Spotlight On: Daniel O’Keefe, Orlando Office Co-Managing Partner, Shutts & Bowen LLP – Orlando
Key points:
- • Strong population and development growth in Central Florida is driving demand for legal services.
- • Large-scale projects face longer, more complex approval timelines across jurisdictions.
- • Law firms are expanding alongside clients, with real estate, corporate, and IP leading demand.
April 2026 — Invest: spoke with Daniel O’Keefe, Orlando Office Managing Partner at Shutts & Bowen LLP, about Central Florida’s development pipeline, the approval dynamics shaping major projects, and how demand for legal services is evolving with the region’s growth. “We’re forecasting continued growth and profitability for both our clients and our firm,” O’Keefe said.
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How would you describe the current legal and business climate in Greater Orlando, and what major milestones have had the biggest impact for Shutts & Bowen in Orlando?
It’s been a great year for our firm because it’s been a great year for our clients. We are very fortunate to be in Florida, where businesses want to locate, grow, and feel like they are treated well. We have a business-friendly climate, and we’re continuing to see growth.
That includes both population growth and tourism growth, and that momentum is driving a strong local economy. We’re seeing activity across tourism-related projects, hotels, multifamily, home builders, and industrial. Industrial in particular has been an important driver as businesses expand and new companies come into the market.
We also see competition to be in this market, and that’s true across Florida. When I talk to fellow managing partners in our other offices, we’re seeing continued growth and businesses being successful in all of those markets. Our footprint across Florida, including Miami, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee, gives us a good read on how demand is shifting by region, and we grow with our clients’ needs. We’re forecasting continued growth and profitability for both our clients and our firm, and we expect 2026 to be even stronger than 2025.
When it comes to recent successes for the firm, which come to mind?
We have been extensively involved with a number of large master-planned communities throughout Central Florida, including major work in Horizon West. It is a 30,000-acre master-planned community, or really a series of communities, and we have been involved from the beginning. As it gets closer to buildout, the continued development, including a town center, has brought significant economic activity and jobs.
Right across the county line in Lake County, leaders have created a vision for Wellness Way, and we have been very involved there as well, from single-family and multifamily development to commercial. There is also a large sports complex referred to as the Olympus Project. We’re excited to help Lake County build out that vision because it’s a community people want to be in, and it is generating momentum.
A related piece is infrastructure. There has been substantial investment connecting Lake County and Wellness Way to Orlando and Orange County. We also work with the Expressway Authority on large road projects. Those projects are critical to long-term prosperity, and it’s a well-run organization that plans ahead and is a good steward of the revenue it generates. We assist on property acquisition for road networks, and on permitting and approvals for construction.
We have also seen a tremendous impact from theme park expansion in Central Florida. When companies invest multiple billions of dollars here, it drives jobs, infrastructure, and broader prosperity, and it has a meaningful effect on the local economy and tourist development taxes. We expect more expansion, and a predictable regulatory environment is part of what helps keep that investment coming.
Where do you see the most demand for legal services across Central Florida right now?
Real estate and land use are very strong, along with corporate and employment. Job creation drives needs across housing, commercial, retail, and the agreements and risk management that follow those projects. We also see meaningful demand in intellectual property, especially as new businesses enter the region and existing businesses expand.
What role does the firm play in supporting large-scale regional projects like the ones you mentioned?
We are often asked to represent new businesses as they come to invest in Central Florida, including purchases of large parcels of land and the development plans that follow. Those plans can include commercial, office, retail, housing, entertainment, tourism, and hotels.
When that happens, we assist across the lifecycle: forming entities, handling purchase and sale work, and then navigating approvals. That approval process can take two to three years and can involve comprehensive plan amendments, rezonings, site plan and engineering approvals, Water Management District and Army Corps of Engineers issues, and coordination with planners, engineers, and environmental consultants.
We often act as a coordinator among those consultants so the client’s vision can move through the process efficiently and in compliance with the applicable rules. Sometimes the client is a national home builder, but often it is a master plan developer who will ultimately sell pieces of the project to different end users.
Have you seen an increase in M&A activity in the region due to capital market conditions?
In Orlando, we have not seen a major spike. Our corporate M&A work has been steady, with a moderate level of activity. In markets like Miami or West Palm, the increase may be more notable, but in Central Florida it has been relatively consistent.
Have you noticed any specific challenges that businesses are facing?
Some local jurisdictions have become more difficult to navigate in the approval process. Several years ago, approvals might have taken a year to a year and a half. Now it is more likely to take closer to three years.
Part of that is volume as staff at governmental entities are busy. Part of it is increased regulatory review. Some jurisdictions are cooperative and help you move through their process while staying compliant. Others have become more resistant to additional growth or development, which can make approvals more challenging.
How is the firm incorporating technology to enhance operational efficiency as clients and projects move faster?
We are continually improving our technology, and we are integrating artificial intelligence into the practice of law. The key is responsible use. We have all seen examples where AI was used improperly and led to filings citing cases that do not exist.
We use AI software designed for law firms that keeps confidential client information confidential. Used correctly, it can improve efficiency, speed, and cost-effectiveness, and it can be a strong tool to support the delivery of legal services.
Looking ahead three to five years, where do you see demand for legal services going, and how does that align with the firm’s priorities in the region?
As the region grows, we expect to continue growing with it. We have approximately 70 attorneys in Orlando, which makes us one of the larger business-focused commercial law firms in Central Florida. Our work spans healthcare, corporate, real estate, and a significant commercial litigation practice.
Our growth has been organic. Over roughly 25 years, we have gone from 15 attorneys in Orlando to approximately 70, and that has largely tracked client demand. We do not have a goal to grow for the sake of growing. We focus on being business partners to our clients and meeting whatever legal needs they have, including supporting Central Florida-based companies as they expand around the state and the Southeast, often in coordination with local counsel in other states.
Want more? Read the Invest: Greater Orlando report.
