MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Berger Singerman, Florida’s business law firm, is pleased to announce that real estate and land use attorney Javier E. Fernandez has joined the firm as a partner on the Government and Regulatory Team. A former chief of staff to City of Miami Mayor Manuel A. Diaz, Fernandez has announced that, in addition to his role at Berger Singerman, he will run for the Florida House of Representatives District 114 seat in 2018.
Fernandez has extensive experience in all aspects of the land use and zoning entitlements process and worked on a number of large-scale projects that are helping to transform Miami’s urban core, including the expansion of Tri-Rail services into downtown Miami at MiamiCentral station. Javier routinely represents developers before local municipalities on comprehensive plan amendments, rezonings, related development approvals and code enforcement matters. He has also successfully negotiated a number of public assistance agreements with community redevelopment agencies across Miami-Dade County. Fernandez will serve clients across the state from Berger Singerman’s Miami office.
“Javier’s extensive experience as a real estate and land use attorney, as well as his deep understanding of local government and his political experience will further enhance our already strong Government and Regulatory Team,” said Paul Steven Singerman, co-chair of Berger Singerman. ”Combined with his commitment to being a dedicated corporate citizen, Javier is an ideal match with Berger Singerman’s collaborative culture and we are thrilled to welcome him to the firm.”
Prior to joining Berger Singerman, Fernandez was a partner at Holland & Knight where he represented real estate owners and developers, predominantly in the South Florida area. Earlier in his career, he was a shareholder with Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson in the firm’s land development and zoning practice following a career in both the public and nonprofit sectors. He has been recognized as one of America's Leading Business Lawyers in the real estate category by Chambers USA, a Florida Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine and a Florida Legal Elite Up & Comer by Florida Trend magazine.
“I am thrilled to be joining a firm with a great reputation and incredible talent in the South Florida real estate industry, including land use and environmental law,” stated Fernandez. “The entrepreneurial culture of Berger Singerman and the respect I have for many of the firm’s lawyers, whom I have seen in action, made my decision to join the team an easy one.”
Committed to the community, Fernandez is a leadership council member of The Posse Foundation, advisory board member for the Miami Chapter of the New Leaders Council, and a board member for the Transit Alliance in Miami. He also previously served as an advisory board member for the South Florida Community Development Coalition and a board member for the Miami-Dade Housing Finance Agency.
Fernandez earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law, and his B.A. in Government and Spanish from Colby College.
