Peter Schorsch
Lawyer-lobbyist Nicole “Nikki” Fried tells FloridaPolitics.com she’s leaving Colodny Fass to form her own South Florida influence shop.
The new firm, to be called Igniting Florida, will be based in Fort Lauderdale. Fried now works in Sunrise.
Fried, who’s become a go-to person in medical marijuana lobbying, will keep her clients.
They include San Felasco Nurseries, the Gainesville-based grower that won an administrative challenge for a medical pot-growing permit. It was issued a license in April.
This past session, she also helped get a bill (HB 307) passed that expands the state’s Right to Try Act to include medical marijuana.
The expansion means terminally ill patients will be able to use medical marijuana during their final days.
She also represents health care and insurance concerns, and The Florida Bar.
In 2014, she received an award from The Florida Bar’s Legal Needs of Children Committee “for her leadership of the Florida’s Children First lobbying team,” according to her bio.
She worked on passage of a bill “that provided $4.5 million in appropriations to ensure Florida’s disabled dependent children have access to lawyers,” the bio says.
Fried now serves on the Bar’s Standing Committee on the Legal Needs of Children.
The 38-year-old received her undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Florida, where she was student body president, Hall of Fame and Blue Key member.
Fried then got a master’s degree in political campaigning and law degree also from UF. She currently serves on her alma mater’s Governmental Relations Advisory Committee.
