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Attorney profiles
Heidi
Mehaffey, Esq.
Heidi
Mehaffey, Esq.
biography
Heidi Mehaffey is licensed to practice law in Florida, Colorado, and North Carolina, as well as the Southern and Middle United States Districts of Florida.
During law school, Heidi was an active member of the Environmental and Land Use Law Society, as well as the Executive Justice for Academics on the Moot Court Honor Society. She competed in the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition in New York in 2013 and 2014, where she collaborated on brief writing and oral arguments that focused on complex Clean Water Act issues and received an honorable mention for her oral advocacy skills.
Heidi has extensive experience practicing Animal Law, from representing disabled individuals in exercising their rights under the Fair Housing Act and/or Americans with Disabilities Act, to providing guidance to housing providers and employers on reviewing requests for reasonable accommodations under these laws. Additional, Heidi has represented pet owners in tort actions against third parties; defended pet owners in dog bite cases; assisted non-profit animal rescues from the formation of the corporation to contracts with adopting families; as well as drafting local ordinances seeking to humanely control feral cat populations and federal guidance as to the humane treatment of factory farm animals.
In the Environmental Law aspect, Heidi focuses on regulatory compliance with state and federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act. Heidi represents a plethora of non-profit clients and concerned citizens to advocate for the preservation of agricultural, rural, and environmentally sensitive areas.
Heidi lives in Plantation, Florida with her husband Bryan, son Oakley, as well as their Great Danes and talking parrots. The Mehaffey’s enjoy spending family time relaxing at their North Carolina home on Lake Chatuge.
honors & awards
In the summer of 2013, Heidi was accepted into the Student Honors Law Clerk Program in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance in Washington, D.C. She worked alongside government attorneys and engineers in analyzing state memorandum of agreements in which states were authorized to facilitate their own permitting programs under the Clean Water Act.
areas of focus
• Animal Law
• Environmental Law
• Land Use Practice
• Fair Housing Act Accommodations
• Non-Profit Corporate Entities
• State and Federal Administrative Law
• Constitutional Law
professional associations & memberships
As a native Floridian, Heidi has a deep appreciation for the surrounding environment. Prior to attending law school, she was a volunteer at the South Florida Wildlife Center rescuing injured wildlife and then releasing them back into the wild after rehabilitation, and since then has led an orientation at the center for law school students. Heidi has also collaborated with DiveBar, an underwater bar association, in conservation efforts under the supervision of the National Coral Reef Institute and the Oceanographic Center of NSU in their coral growth and grafting program.
Heidi enjoys educating legal professionals, students, and interested persons alike and has presented lectures on Animal, Cannabis, and Environmental Law at Florida law school institutions and elementary schools, state and national CLEs, and the Farm Journal’s Hemp College. Heidi has been published in the Animal Law Committee of the Florida Bar and the Mid-Atlantic Journal on Law and Public Policy with her articles focusing on the need for humane methods of operations for large-scale factory farms.
education
Heidi graduated from Nova Southeastern Shepard Broad Law Center, magna cum laude, ranked number one in her graduating class and was honored with acceptance into the Order of the Barristers. Heidi focused her studies on environmental law and animal welfare issues. She was published in the Animal Law Committee of the Florida Bar and the Mid-Atlantic Journal on Law and Public Policy for her articles on the pig farming industry and the need for humane standards of operation
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