Our Attorneys

Frank L. Hearne

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Frank Hearne has practiced environmental law for over 40 years. His extensive experience includes representation of development, government, commercial, electric power, manufacturing, industrial, petroleum, agricultural and mining interests. Frank has been involved in numerous projects where contaminated soil and groundwater are at issue and in many cases with federal, state and local wetlands disputes. He is familiar with the State of Florida’s cleanup programs, including the Brownfields, dry cleaning solvent and petroleum programs. His experience also includes development, review and negotiation of environmental insurance policies. He has served as environmental counsel on many multiple-site real estate and business transactions on behalf of buyers, sellers and lenders. Mr. Hearne has been involved in over 50 federal Superfund sites, including Times Beach, Missouri, and Seymour, Indiana, which involved significant public and national controversy. He has also been involved in obtaining permits for more than 50 large industrial and electric power generation facilities.

Frank has had considerable experience in connection with air and water discharge issues, which includes permitting, enforcement defense and litigation involving the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, Underground Injection Control and the equivalent state law in many states. These activities included extensive involvement in the development of a number of federal and state environmental rules. Among other things, he has managed extremely complex permit hearings involving major hazardous waste disposal, industrial, development and mining sites including national, state and local political and legal considerations. He has also been involved in criminal defense work in cases involving the defense of clients facing federal and state environmental charges.

He has frequently authored and lectured on numerous environmental topics including seminars and papers on environmental compliance auditing, Clean Water Act permitting, Clean Air Act permits, indoor air quality, wetlands permitting, brownfields, environmental insurance, underground tanks and many other areas.

Frank is active in the Florida Brownfields Association where he is a member of the Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Technical Committee. He is a member of the Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Section and the Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section. Frank has been repeatedly listed by independent groups as an outstanding Florida environmental lawyer including, among others, Who’s Who Legal: USA, The Best Lawyers in America and Florida “Super Lawyers.”

In addition to his legal credentials, Frank holds an undergraduate degree in engineering where he focused on water resources and a master’s degree in zoology with a focus on aquatic and marine biology and ecology. Frank’s engineering and scientific training provides a background which enables him to comprehend many technical aspects of his work, including geohydrology, hydrology, environmental chemistry, wetlands, protected habitats, endangered species, aquatic and marine ecology and other technical disciplines. Prior to his legal career he was an environmental consultant for a number of years.

Mr. Hearne has been married for over 50 years to Teresa and has fathered two adult sons. He is a certified speaker in the United Methodist Church and plays and sings old time and gospel music.

Travis Moore Hearne

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Travis Moore Hearne is an Attorney in the Environmental Practice Group at Mechanik Nuccio. Travis is a second generation environmental lawyer and focuses his practice on environmental permitting, compliance, and remediation. Travis has experience in a wide variety of environmental, transactional, and land use issues and matters, including environmental resource permitting for wetland impacts and stormwater management, buying and selling contaminated property, environmental due diligence in real estate transactions, Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments, lender environmental liability, Brownfields, solid and hazardous waste permitting and compliance, RCRA and HSWA cleanups, coastal construction permitting, riparian law, and water quality law and regulation. Travis also has experience in real estate transactions, transactional documents, and land use issues and has represented real estate developers, landowners, small businesses, local governments, and lending institutions.

Travis graduated magna cum laude from Stetson University College of Law, where he finished in the top 5.1% of his class and received the highest grade awards in his sections of Torts, Property, and Administrative Law. He completed the Environmental Law Concentration at Stetson and focused his legal studies on the fields of environmental, land use, administrative, and municipal and local government law. He was a member of Stetson’s Moot Court Board and represented Stetson twice at the Pace University National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, where he received two best oralist awards.

Travis also was a Senior Associate of the Stetson Law Review and sat on the Law Review’s Spring 2019 Publication Committee. His law review comment focused on regulation of water quality, From Category 4B to Category 2: How Local Stakeholders in the Tampa Bay Nitrogen Management Consortium Battled Nutrient Pollution to Improve the Bay, was selected for publication in the Stetson Law Review’s Summer 2019 Edition. Travis was also selected to present his comment at the Scholarship Luncheon held by the Stetson Law Review once each semester.

During his time at Stetson, Travis also served as a Biodiversity Fellow at Stetson’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy, which afforded him the opportunity to attend the Fifteenth Meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in September 2018 on behalf of the Institute. Travis also assisted in researching an amicus brief filed in the Southern District of New York on behalf of the Society of Wetland Scientists in the case of New York v. Pruitt involving litigation over the Federal Clean Water Rule.

Travis was a certified legal intern at the City Attorney’s office of the City of St. Petersburg, where he researched a broad variety of issues pertaining to municipal law. At graduation, he was awarded the Outstanding Local Government Law Student Award by the Florida Bar’s City, County, and Local Government Law Section.

Since graduation, Travis has been published by both the ABA’s Section of Energy, Environment, and Resources and the Florida Association of Environmental Professionals.

Before attending law school, Travis earned his B.A. magna cum laude from the University of South Florida in English Literature.

David M. Mechanik

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David Mechanik was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1977. He practices in the areas of land use, environmental, real estate transactions, governmental relations, local government law and government relations, including economic incentives. Mr. Mechanik is also a Certified Planner (AICP), as designated by the American Planning Association and a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court Mediator.

He represents both private and governmental clients in connection with the sale, acquisition, financing and development of real estate, including rezonings, comprehensive plan amendments, development agreements (including utility and annexation agreements), Developments of Regional Impact (DRI), historic preservation and environmental matters. He has also drafted numerous comprehensive plan text amendments and revisions to land development codes. Mr. Mechanik frequently appears before local, state and federal agencies and handles administrative hearings and litigation pertaining to these areas of practice.

As a certified circuit court mediator, Mr. Mechanik’s forty years as a Florida attorney affords him experience, understanding, and perspective in mediating a variety of legal disputes including land use, environmental, real estate transactions, and governmental disputes. In recent years, the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act (FLUEDRA) has come into widespread usage and Mr. Mechanik is well equipped to handle these matters as a Special Magistrate who functions as an arbiter and mediator in these types of cases.

He has served on several committees of the State of Florida Department of Community Affairs (now known as the Department of Economic Opportunity) which were created to develop rules pertaining to DRIs, including the drafting of the first DRI Transportation Rule.

Significant projects for which he has been involved include: Amalie Arena (Tampa), International Plaza (Tampa), Harbour Island (Tampa), the Current Hotel (Tampa), Pineapple Square (Sarasota), Tampa General Hospital (TGH), Rehabilitation Center and TGH Administrative Office Complex (Tampa), IKEA (Tampa), Le Jeune Center (Miami), , Murdock Village (Charlotte County), On Top of the World (Clearwater and Ocala), Highwoods Preserve and Highwoods Independence Park (Tampa), Crosstown Center (Hillsborough County), Hidden River (Tampa), Tampa Palms (Tampa); Sabal Park (Hillsborough County), Osceola Corporate Center (Osceola County), Cypress Creek (Pasco County), Pinellas Park (Pinellas), Gateway Center (Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg), Embassy Suites (Downtown Tampa), and Tampa Port Authority Cruise Ship Terminals and Sparkman Wharf (Tampa).

Mr. Mechanik is also active in community activities. He has served on the following boards and committees:

• Member of Super Bowl XXXV and XLIII Task Forces
• Chairman and member of the Tampa Sports Authority Board of Directors
• Founding member and Chairman of the Tampa Downtown Partnership; currently serves on its Executive Committee and Board of Directors
• Chair of Policy and Transportation Councils of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce
• Vice-Chairman of the Hillsborough County Charter Review Board
• President of the Westshore Alliance; currently serves as an Ex Officio member of the Executive Committee and member of the Board of Directors
• City of Tampa Task Force which lured the Tampa Bay Lightning to downtown Tampa; involved in the land assemblage and financing for Amalie Arena
• Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of the Hillsborough County Regional Transit Authority (HART)
• President of Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc.
• Speaker at annual Florida Chamber of Commerce Environmental Permitting Summer School
• Hillsborough County Transportation Task Force
• Hillsborough County Economic Prosperity Committee

Vincent L. Nuccio, Jr.

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Vince Nuccio was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1977. His areas of practice include real estate, land use and local government law. He has represented numerous clients, both private and governmental, in real estate transactions, land use matters and governmental relations (including economic incentive) matters. Vince has represented numerous private clients in connection with complex transactions involving governmental entities, including development agreements and agreements involving construction of major roads and other facilities, long-term leases, and acquisition of real property. He has also acted as general counsel to several community development districts and has been special counsel to Hillsborough County on special district and special assessment issues.

Vince is a past Chair of the State and Local Government Council of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and is an alumnus of Leadership Tampa. He has also served on the Hillsborough County Citizens Advisory Committee, the Hillsborough County Charter Review Board and the Hillsborough County Governance Review Committee.

Vince graduated with honors from the University of South Florida in 1974. He earned his J.D., also with honors, from the University of Florida in 1977. He received his certification as a Certified Public Accountant in 1978 and practiced as a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Company in its tax department prior to commencing his legal career. Vince has an “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

William R. Paul

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Bill Paul has a practice that spans an extensive variety of business transactions and legal proceedings. He has represented individuals and both public and closely held companies, securities issuers, underwriters, broker-dealers, and venture capital investors in mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, business combinations, business sales, securities offerings, compliance activities, and administrative, licensing, and enforcement proceedings.

Bill’s practice includes executive employment and separation agreements and a wide array of dispute resolutions. He has represented buyers, sellers, joint venture partners, lenders, and investment bankers in various business financing and sale transactions; manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in a varied spectrum of distribution agreements; and vendors of computer software and radio frequency identification (“RFID”) systems in competing for government contract awards.

In over 48 years of private practice, Bill has represented clients in numerous industries and professions, including computer hardware and software developers; physician groups and individual physicians, hospitals and medical practice groups; medical device inventors and suppliers, medical product manufacturers and distributors; RFID and other emerging technology suppliers; real estate syndicators; waste container manufacturers and distributors; casino cruise operators; other motor vessel owners; hospitality and hotel developers; heavy and light manufacturing companies; radio stations and individual broadcasters; food processors and distributors; mortgage lenders, brokers, and bankers; commercial banks and bank holding companies; securities broker-dealers; real estate brokers; insurance brokers; and cellular tower landlords.

His clients also have included not-for-profit business leagues and tax-exempt civic, educational, and charitable organizations involved in environmental protection, real estate, finance, healthcare, and other industries.

Bill practiced law in New York City for 3 years prior to moving to Tampa, Florida in 1979. He has been a partner in international, national, and Florida law firms during his years in Tampa. He is a member of The Florida Bar and its Business Law Section, and the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and is an inactive member of the District of Columbia Bar.

Bill was President of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Association For Corporate Growth from 2000 to 2003 and a Director from 1998 to 2010. He was a founding member of the Real Estate Investment Council, Inc. (“REIC”) in 1983; served as REIC President for two years; and has been a Director since 1983. He also was a founding member of the Private Directors Association – Tampa Bay. Bill was a charter member of The Tampa Club and became its first emeritus member.

Bill is AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been included for the past ten years in Florida Trend’s Florida Legal Elite and was designated a member of its Hall of Fame in its 2022 edition. He also is included in Marquis Who’s Who in America 2022-2023 and in its Top Lawyers publication. Bill is likewise included in the 2025 Top 100 Lawyers Magazine published by the Top 100 Registry Inc.

Prior to entering private law practice, Bill was a Senior Staff Attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., in its Division of Corporation Finance, for 3-1/2 years. He is a former arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, The New York Stock Exchange, and the NASD (now FINRA).

Bill earned a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1964 where he was a member of the Varsity Football Team from 1960 through 1963. He earned a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1973, where he was a member of the National Moot Court Team and the Moot Court Honor Society, and he completed several tax law courses in the graduate tax program at Georgetown University Law School in 1974 and 1975 while working as a Senior Staff Attorney at the SEC.

Bill also is a 1969 graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, which he attended for three years; and he performed in lead roles in several dinner theater productions in Staten Island, New York, and is an avid theater goer. He currently serves as a mentor to football players at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.

Lawrence A. Silvestri

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Larry Silvestri was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2009 and the Michigan Bar in 1984. He has been practicing law in Florida for over 25 years. Before launching his own firm, Silvestri Law, P.A., in 2015, he served as senior vice president and general counsel to a real estate development company based in West Palm Beach (The Goodman Company) and advised on multimillion-dollar transactions in Florida and in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Today, he brings that same big-deal experience to every transaction—whether it’s a $50 million development or a first-time buyer’s condo. Whether you are leasing commercial space, buying land, financing a development, or reviewing a purchase-and-sale contract, Larry will provide clear legal guidance and keep your deal moving.

He is known for being solution-oriented, business-minded & exceptionally thorough. He listens, finds a way forward, and always keeps his clients’ best interests top of mind. His clients include residential sellers and buyers, real estate agents and brokers, small business owners, shopping center and commercial property owners, property developers, and real estate investors throughout the Tampa Bay area and across Florida. From single-family home closings in Pinellas County to commercial leases in downtown Tampa, he provides legal counsel and title services that keep things moving—without overcomplicating the process. Larry’s skills and experience include negotiating, documenting, and closing the acquisition and disposition of shopping center, free-standing retail, office, multi-family residential, and industrial property projects, as well as negotiating and documenting commercial leases (anchor tenant, shopping center, retail store, industrial, and office) from both landlord and tenant positions.

Larry is a sponsor or member of the following professional organizations: The Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association of Realtors ® (former board member), The Florida CCIM Chapter West Coast District (former board member), CREW Tampa Bay, Urban Land Institute Tampa Bay, The Real Estate Investment Council of Tampa Bay, The International Council of Shopping Centers, The St. Petersburg Bar Association, The St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce®, and The St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership.

Beyond his practice, Larry is a champion of St. Pete’s arts scene, supporting organizations including the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and American Stage. He views the arts as essential to building a vibrant, world-class destination that attracts visitors, investors, and future residents alike.

Larry received his undergraduate degree in Public Administration from Eastern Michigan University (B.S. 1981, Magna Cum Laude), where he was a member of its Division I varsity wrestling team, and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School (JD 1984).

He began his legal career as an associate in the Detroit Law Firm of Butzel, Keidan, Simon, Myers & Graham, which he left to become Assistant Corporate Counsel at Highland Superstores, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed specialty retailer of consumer electronics and home appliances. From there, he joined Zaremba Group in Cleveland, Ohio, where he became Vice President and General Counsel of this private real estate company focused on ground-up development and management of shopping centers, free-standing retail, industrial, office, and residential projects in multiple states. To go national, he joined First Union Real Estate Investment Trust as Assistant Vice President/Director of Legal Services for this NYSE-listed diversified REIT that owned and operated regional malls, shopping centers, office buildings, CBD parking facilities, and apartment communities. When First Union was acquired in a hostile takeover, Larry relocated his family to South Florida to become Senior Vice President and General Counsel of The Goodman Company, a private real estate firm that, during his tenure, specialized in ground-up development and redevelopment of retail and commercial properties.

John B. Neukamm

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After nearly 37 years of practicing law, including 19 years as a shareholder with Mechanik Nuccio, John Neukamm became Of Counsel to the firm as of July 1, 2021.

John Neukamm engaged in a varied real estate and business law practice, including representation of parties to real estate and business transactions, businesses and business owners, lenders, borrowers, developers, landlords and tenants, as well as serving as an expert witness and as an arbitrator in real estate disputes, prior to retiring from the active practice of law and becoming of counsel to the firm.

John served as Chair of The Florida Bar’s Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section in 2009 – 2010 and has remained an active member of the Section’s Executive Council since 1993. He was the recipient of the Section’s Annual Service Award in 1998 and his contributions to Florida attorneys and the public in promoting the highest standards of ethics and professionalism was recognized by the Section with the presentation of the Section’s Lifetime Professionalism Award in 2014. John has previously served as the Section’s Real Property Division Director, Treasurer and Secretary, as Editor of its ActionLine publication and chaired many of the Section’s committees, including its Model and Uniform Acts, Real Property Professionalism, Trust Account Issues, Budget, Convention and Real Property Forms Committees and was an active member of its Legal Opinions, Real Property Finance & Lending, Commercial Real Estate, Landlord & Tenant and Title Insurance Committees. John chaired the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association from 1995 – 1996, received the Section’s inaugural Outstanding Lawyer Award in 2009 and also served the Association as Chair of its United Way Fundraising, Social and Membership Committees. He has authored many articles and presented numerous seminars concerning various real estate issues to legal, real estate and other organizations, was a member of Florida Legal Education Association and served as a volunteer lawyer for Bay Area Legal Services.

John received a B.S. in Accounting, with high honors, in 1981 and a J.D., with honors, in 1984 from the University of Florida. He was a Board Certified Real Estate Lawyer from 1992 until his retirement from the active practice of law, had an “AV” Martindale-Hubbell rating, was recognized as a Florida Legal Elite lawyer by Florida Trend magazine, as a Florida Super Lawyer and was elected as a member of the prestigious and exclusive American College of Real Estate Lawyers in 2007.

As a member of Leadership Tampa’s class of 2002, John has also been extensively involved in the Tampa Bay community. He is an active member of the Downtown Tampa Rotary Club, having served on its Board of Directors and as Chair of its Community Service & Grants Committee and being recognized twice as its Rotarian of the Year, and regularly delivers meals to homebound members of our community through Meals on Wheels. He has served on the Development Advisory Board at Christ the King Catholic Church, has been a Big Brother to two young men and has chaired or served on numerous committees of the local United Way. As an Eagle Scout and father of an Eagle Scout, John has been an dedicated Scout leader, serving on the Executive Board of the BSA’s Gulf Ridge Council, as Chair of its Nominating Committee, Chair of the Council’s Rough Riders District Committee, which was responsible for all Scouting programs in south Tampa, as a Den Leader and Cubmaster for Cub Scout Pack 4, as a Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 4 and as an Advisor to a local Law Explorers Post.

J. Meredith Wester

Former Shareholder, Of Counsel
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After 31 years of practicing law (including 21 years with Mechanik Nuccio Hearne & Wester, P.A.), Meredith Wester became Of Counsel to the firm as of April 30, 2021.

Meredith Wester concentrated her practice in the area of commercial litigation with a focus on title insurance litigation, commercial landlord/tenant, construction law, bankruptcy, environmental law, securities fraud litigation, medical malpractice and personal injury.

Meredith developed particular expertise in commercial landlord/tenant rights, construction law, title insurance and creditors’ rights issues. Her clients in the landlord/tenant field were owners of regional malls, office buildings and shopping centers. In the construction field, she represented owners, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. She also represented creditors in bankruptcy proceedings and general creditors’ rights matters. Additionally, Ms. Wester has extensive litigation experience representing clients on land use issues involving easements and deed restrictions.

Meredith is a former Chair for the Florida Bar’s Hillsborough County Grievance Committee. She has been an active member of the Hillsborough County Bar Association (serving on the Board of Directors), the Hillsborough County Trial Lawyers Association and the Tampa Bay Inns of Court (currently serving as the Executive Director on the Board). She has also served as a board member of the Governing Board for the Southwest Florida Water Management District, Northwest Hillsborough County Basin Board (appointed by Governor Chiles). She is also a former Chair for the building committee and served as a board member of the Hillsborough County Bar Foundation.

Meredith is an active member of the community as well. She has served as legal counsel for many 501(c)(3) organizations. Meredith was legal counsel and a member of the Board of Directors of the Tampa Bay International Business Counsel, Treasurer of PACE for Girls, President and one of the founders for the Hillsborough County Head Start Foundation and an appointee of the Hillsborough County Commission to serve on the Hillsborough County Children’s Advisory Board. She is the legal counsel and former Treasurer of the FBI National Citizens Academy Alumni and the former President of the FBI Tampa Bay Citizens Academy Chapter. Meredith is also a member of the Idlewild Baptist Church.

Meredith is a graduate of the Business College at the University of South Florida (B.A., magna cum laude, 1988) and received her law degree from Stetson University College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1990). Meredith has an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell. She has lectured on environmental law, construction lien laws in Florida, Board of Directors’ duties in a 501(c)(3) Organizations and creditors’ rights in Bankruptcy.

Prior to entering the practice of law, Meredith was a surgical nurse at University Community Hospital. This background has enabled Meredith to have a unique understanding of the medical issues involved in medical malpractice and personal injury cases.