Nevin Zimmerman is a resident in the firm’s downtown Panama City office, and he has experience practicing in the areas of governmental law, administrative law, land use law, contract law, real estate financing and municipal bond finance law. In his representation of Bay County for over 20 years, Mr. Zimmerman gained considerable expertise in the areas of land use, growth management, environmental permitting and infrastructure financing. Nevin presently serves as the City Attorney for Panama City.
Nevin has also assisted numerous clients with a variety of land use and permitting issues; he has provided valuable guidance to developers and landowners in interpreting the State land use laws, in navigating through the local land use codes and comprehensive plans, and in assisting in the financing of their projects, including FHA and HUD insured loans. Recently, Mr. Zimmerman represented numerous borrowers of FHA/HUD insured loans to construct and refinance apartments, workforce housing facilities and nursing home facilities. He has also represented clients obtaining bonds and tax credits through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and USDA Rural Development loan guarantees for senior living housing projects.
Mr. Zimmerman has served as local counsel and consultant for court appointed receivers, developers, lawyers, architects and engineers, and he can be a valuable member of any development and problem solving team. Teamwork and consensus building are important aspects of Mr. Zimmerman’s practice, and he is available to assist you in arriving at solutions for your project challenges.
Nevin has lived in Bay County since 1979, and he and his wife have four daughters. He was admitted to practice law in the state of Florida in 1979. Nevin and his wife (Gigi) have organized and sponsored traveling youth choirs for over 20 years, and he serves as President of the Bay County Christian Youth Choir, Inc.
Mike Burke is resident in the firm’s Panama City Beach office conveniently located to serve clients in all of the Northwest Florida Panhandle. His practice is primarily focused on representing local governments and businesses and individuals that require representation before local, state and federal governments and agencies. His experience with local government law runs the gamut from land use, zoning, code enforcement, contracting, administrative processes, bond financing and many other areas of local government law. Mr. Burke’s experience includes, but is not limited to, representation of the Bay County Board of County Commissioners, Walton County Board of County Commissioners, Walton County Tourist Development Council, the Town of Cedar Grove, Bay County Supervisor of Elections, and the Lake Powell Residential Golf CDD. Additionally, Mr. Burke has represented numerous developers, businesses and individuals before various Northwest Florida local governments in matters related to zoning, land use, code enforcement and contracting.
Mr. Burke’s experience in the wide ranging areas of local government law is a benefit to clients that seek his counsel in areas of the law such as real estate transactions, leases, litigation, contracts, and appeals.
Mr. Burke used his extensive experience in local government law as part of Burke Blue’s team of lawyers that assisted Ken Feinberg in his role as Administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. In December 2010, Mr. Feinberg hired Burke Blue to act as his Florida Liaison and assist GCCF claimants across the State of Florida. Mr. Burke was an integral part of the firm’s involvement with the GCCF and undertook primary responsibility for assisting claimants in the Pensacola and Gulf Breeze areas. The experience was rewarding on personal and business levels. Not only did he get the opportunity to assist his fellow Floridians through some very tough times, he also gained a great deal of experience in claims administration, mass torts and accounting of damages.
Mike is a native of Northwest Florida and lives in Panama City Beach with his wife and three children. He served as an Assistant State Attorney in Gulf County under Jim Appleman from 1997 to 1998. He is a member of The Florida Bar, Bay County Bar Association, St. Andrews Bay American Inn of Court and he currently serves on the Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He enjoys the Northwest Florida outdoors and coaching youth soccer.
Douglas Smith is a Shareholder whose practice focuses on the areas of Civil Litigation, Commercial Law, Real Property, Banking, Eminent Domain, and Creditor Bankruptcy Law. Doug is an AV rated attorney and has significant litigation experience in both the State and Federal Court systems. Additionally, Doug has been a Certified Circuit Civil Mediator since 1998.
In 1983, Doug attended Duke University where he received a BA in Economics, cum laude. He then served in the United States Peace Corps from 1984-1986 specializing in economic development in The Federated States of Micronesia. Upon returning to the United States, he attended law school at The College of William & Mary where he received both the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award and the Phoenix Award for service to the College.
For more than 20 years, Doug has practiced law in the northwest Florida area. His general civil litigation practice has resulted in numerous money judgments obtained for clients, including one for in excess of $3,000,000. His philosophy regarding civil litigation is that it takes a team effort between the client and the client’s law firm to achieve the best results, and therefore, clients play an active role in all of the cases he handles. Doug has also been active in eminent domain cases throughout Northwest Florida.
In recent years, Doug has also focused attention on the representation of condominium and homeowner associations and has presented seminars on such topics. Doug has specialized in defending associations’ rights when they are made junior defendants in mortgage foreclosure lawsuits, as well as representing associations in lien collections actions against nonpaying owner members of the associations. With the ever increasing number of condominiums and homeowner association controlled communities in Florida, association representation is an expanding area of law where the law is continuing to evolve.
Doug is a member of the Duke University Alumni Interview Committee. He has also graded The Florida Bar Exam and has written an examination question used by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.
A civic leader at heart, Doug is a past-president, current Board member, and founding member of Habitat for Humanity of Bay County, Florida, Inc., and a member and former Board Member of NCSC Federal Credit Union, now known as Innovations Federal Credit Union. In addition to other community organizations, he was a member of the Leadership Bay Class of 1997, Race Director of the Race Judicata 1991-1997, and is currently a program chair of Panama City Kiwanis Club and member of Panhandle Runners & Triathletes Club. Doug also enjoys coaching youth soccer and is Chancellor for Holy Nativity Episcopal School.
In 2017, Doug was chairman of the Bay County Chamber of Commerce’s Federal Courthouse Committee, which was instrumental in saving the permanent location of the federal courthouse in Panama City. For this work in 2018 Doug was honored with the Chamber of Commerce’s Member of the Year award.
Ward Hutchison is a Shareholder in the firm whose practice focuses on the areas of Estate Planning, Probate, Trusts, Corporations, Banking, Real Property and Real Estate Law. Mr. Hutchison is a BV rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell and has practiced in Bay County for over thirty years. Mr. Hutchison has served as managing shareholder for the firm for over 20 years and has been the president of the firm for the past 3 years.
Mr. Hutchison has always been extremely involved in his community and charitable activities. He has served as past president of the Florida State University, Panama City Campus Development Board, and as a board member of the Panama City Downtown Improvement Board, Panama City Community Redevelopment Agency, Bay County Public Library Association; Florida State University Panama City Campus Advisory Board; the Crisis Pregnancy Center, Bay County Christian Counseling Center, Florida Panhandle Pediatric Foundation, Gulf Coast Children Advocacy Center, and the Panama Country Club. He is a former member of the Board of Country Club Harbor Community Association, and he participates in the alumni activities of Stetson University and Florida State University. He is also an active member of the First Baptist Church of Panama City.
Les W. Burke is one of the firm’s founding members and is Of Counsel to the Firm. Martindale-Hubbell has designated him as an AV-rated attorney for more than 25 years, which is the highest rating possible. With over 50 years of practicing law, Mr. Burke has extensive experience in the areas of Condominium Law, Local Government Law, and Real Estate Transactions & Litigation. He was a pioneer in the Northwest Florida region with respect to Condominium Law and has represented a multitude of condominium developers, condominium associations, unit sellers, purchasers, and lenders. The numerous developers he has represented are responsible for many thousands of units from Panama City to Pensacola.
In addition to being in private practice, Mr. Burke also served as Bay County Attorney from 1971 to 2007. During that time he witnessed the doubling in size of Bay County and saw the first privatization of jail facilities by a Florida county, the development of a Resource Recovery Facility handling disposal of municipal waste, and the initiation of comprehensive planning and land use regulations.
Mr. Burke is very active in both the legal and civic community of Northwest Florida. He has served on the Board of Governors of the Young Lawyers Section of the Florida Bar from 1973-1974, the Florida Bar Board of Governors from 1984-1988, and is the former Chairman of the First District Court of Appeals Judicial Nominating Commission.
Mr. Burke has also served on the Board of Directors of the Bay Chamber of Commerce and the former Peoples First Community Bank Holding Company. In addition, he was the president of the Bay County Library and presided as the Commodore for the St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club and as the President of the Panama Country Club. Mr. Burke’s alumni activities include the University of Florida, the Gator Boosters, and the Florida Law Review Alumni Association.
Rob Blue, Jr., is one of Firm’s founding members and is a Shareholder of the Firm. Mr. Blue has substantial experience in the areas of Banking Law, Real Estate Transactions and Litigation, and Condominium Law. Mr. Blue represents various developers, lenders, and landowners in Bay, Gulf and Walton County, Florida. He has been designated an “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest possible peer review rating in legal ability and ethical standards.
While attending law school at the University of Florida, Mr. Blue was a member of Florida Blue Key, student leadership honorary, and was named Outstanding Male Graduate during his senior year in 1967. After graduation from law school, he entered the armed forces and served as Captain in the USAF from 1970-1974, as a JAG officer. After serving his country, he moved his family to Panama City, Florida and began practicing law with the firm of Hilton, Bennett, Logue, Burke & Paulk, P.A., which included one of his present partners, Les W. Burke.
From 2000-2004, Mr. Blue served on the Board of Governors for the Florida Bar, representing the 14th Judicial Circuit. He holds section memberships in both the American and Florida Bar Association in the areas of his practice: Corporation, Banking and Business Law and Real Property, Probate and Trust Law. He is also a member of the Bay County Bar Association and the St. Andrew Bay American Inn of Court and served as the president of the St. Andrew Bay American Inn of Court for its 2013-2014 term. Mr. Blue was the 2018 recipient of the Larry G. Smith Professionalism Award for the 14th Judicial Circuit.
Mr. Blue is active in the local community. He has served as a director for United Way and as President of Bay Arts Alliance and Girls Club, Inc. He is currently a member of the Panama City Rotary Club and St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club and enjoys hiking, sailing and other outdoor activities.
Joy Marler Masters is a Shareholder in the firm who focuses her practice on Estate Planning, Probate, Business Law (including Business Entity Formation), Estate Tax Law, Guardianship, and Real Estate Transactions. Joy assists clients in all levels of estate planning, including drafting simple wills and ancillary documents such as Powers of Attorney, Health Care Surrogates and Living Wills as well as more complex tax planning with wills and trusts. She also assists clients by representing them in Florida domiciliary and ancillary probate administrations and Florida trust administrations.
Joy is a native of Northwest Florida. Prior to beginning law school at Florida State University, she worked as an accountant in the areas of pension plan administration and tax return preparation. While at Florida State, Joy served on the Business Law Review, held membership in Phi Delta Phi and graduated in the top one-third of her class. After receiving her J.D. from Florida State University, she has focused her law practice primarily in the areas of Estate Planning, Probate and Tax, including returning to school to earn her LL.M. in Taxation.
Joy is actively involved in the Northwest Florida community, currently serving as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for North Bay Haven Parent Teacher Student Partnership in Bay County as well as other charitable endeavors. Joy is a member of the American Bar Association as well as the Bay County Bar Association.