Mr. Geller is a partner in Fishback Dominick. He is a tireless advocate for his clients’ interests and always comes to the table with solutions to legal challenges.

Since 1992, when he began his career, Mr. Geller has built a diverse portfolio of legal expertise. He is board certified by the Florida Bar in City, County, and Local Government Law and represents clients in both the public and private sectors. He has litigated and gone to trial on a wide variety of issues, including allegations of fraud, breach of  contract, breach of public and private construction contracts, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust, interference with business relations, deceptive and unfair trade practices, unfair debt collections, and civil racketeering. And he has represented employers pursuing actions against former employees who have violated covenants not to compete, or who have violated confidentiality agreements. Among the businesses he has represented are automobile auctions, automobile dealerships, banks, insurance institutions, pest control companies, rental car companies, medical practices, and resorts.

In the area of municipal and local government law, Mr. Geller has handled quasi-judicial and court proceedings involving construction defects and delays, cell tower denials, code enforcement appeals, competitive bid challenges, public contracts, billboard location denials, as well as zoning and comprehensive plan amendments. He served as an Orange County planning and zoning commissioner from 2009-12, during which time he helped shape myriad county ordinances, adjudicated zoning applications, and played a key role in rewriting the Horizon West Village Code. In connection with Fishback Dominick’s role as City Attorney for the City of Winter Garden, Fl., he assisted with the writing of the city’s downtown historic district code.

From 2011-14, Mr. Geller taught land use law and urban zoning codes as an adjunct professor in Rollins College’s Master of Planning in Civic Urbanism program. He currently serves as vice chair of Bike/Walk Central Florida and chair of Congress for the New Urbanism, Florida Chapter. A champion of pedestrian and bicyclist safety, Mr. Geller has written extensively on the subjects of safe road design and walkable neighborhood schools. His articles have been published in the Orlando Sentinel, Public Square (the national publication of the Congress for the New Urbanism), and the Florida State University College of Law’s Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law.

EDUCATION

Temple University, Juris Doctor, cum laude, 1992

Associate Research Editor, Temple Law Review, 1991-1992

Member, Temple Law Review, 1990-1991

Judicial intern to Judge Stanley Brotman, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, 1991-1992

Judicial intern to Judge Carl B. Rubin, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 1991

Miami University, Bachelor of Arts, 1988

COURTS OF PRACTICE

Florida State Courts

U.S. District Courts, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida

U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Special Magistrate for code enforcement, City of Cape Canaveral, 2020 – present

Assistant City Attorney, City of Winter Garden, 2008-present

Assistant City Attorney, City of DeBary, 2014-present

Assistant City Attorney, City of Winter Park, 2015-present

Assistant City Attorney, City of Belle Isle, 2017-present

Adjunct Professor teaching Land Use Law, Rollins College, Master of Planning in Civic Urbanism program, Winter Park, Florida, 2011 – 2014

Speaker, “Making Neighborhood Schools Safe to Access and Legal Again,” 27th Congress for the New Urbanism, Louisville, Kentucky, 2019.

Speaker, “A Cycle Track for Winter Park” at the Florida Summit of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Sarasota, Florida, 2014

Speaker, “Walkable Thoroughfares: Incorporating an ITE Recommended Practice in FDOT Standards,” at the Florida Statewide Conference of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Naples, Florida, 2011

Speaker, “Complete Streets: How do we Convince the Florida Legislature?” at the Florida Statewide Conference of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Seaside, Florida, 2011

Guest participant, “What’s the Verdict?–A Mock Trial” on the topic of record documentation at the National Conference of the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association, Hollywood, Florida

Orange County Bar Association

Florida Municipal Attorneys Association

RATINGS & CERTIFICATIONS

AV – Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Orlando’s Top Lawyers, 2010-Present

Board Certified by The Florida Bar as a specialist in City, County and Local Government Law, August 2019.

   

 

 

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Chair, Congress for the New Urbanism – Florida Chapter, 2018-Present

District 1 Commissioner, Orange County Planning and Zoning Board, 2009-2012

Winter Park Health Foundation, Healthy Communities Work Group, 2013-2017

Board of Directors, Bike Walk Central Florida, 2013-present; Vice chair, 2018-Present

Co-chair, Florida Summit of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Orlando and Winter Park, Florida, 2015