13 Bryant Miller Olive P.A. Shareholders Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® and One Senior Associate Recognized in The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America®
Location: Tallahassee
Tampa, Fla. - August 25, 2025 - Bryant Miller Olive P.A. (BMO) is proud to have 13 shareholders, representing its Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami and Tallahassee offices, recognized by Best Lawyers® and One Senior Associate recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch®. This year’s 32nd edition of The Best Lawyers in America® recognizes only 5% of elite lawyers in the nation across 150 practice areas.
Kenneth R. Artin, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. This is the 18th year that Artin has been recognized. He has been actively practicing public finance law since 1986 and has represented municipalities, counties, public and not-for-profit colleges and universities, and special taxing districts as disclosure counsel, bond counsel and special development counsel--with both general obligation and revenue obligations. Artin also has experience representing sponsors and lenders participating in public private partnerships.
Rhonda D. Bond-Collins, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. She has been practicing law public finance law for 27 years. She currently serves as the managing shareholder of the firm’s Orlando office and the co-chair of the firm’s Affordable Housing practice group. Her practice focuses on all aspects of tax-exempt and taxable financings. She regularly serves as lead bond counsel on affordable housing transactions and lead bond counsel on governmental finance transactions, including general obligation, electric, storm water and wastewater transactions. She also serves as bank counsel on governmental finance transactions from time to time.
Randall (Randy) C. Clement, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. This is the 21st year that Clement has been recognized. Involved in the public finance practice since 1982, he has extensive experience in state and local government revenue bond financings in the State of Florida. Clement’s focus is on airport, hospital, multi-family and single-family housing, electric, and water and sewer utility financings, as well as various special tax and enterprise fund financings.
Duane D. Draper, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. This is the 21st year he has been recognized. Since 1989, Draper has specialized in public finance, either as an attorney or investment banker. He currently chairs the firm’s Public Finance Group and serves as the Business Development Chair. Draper has focused his practice on bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriters' counsel and bank counsel representations for municipal and non-profit entities throughout Florida.
Lomenie (Lo) L. Etienne, Esq. is selected for Public Finance Law in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch®, which recognizes attorneys in their fifth through 10th years of practice. Etienne practices in BMO’s Orlando office, where she focuses on all aspects of public finance transactions, including bond, disclosure and underwriter’s counsel representation. She currently serves as co-chair for the firm's law clerk program. This is her second year being selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch®.
Denise M. Heekin, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Employment Law for Management and Litigation for Labor and Employment matters. Heekin is the managing shareholder of the firm’s Miami office and chair of BMO’s Labor and Employment practice group. Heekin has represented management exclusively in the practice of labor and employment law throughout her entire 34-year legal career.
JoLinda L. Herring, Esq., BMO’s CEO and managing shareholder, is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. Herring’s practice is dedicated to municipal law, governmental tax-exempt financings, and blue-sky securities law, with an expertise in commercial paper programs. With over 30 years of Public Finance Law experience, she currently serves as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter’s counsel to a wide range of governmental entities throughout Florida and Connecticut. Recently, Herring was appointed to serve as a Board Member of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB).
Leonard T. Marcinko, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for the past 21 years. Marcinko has more than 35 years of wide-ranging experience dealing with federal tax issues associated with the sale and issuance of tax-exempt bonds, as a government lawyer, as a private law practitioner, and as a public finance investment banker. Additionally, Marcinko headed up Bryant Miller Olive’s representation of clients in the area of interest rate swaps and other derivative product transactions.
William A. Milford, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. He focuses his legal practice on the federal income tax treatment of tax-exempt debt obligations. Milford has more than 19 years of experience in public finance, beginning as an arbitrage rebate analyst prior to starting his legal career with BMO. Milford serves as tax counsel on a variety of governmental, 501(c)(3) and exempt facility bond financings, working with governmental issuers and conduit borrowers to review and structure proposed new money and refunding obligations. Additionally, he advises issuers and borrowers on post-issuance tax compliance matters
Robert C. Reid, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. Reid joined BMO in 1989 and for the past 47 years, his practice has been concentrated in financial transactions and tax planning. He routinely applies his tax background and experience in tax matters arising in financings involving multi-family, single family and public housing; hotels, convention, sports and educational facilities; and governmental projects. Reid had led the firm in tax credit financings using new markets tax credits, historic preservation tax credits and low-income housing tax credits, and more recently in the area of Opportunity Zones.
Kareem J, Spratling, Esq.is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. Spratling is the Managing Shareholder of Bryant Miller Olive’s Tampa Office. His experience includes nationwide representation of clients in bond financings and complex debt instruments and is particularly skilled in the role of bond counsel on conduit bond transactions, providing counsel on transactions with a combined principal amount in excess of $20 billion. He has represented governmental and quasi-governmental entities at all levels. He also has served as lead counsel in the validation of billions in bonds for various public entities.
Frederick (Fred) J. Springer, Esq. is selected for inclusion for his work surrounding Government Contracts. Springer possesses comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, public contracts experience. He has a track record of success at the trial and appellate levels in cases involving contract award and performance issues. Springer has represented state and local governments and select private sector clients in complex transactions at all stages: planning, financing, procuring, delivering, litigating.
Misty W. Taylor, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Public Finance Law. Taylor has participated in hundreds of public finance transactions, including bond, disclosure, lender and underwriter’s counsel representations. She focuses her practice on community development and stewardship districts, healthcare and general local governments. She serves as chair of BMO’s Special District Finance practice group.
Alan S. Zimmet, Esq. is selected for inclusion for Municipal Law and Municipal Litigation. Zimmet is a member of the firm’s Government Counsel Services practice group and litigation group. He has more than 40 years of experience and is board-certified by The Florida Bar in City, County, and Local Government Law. Zimmet represents local governments, including cities, counties and special districts. His litigation practice focuses on construction matters; civil rights matters and other complex civil litigation cases. Zimmet handles legal matters in both state and federal trial courts.
“Year after year, Bryant Miller Olive P.A. celebrates many of its attorneys being selected to The Best Lawyers in America,” said Herring. “It is an honor, as these recognitions are provided by legal peers and independently researched. These designations are a reflection of the firm’s depth and breadth of legal expertise.”
For the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, more than 23 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 80,000 leading lawyers included in the edition. Additionally, more than 4 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 27,000 lawyers being honored in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America.
Lawyers on The Best Lawyers in America® list are divided by geographic region and practice areas. They are reviewed by their peers based on professional expertise and undergo an independent evaluation process by analysts and researchers for Best Lawyers in America®. The entire The Best Lawyers in America® list can be viewed at www.bestlawyers.com/America.
About Bryant Miller Olive
With a distinguished history of over 54 years serving its clients' needs, Bryant Miller Olive represents governments, businesses and agencies in legal matters relating to public finance, real estate, state and local government law, complex transactions, project finance, litigation, and labor and employment. Firm attorneys are often called upon to handle some of the most complex legal issues in the boardroom and in the courtroom. The firm has offices in Tampa, Tallahassee, Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit: www.bmolaw.com/AboutUs.
