Personnel note: Lauren Brooks, Paul Polito join Lewis Longman & Walker

Lewis Longman & Walker has bolstered its environmental law practice with the addition of lawyers Lauren Brooks in Tallahassee and Paul Joseph Polito in West Palm Beach.

Brooks brings with her nine years of experience in federal and state environmental and land use regulation and litigation, as well as a strong understanding of local government law, business litigation and the appellate process.

While earning her law degree from the University of Florida, Brooks served as a Judicial Intern for U.S. District Court Judge Roy Dalton. After law school, she served as Senior Judicial Law Clerk for 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Scott Makar. Brooks then transitioned to private practice representing corporate, individual and local government clients across the state.

“We are thrilled that Lauren has joined LLW. Her experience will be integral to the solutions that we offer our clients. We know that she will serve the firm’s clients well with her deep knowledge and experience dealing with complex environmental and land use matters. We are excited about the growth of our firm and proud of our strong bench of professionals,” LLW President Michelle Diffenderfer said.

Polito comes to the firm from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, where he worked as a litigator representing the department in complex matters related to environmental permitting and enforcement. He has served as lead counsel in almost two dozen administrative proceedings before the Division of Administrative Hearings, and several matters where he argued before 1DCA.

Before joining DEP, Polito clerked for Chief Environmental Administrative Law Judge Bram Canter, working on drafting Recommended and Final Orders. He earned his law degree from Florida State University.

“Paul has already hit the ground running and will be an asset to our firm and the clients we serve as they navigate through complex development and environmental matters. His deep knowledge as a litigator and understanding of Florida’s environmental laws and strong grasp of complex policy issues makes him a perfect fit,” Diffenderfer said. “We are thrilled to have him on our team.”

LLW is a full-service law firm with practices in environmental law, land use and real estate law, government law, government affairs and lobbying, administrative and appellate litigation and Native American law.

The firm’s environmental law practice assists clients in a variety of matters involving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida’s Water Management Districts and other federal, state and local regulatory agencies.