completing law school at Florida State University, she served as a law clerk at the Florida Department of Financial Regulation and her former law firm in Tallahassee.

Dunbar (1972), Edenfield (1984) and DiNunzio-Gault (2012) each earned law degrees from Florida State University College of Law. Wharton earned his undergraduate degree from Florida State University in 1981, and completed his law degree at Gonzaga University in 1984.

“Expanding our statewide footprint to Tallahassee was the key to our 2014 strategic growth plan,” said Marc Chapman, President of Dean Mead. “The benefit to our clients is a dedicated team of attorneys who offer a unique understanding of government policy and access to the key decision-makers.”

In addition, Dean Mead’s office in Tallahassee presents a unique opportunity to establish a permanent location in Florida’s Capital Region as the newest city affiliate of ALFA International. ALFA is the premier global network of independent law firms with 145 law firms in the United States and Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. Dean Mead has been the Orlando law firm affiliate of ALFA since 2005.

About Dean Mead:

Dean Mead is a corporate law firm that provides full-service legal representation to businesses and individuals throughout Florida. The firm has more than 50 attorneys in multiple practice areas including: corporate, tax, estate and succession planning, commercial real estate, general commercial litigation, administrative law, professional licensing, government investigations, water and utility law, employee benefits, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, governmental relations, regulatory compliance and health care. For more information, please visit deanmead.deme.dev.

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