The posting
THE OPPORTUNITY
Williams Parker is seeking a Land Use Attorney with approximately 5+ years of private practice experience to join one of Southwest Florida's most established land use and development practices. This opportunity is intended for an attorney whose practice includes zoning, entitlements, permitting, comprehensive plan amendments, and representation before local government boards and commissions on behalf of developers, property owners, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public-sector clients. The successful candidate will assume significant responsibility for high-profile growth and development matters in one of the nation's most active markets.
For more than a century, Williams Parker has served as a trusted advisor to individuals, families, businesses, and institutions, building an enduring legacy through sophisticated counsel, exceptional service, and meaningful community stewardship. Our founder, J.J. Williams Jr., counseled public- and private-sector clients from the earliest days of the Firm and the earliest days of this community, and our work has been foundational to the region's development—from the famed Ringling Isles development on Longboat Key to the pioneering planned unit developments of The Meadows to the rising skyline of today.
A portable book of business is not required; however, candidates must bring the technical command, professional maturity, and sound judgment necessary to assume near partner-level responsibilities with limited supervision.
THE WORK YOU WILL LEAD
As a member of Williams Parker's Land Use practice, you will:
- Shape how this community grows. Represent public- and private-sector clients, including nonprofit organizations, before municipal and county boards, commissions, and councils on a vast range of zoning, permitting, and land use matters.
- Advance projects through the entitlement process with efficiency and precision. Guide comprehensive plan amendments, re-zonings, special exceptions, zoning code amendments, street vacations, subdivision approvals, and environmental reviews from strategy through approval.
- Advocate persuasively in public forums. Prepare and present applications, petitions, staff submittals, and supporting materials, and appear at public hearings and administrative proceedings where outcomes are decided.
- Navigate complex local government codes and procedures. Counsel clients on land development regulations, concurrency, vested rights, development agreements, and the practical realities of how approvals are secured at ground level.
- Unite legal, planning, and business perspectives. Collaborate with engineers, planners, architects, consultants, lenders, and attorneys across the Firm's real estate, construction, environmental, corporate, and litigation practices to deliver integrated counsel on development projects.
- Become an enduring trusted advisor. Cultivate lasting relationships with clients, regulators, and decision-makers through responsiveness, credibility, technical excellence, and an exceptional commitment to client service.
For more information about our Land Use practice, click here.
Requirements
THE EXPERIENCE YOU WILL BRING
You bring the experience, judgment, and client-centered perspective required to guide sophisticated development matters from concept through approval, including:
- A substantive land use practice foundation. Approximately 5+ years of private practice experience with a substantial focus on land use, zoning, entitlements, permitting, local government representation, and real estate development matters.
- A record of trusted counsel to development clients. Demonstrated success advising developers, property owners, investors, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public-sector clients on project feasibility, regulatory strategy, and the entitlement path required to bring a vision to completion.
- Command of the entitlement and approval process. Significant experience serving as the primary handling attorney on comprehensive plan amendments, re-zonings, special exceptions, variances, zoning code amendments, site plan and subdivision approvals, street vacations, and environmental reviews.
- Mastery of local government codes and procedures. Proven ability to interpret and apply land development regulations, navigate staff review, and anticipate the procedural, political, and practical considerations that determine whether a project proceeds on time and on budget.
- Persuasive advocacy in public forums. Substantial experience presenting before municipal and county boards, commissions, and councils, and representing clients in quasi-judicial and administrative hearings where matters are often visible and contested.
- The presence to communicate and collaborate with distinction. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to make complex regulatory concepts understandable and to work effectively with clients, neighbors, elected officials, staff, engineers, planners, architects, consultants, and attorneys across the Firm.
- The capacity to lead complex matters. Professional maturity, disciplined matter management, and the ability to exercise independent judgment while managing multiple sophisticated engagements and project teams with limited supervision.
- Essential professional credentials. Juris Doctor degree from an ABA-accredited law school and membership in The Florida Bar in good standing, eligibility for admission, or willingness to sit for the Florida Bar Examination in the near future.
- Distinguishing credentials welcomed. Florida Bar Board Certification in City, County and Local Government Law or a related specialty is preferred. Existing relationships within the Sarasota-Manatee local government, planning, and development communities, or an advanced degree in real estate, environmental law, land use, or urban planning, are strongly preferred, although comparable substantive experience will be considered.
Benefits
A PLATFORM BUILT TO ENDURE
Williams Parker offers accomplished Land Use attorneys the opportunity to practice within one of the region's premier land use and development platforms. Attorneys benefit from sophisticated entitlement work, long-standing client relationships, a collaborative culture, and the opportunity to serve developers, property owners, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and public-sector clients throughout a growing Southwest Florida market.
- A century of excellence and a platform built to endure. Join one of the region's most established and sophisticated Land Use practices, distinguished by deep technical capabilities, experienced practitioners, and a legacy of trusted counsel extending across generations.
- The opportunity to build the practice you have envisioned. Assume meaningful responsibility, deepen your technical capabilities, develop enduring advisor relationships, and advance your career within a distinguished platform designed for sophisticated land use and development work.
- Colleagues who elevate the work and one another. Work alongside experienced attorneys across Land Use, Real Estate, Construction, Corporate, Tax, Labor & Employment, and Litigation practices in a collegial culture that values accessibility, mentorship, knowledge sharing, and teamwork. Cross-disciplinary collaboration enables the Firm to provide coordinated counsel where clients' development, business, regulatory, and financial interests intersect.
- Work defined by complexity, consequence, and purpose. Advise on comprehensive plan amendments, re-zonings, entitlements, permitting, development agreements, and other significant matters that shape how communities grow and how projects come to life.
- Relationships measured in generations, not transactions. Serve long-standing clients, multi-generational development families, property owners, public-sector entities, and trusted professional advisors through relationships built on continuity, confidence, and mutual respect.
- A growing market for sophisticated land use counsel. Practice in one of Florida's most desirable regions while serving an increasingly sophisticated client base throughout Southwest Florida and beyond.
- Service elevated by attentiveness and discernment. Join a Firm known for discretion, responsiveness, careful judgment, and a deeply personal approach to professional service. Attorneys are expected not only to understand the law, but also to understand what matters most to each client.
- Community stewardship with lasting consequence. Become part of a Firm whose attorneys have served as trusted advisors, civic leaders, and stewards of the institutions, businesses, families, and organizations that have shaped the region for more than a century.
- Resources that protect the value of an attorney's time. Benefit from strong administrative, marketing, technology, and knowledge-management support that promotes efficient practice management, meaningful collaboration, relationship development, and exceptional client service.
- A rewards package commensurate with the opportunity. Receive market-leading compensation, comprehensive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, and an Employee Savings Plan and 401(k) with employer contributions.
