Rogers Towers Expands to Central Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (February 7, 2013) – Rogers Towers has opened its seventh office in Florida. Effective February 7, 2013, the firm’s newest office, located at 201 S. Orange Avenue, Suite 720, Orlando, Florida will offer a full range of legal services to its commercial and individual clients.  

The firm has also hired Aristides “Kico” Diaz as a new Shareholder in the firm. Diaz joins the firm’s Litigation Department and will practice in the firm's Orlando office. A member of the Florida Bar, Mr. Diaz represents clients in matters involving all aspects of business-related matters, including litigation, debt collections, commercial landlord-tenant disputes, purchase and sale of businesses, franchises, and incorporations.

Mr. Diaz received his undergraduate degree in Finance from California State University. Thereafter, Mr. Diaz joined the U.S. Navy as a F-14 Radar Intercept Officer and served as Mission Commander. In addition to his flight duties, Mr. Diaz graduated in the top 10% of his Legal Officer class at the Naval Justice School and served as VF-14 Squadron Legal Officer for the following two years. In 1997, Mr. Diaz received his J.D., Cum Laude, from Florida State College of Law.

Mr. Diaz will join fellow shareholder, Ellen Avery-Smith in the Orlando office. Ms. Avery-Smith practices in the areas of land use, environmental and real estate law, including all aspects of real estate transactions from pre-purchase due diligence to entitlement of land to purchase and development of property. She often serves in a strategic management role of consultant teams on large and complex projects and has negotiated development orders, development agreements, school concurrency agreements, mitigation agreements and other documents establishing development rights. Ms. Avery-Smith also represents private landowners in obtaining federal, state and local permits associated with wetland impacts from construction projects and with creation of wetland mitigation and conservation banks. Florida circuit court mediator focusing on real property, land use, environmental and contract dispute. She is a member of the firm's Regulatory and Real Estate departments and the Transportation Industry Team.

“We are extremely pleased to have Kico and Ellen lead our expansion efforts into the Orlando market,” said Fred D. Franklin, Jr., managing director of Rogers Towers. “Rogers Towers has represented businesses and individuals throughout the state of Florida for many years, opening an Orlando office is a logical way to provide more convenient access for our clients in Central Florida.”

Rogers Towers, P. A., founded in Jacksonville in 1905, is Northeast Florida's largest law firm with offices in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Amelia Island, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fort Myers. Boca Raton, Florida and Orlando, Florida. The firm provides counseling and legal services in the areas of: Banking and Financial; Commercial Litigation; Construction; Corporate; Labor and Employment; Environmental; Eminent Domain; Elder Law; Family Law; Health Law; Immigration; Intellectual Property; Land Use; Public Finance; Real Estate; Taxation; Transportation and Logistics; Trusts and Estates; and Wills. www.rtlaw.com