Carlos A. Kelly

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Carlos represents individuals and entities at the trial court level and in arbitration.  He has also handled appellate matters in state court. Carlos focuses his practice on real property disputes, business torts, title insurance litigation, and a variety of business-related contract-based disputes, including shareholder disputes and other claims between business owners, in Southwest Florida. As part of his real property litigation practice, Carlos handles eminent domain/ condemnation matters, which have included numerous order of taking hearings. In addition to being admitted in all Florida state courts, Carlos is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Carlos speaks and writes for a variety of audiences.  Over the years, he has given seminars on several areas of the law, focusing on topics in eminent domain. In 2008, The Florida Bar’s Eminent Domain Committee featured Carlos as a seminar lecturer on the topic of business damages in condemnation. In 2009 and 2006, The Florida Bar Journal published articles Carlos wrote about eminent domain topics. The Supreme Court of Florida cited his 2009 article, “Eminent Domain:  Identifying Issues in Damages for the General Practitioner,” in a 2009 opinion entitled System Components Corp. v. Florida Dept. of Transportation, 14 So.3d 967 (Fla. 2009). In addition, that article has been re-published in trade publications and on the web.  In 2003, The Florida Bar Journal published an article he wrote about the relationship between the media and the armed forces in time of war. The article has since been republished, in excerpt form, in an anthology designed for use by young adults. 

Carlos moved to Florida in 1988. As an undergraduate at Florida State University, Carlos earned membership in both Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Societies. He earned his AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell in 2008.

PROFESSIONAL AND CIVIC AFFILIATIONS

Carlos volunteers in the community and, over the years, has served the United Way, the American Heart Association, the City of Fort Myers Economic Development Advisory Board, the Department of Children and Families, and Teen Court. He also served as one of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit’s two representatives to the Board of Governors of the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar from 2000 to 2006. From 2007 to 2010, Carlos served on the Twentieth Judicial Circuit’s Grievance Committee “D.” Carlos continues to serve the bar today and is a member of The Florida Bar’s Eminent Domain Committee. As part of his volunteer activities, Carlos is also a member of the Association of Eminent Domain Professionals. 

In 1998 and 2003, the Lee County Bar Association recognized Carlos’s pro bono activities. In the wake of Hurricane Charley in 2004, Carlos coordinated the firm’s pro bono efforts to assist low-income victims of Charley. In 2005, Gulfshore Business magazine named Carlos to its "40 Under 40" list, noting his pro bono activities.

Education

Undergraduate Degree:
Florida State University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1993
Law Degree:
Emory University, J.D., 1997

Admitted to The Florida Bar 1997