Kevin S. Hennessy

Has more than 35 years of experience representing clients in the negotiation and litigation of environmental permitting and enforcement issues, land development, coastal construction matters, water rights, hazardous waste, wetland issues, property rights and eminent domain.

Represents clients before all courts in Florida, including the Florida Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the federal district courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Frequent lecturer on topics including coastal construction, water law, endangered species, administrative law and environmental litigation

That Mangrove Forest is Protected, Paradise News, October 2020, and St. Petersburg Bar Association Paraclete, May 2021

Riparian Rights in Florida – 2021 Update, LLW Lunch & Learn, April 2021

Expert Witness in the Zoom Era, LLW Lunch & Learn, 2021

Riparian Rights in Florida – 2020 Update, LLW Lunch & Learn, November 2020

How to Protect Yourself Against the “Environmental Ambulance Chaser” – Defending Clean Water Act Citizen Suits, April 2020

How To Be An Effective Expert Witness, LLW Lunch & Learn, May 2018

Nuts and Bolts of Permit Challenges, co-presented with Susan Roeder Martin, Environmental and Land Use Law Section of the Florida Bar, February 2018

Sovereign Submerged Lands Permitting and Development in the Coastal Marine Environment, Florida Chamber Environmental Permitting Summer School, July 2017

Litigation Advice for the Land Use Practitioner: Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst, Environmental and Land Use Law Section of the Florida Bar Live Webcast, December 2016

Extreme Environmental People Skills, Florida Chamber Environmental Permitting Summer School, 2008-2016

What to do if you receive a Complaint filed with the Commission on Ethics, September 2014

Seeing the Complete FOG Picture, Journal AWWA, January 2014

U.S. Supreme Court Offers Clean Water Act Plaintiffs Their Day in Court, co-authored with Tara Duhy, Journal AWWA, June 2012

Are City Governments and Social Media a Good Match?, Quality Cities Magazine, February 2012

What You Gonna Do when the Well Runs Dry: Protection of Rights to ASR Water, ABA Water Resources Committee Newsletter, Vol. 12, No. 2, co-authored with R. David Jackson, Esq., January 2010

Aquifer Storage and Recovery, Vail Water Law Conference, January 2010

Greenwashing: A Guide to the Ethical Advertising of Green Products, co-authored with Michelle Diffenderfer, Esq., Manatee Chamber, December 2009

The Lower St. John’s River Basin Management Action Plan: Assessing Agricultural, Local Government and Environmental Perspectives, co-presented with Tatiana Borisova, Laila Racevskis, Jennison Kipp, Debra Butler and Diana Ferguson, NRLI Practicum Presentation, November 2009

Coastal Construction Below the Mean High-Water Line, The Florida Bar, February 2001

Thirty-Year Erosion Zone, Florida Environmental and Land Use Law Treatise, February 2001

Admitted to the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida

American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Member

The Florida Bar, Environmental and Land Use Law Section, Member

Manatee County Bar Association, former Director

St. Petersburg Bar Association, Member

St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, Past Chair of the Sustainability Committee and Past Chair of the Transportation Committee.

Leadership Pinellas, Class of 2020

University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Natural Resource Leadership Institute, Fellow, 2008-2009

Firm Representative to the Environmental Law Network

Martindale Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated

Tampa Magazine Top Lawyers List, Environmental Law and Land Use/Zoning Litigation, 2024

Best Lawyers in America, Environmental Law, Environmental Litigation, and Land Use and Zoning Law, 2023-present