John Shubin, Founding Partner, Shubin Law Group
John Shubin, founding partner at Shubin Law Group, spoke with Invest: about the boutique firm’s success, which he linked to the consistent growth experienced by Miami’s real estate sector on both the national and international stages. He also talked about how Shubin Law is assisting the Miami community with addressing and accommodating this intense growth.
What were the main highlights for Shubin Law Group over the last 12 months?
We’ve had an amazing year and still have time left to achieve even more success for the year’s end. We were successful in obtaining approval for a redevelopment application for the Silver Sands on Key Biscayne for Terra Group, which is a site that many have described as one of the most beautiful, coveted development sites in South Florida. There had been significant doubt that the property would ever be successfully redeveloped from a zoning perspective, but we worked extensively and thoughtfully with our client to bring this project to fruition. We were honored to receive a unanimous vote from the Village of Key Biscayne Commission so that this amazing project can grace the community.
In the last year, we were also successful in bringing to closure an 18-year long project in which we were retained to redevelop a portion of the Presidential Estates Golf Club in North Dade County. After 18 years of persistent effort, we were successful in ultimately effectuating a redevelopment plan for a beautiful additional component of luxury residential residence, which will enhance Presidential Estates.
We have prioritized cultivating trust with our many clients and lenders. Our firm has multiple long-standing legacy clients who have evolved into new entities over the years, like Ransom Everglades School. Two years ago, we successfully represented Sunbeam Properties and the Ansin Family in getting development approval of approximately 7.2 million feet to redevelop North Bay Village.
What is your overview of Miami’s legal sector?
As we are a boutique firm, we are relatively isolated from many of the broader national and international trends. But because we work with many large law firms on a collaborative basis, I have some insight into the current state of the local legislature.
As Miami becomes a national and international hub, it’s natural that there will be continued interest in Miami by national, international, and mega law firms. A portion of this interest was exaggerated during the pandemic and has since slowed down, but the fundamental trend is that as Miami evolves and grows, we will continue to observe heightened interest by the national and international law firms.
With regards to our clients, we see a tremendous amount of interest in co-investment opportunities where people who want to invest in South Florida are searching for partners who have successful brands to either acquire or partner with them, and we expect this trend to continue.
What distinguishes Shubin Law Group from other law firms operating in the Miami area?
What we do, we do well. We do not handle personal injury, divorce, corporate transactions, or close construction loans. Our firm is solely focused on the arena of high-level business disputes and resolutions as they pertain to business and real estate and zoning.
We also founded a consulting firm a few years ago called The Euclid Group, which works parallel to our firm and involves non-lawyers who are experts in urban planning, zoning, city management, and urban finance. Shubin Law Group is able to marry our legal knowledge to the practical knowledge provided by The Euclid Group to provide the best services possible to our clients.
What recurring themes do you see developing within your clients’ disputes?
Our firm typically gets involved in disputes that are extremely complicated in nature, which means that almost every project is unique, which necessitates a different approach for each client. Over the last few years, the state legislature has been attempting to address growth and affordability issues through measures like the Live Local Act, which, in part, seeks to regulate what local governments can and cannot do to control affordable housing. We are seeing more government-based attempts to streamline the process, though in practice, we do not see the process becoming more simplified.
What significant challenges does Shubin Law Group face today, and how are these issues reflective of the field of law as a whole?
From the perspective of real estate, all our clients desire growth. Growth requires new development opportunities, which require demand. Our clients are confronting the realities of multiple segments of the American economy wanting to move to Florida, but Florida’s social infrastructure is not in a position to immediately accommodate this growth. Our consulting group has spent a lot of time working with clients on their individual projects, in addition to troubleshooting how to work with local communities and state, local, and national governments. The collaborative goal is to build a more robust community infrastructure in order to pave the way for these relocating companies to feel more comfortable moving their operations to Miami.
What is your outlook for Shubin Law over the next three to five years?
We have experienced significant growth in the last year. Shubin Law Group opened a new office in Tampa, doubled the size of our consulting firm, and added five or six new lawyers. I look forward to a period of digestion where we can review our recent growth and build on that success. We are focused on providing exceptional advisory services and legal work for our clients.
