Tampa, FL – Bryant Miller Olive (BMO) is proud to announce that Grace Dunlap has been elected as its new managing shareholder. Ms. Dunlap will succeed Randy Hanna, who has served as managing shareholder since 1997 and is widely credited with expanding the firm’s size and services over the past 14 years. Ms. Dunlap will also serve on the firm’s Board of Directors and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the firm and its long-term strategic planning.
“We are very pleased that Grace will lead the firm as our new managing shareholder,” said Tallahassee Shareholder Fred Springer. “Grace has been very involved with the firm’s growth and success, and she personally represents all that is good about the firm’s culture. Her leadership and experience will keep us on the right path and be invaluable to our clients.” Mr. Springer has been elected as Chairman of BMO’s Board of Directors.
During Mr. Hanna’s tenure, BMO grew from three offices to seven, adding locations in Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami and Washington, D.C. to its existing presence in Tallahassee, Tampa and Atlanta. During this tenure the firm has grown from 10 to approximately 50 attorneys and consultants.
Under Hanna’s leadership, the firm has also expanded its service offerings beyond the public finance practice that began when the firm was established in 1970. Now, in addition to being the top ranked Bond Counsel and Disclosure Counsel in the State of Florida (as reported in The Bond Buyer’s Municipal Marketplace), BMO also offers services in Affordable Housing, Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights, Corporate Trust and Default, Energy and Utility, Environment and Climate Change, Government Procurement, Government Consulting, Labor and Employment, Land Use, Litigation, Public Policy, Public Private Partnership, Real Property, and State and Local Government.
“Grace has the trust of everyone who works at BMO and has the vision to continue to move the firm forward,” Hanna said of BMO’s new managing shareholder. “I have had the honor of practicing with her since 1993, and I know of her personal and professional commitment to the firm. I could not be happier with this selection.”
Ms. Dunlap joined Bryant Miller Olive in 1993, opening the firm’s Tampa office and serving as the office Managing Shareholder since that time. In the 18 years that the Tampa office has been open, it has grown from a small group of 2 attorneys and one paralegal to a thriving office of 11 attorneys and seven staff members, all under Dunlap’s leadership. Ms. Dunlap has also played firm-wide managerial roles, including serving on the firm’s management committee for the past several years. In that position, she has participated in decision making regarding many of BMO’s operational and strategic functions, from office expansions and lateral hiring, to major expenditures and capital investments.
“BMO is simply a great place to work, and to achieve both individual and professional goals. Randy has gathered an outstanding and insightful group of people, and he has influenced us all to work together in a collegial and happy environment which may not be as characteristic of other law firms,” Dunlap said. “We all place a high value on our culture, and my present desire is to maintain that balance, which should be readily achieved given the remarkable talent and the ingrained mutual respect among the professionals here at BMO.”
Dunlap will work with a five-member Board of Directors in her new role managing the firm, as well as with firm Chief Financial Officer Leonard Marcinko.
Ms. Dunlap’s law practice has been focused in the area of public finance. She has served as bond counsel for numerous Florida governments and governmental entities in the utility, transportation, education, and healthcare industries. She will continue to provide services to her public finance clients as she takes over leadership of the firm’s operations.
Grace Dunlap is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell, and is recognized with publication in The Bond Buyer’s Municipal Marketplace. She is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, and has frequently taught the public finance section of the City, County and Local Government Law Certification course for the Florida Bar.
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