Steven Ellison, Managing Partner, West Palm Beach Office, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP

In an interview with Invest:, Steven Ellison, West Palm Beach office managing partner at law firm Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP, said that South Florida’s legal market is experiencing rapid transformation, driven by both population growth and strategic business migration. “West Palm Beach is poised for continued explosive growth, but there’s a risk, particularly with the volume of construction,” Ellison said, adding that, “Despite the challenges, the energy here is overwhelmingly positive and full of potential.”

What is your overview of the legal landscape in Palm Beach?
The dynamic growth in our community is visible to everyone. The bottom line is that when a major figure like Stephen Ross decides to invest so heavily in a place like West Palm Beach, aiming to create a kind of “Wall Street South,” it sets a powerful precedent. His investment has attracted numerous people and businesses from New York, generating two key outcomes. First, it’s brought new attention to Palm Beach from major players who may have previously focused more on Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or Orlando. Second, it has stimulated the local economy, not just in West Palm but also in surrounding areas like Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, and Delray Beach.
This influx has introduced new opportunities, but also new challenges. Long-standing local businesses, particularly smaller mom-and-pop shops on streets like Clematis in West Palm or Atlantic Avenue in Delray, are now being priced out by national chains. The market is clearly in a growth phase, but such rapid development comes with consequences. West Palm Beach is poised for continued explosive growth, but there’s a risk, particularly with the volume of construction. We may see vacant properties down the line if demand doesn’t keep pace. Despite the challenges, the energy here is overwhelmingly positive and full of potential.

What are the main practice areas and industries driving growth, demand, and profitability in legal services?
Whiteford has been around since 1933, originally based in Maryland. It’s a well-established firm throughout the Mid-Atlantic and is now expanding into Florida. We opened our West Palm Beach office in mid-April, so we’re about two months into this new chapter. Our expansion follows a thoughtful business plan. Whiteford has approximately 190 attorneys across 17 offices, primarily in the mid-Atlantic, and we offer a full spectrum of legal services, including litigation and disputes of every kind, corporate and business counsel, restructuring, intellectual property, and cybersecurity issues. In Florida, our current focus includes business trial law and estate planning. Shane Smith, for example, leads our estate planning work and also handles tax-related consequences of business transactions. We’ve established both a transactional and a litigation component, and we plan to grow by bringing in the right individuals who align with our values.

What makes Palm Beach an attractive location for Whiteford?
Whiteford recognized two major factors. First, many of its East Coast clients are now seeing Florida, particularly Palm Beach, as a growth hub. Second, rather than growing through mass mergers, Whiteford prefers to expand strategically by aligning with individuals who match its culture and philosophy. That’s how I came on board — our visions aligned.
Unlike firms that expand aggressively only to later scale back, Whiteford is intentional. The goal is to grow in a way that serves clients’ needs while staying true to the firm’s core values. Our expansion into Florida is client-driven and relationship-based, and we’re continually seeking individuals and regions that make strategic sense.

What types of legal disputes are most common for Whiteford’s clients in Palm Beach and South Florida?
Success often brings conflict. We frequently see what I call “business divorces,” which are often more emotionally and financially charged than family divorces. These happen when long-term business partners, sometimes working together for 20, 30, or even 40 years, reach a breaking point. Disagreements can arise over risk tolerance, compensation, succession planning, or even decisions to involve children in the business. These conflicts often stem from vague or outdated operating agreements that never anticipated these issues.
Such disputes are emotionally charged and legally complex. Without clear pathways for resolution, litigation becomes the only option, and it’s rarely amicable. We also handle probate disputes, contract disagreements, and commercial litigation involving things like non-payment or defective goods. On the more complex end, we’re seeing significant growth in tech-related disputes.
The broader reality is that we’re living in a more adversarial business climate. Many people are in a “what’s in it for me?” mindset. My role as a litigator is often to get clients to step back, analyze their true goals early, and understand that drawn-out litigation is rarely the best business decision. If you’ve been in court for five years and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, it’s no longer about winning, it’s about damage control.

What are some common legal mistakes businesses make that could have been avoided if they had consulted a firm like Whiteford earlier?
The biggest mistake is failing to plan for worst-case scenarios. Too often, businesses don’t create thorough documentation or operating agreements that account for what happens if things go wrong. Everyone enters business expecting success, but few prepare for the possibility of conflict.
It’s always cheaper to pay a transactional lawyer upfront than to pay a litigator down the road. The smartest approach is to plan for the worst and hope for the best. By clearly outlining potential pathways and building safeguards into agreements from the outset, you dramatically reduce the likelihood of costly disputes.
And if conflict does arise, having competent counsel on both sides makes resolution much easier. Litigation is expensive and emotionally draining, and no one walks away feeling like it was the best business move they ever made.

How is Whiteford leveraging AI and other advancements to improve operations and client services?
AI and emerging technologies are pushing the legal industry forward at an unprecedented pace. That said, they also introduce serious risks, especially around confidentiality. Legal work depends on protecting sensitive data and trade secrets, so we have to be cautious about how we use these tools.
We’ve adopted AI in select areas, particularly to streamline repetitive tasks and improve productivity. But we do so using secure, law-specific platforms that prioritize confidentiality. Like most firms today, we’re trying to stay in our lane and move forward responsibly. The landscape is evolving fast, and what works today might be outdated tomorrow. The challenge is to embrace innovation while safeguarding client trust. That’s a balance we’re always working to strike.

Are there any regulatory or legal framework changes that could significantly impact your work or your clients?
One of the key concerns is the ongoing trend toward deregulation. I’ve represented financial institutions for years, and the biggest problem is the pendulum swing: rapid shifts from deregulation to re-regulation and back again. That instability makes it incredibly hard for businesses to plan.
Most companies can work within reasonable regulations. What hurts them is having to constantly change procedures and infrastructure to keep up with shifting political agendas. Businesses need consistency, not unpredictability.
In the legal system, we’re seeing similar pressures. The Florida Supreme Court has implemented faster litigation timelines since COVID-19, but they haven’t allocated extra resources to the court system. That means you might have to wait two months for a hearing while deadlines pass. The result is increased pressure on attorneys and clients alike.
On the plus side, clients benefit from knowing that a case might be resolved in 18 to 24 months rather than dragging on for five to 10 years. So, while there are benefits, the system needs adjustment, and flexibility is key.

What are your top priorities moving forward?
Whiteford’s move into Florida and bringing someone like me on board — someone with four decades of experience in West Palm Beach — reflects our firm’s commitment to strategic, people-focused growth. We’re not growing just for the sake of numbers. We want to partner with the right people who align with our values and vision. Most clients don’t hire firms, they hire lawyers. And for lawyers, it’s about personal relationships. Clients need to feel heard, understood, and supported.
After 37 years with essentially the same law firm, I moved to Whiteford because they understood this. They value the individual lawyer as a core part of the client experience, not just a cog in a machine. That’s the kind of culture we’re building here.