Keith W. Rizzardi - Attorney at Law

Keith W. Rizzardi Attorney At Law

Keith W. Rizzardi - Attorney at Law

Special Counsel

keith.rizzardi@gray-robinson.com

T 954.761.8111
F 954.761.8112
D 954.761.7479
 Fort Lauderdale 401 East Las Olas Boulevard Suite 1000 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301

Focus

Depth of experience in administrative, governmental and regulatory, and environmental law. Accomplished litigator, arguing cases before courts from Florida to D.C. to Hawaii.

Joining GrayRobinson in 2019, Keith Rizzardi focuses his practice on administrative law, civil procedure, environmental law, and professional responsibility. Continuing to serve as a professor of law at St. Thomas University, his legal,  teaching, and scholarship experience have qualified him as an expert witness in lawyer regulation disputes involving discovery and malpractice. Prior to his teaching career, Keith provided years of government service as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice Environmental and Natural Resources Division and as a managing attorney for the South Florida Water Management District. He has also worked with the Florida League of Cities and represents local governments, working on open government laws and regulatory compliance. His research exposed abuses of the Florida public records law and led to major reforms.
 
Board-certified by The Florida Bar in State and Federal Government and Administrative Practice, Keith has been recognized as a leader by state and federal organizations. He twice chaired The Florida Bar Government Lawyer Section, and served on the bar’s ethics and professionalism committees. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce appointed him to the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, and as chair, he helped shape federal policy on aquaculture, climate change, and endangered species. He also trained and earned awards as an Ombudsman for the U.S. Department of Defense, helping military service members and their civilian companies resolve employment-related disputes.
 
Keith authored a civil procedure casebook, is working on a new administrative law case book, and has authored nearly two dozen law review and journal articles and book chapters. He shares his education and experience all over the globe, including domestic conferences at Columbia Law School, the University of Florida, Yale Law School, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and at international speaking engagements for the UNESCO Water Institute in the Netherlands and the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing.
  • Recognition
    • Ombudsman of the Year, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves, Florida, 2010
    • Seven Seals Award, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves, Maryland, 2007
  • Insights
    • "Money Mandates and Water Management," and "Water Quality Pollution and the Duty to Look," Climate Change, Coasts, and Communities Symposium, Monmouth University, May 2019
    • "Ethics and the Water Lawyer," American Bar Association Water Law Conference, April 2018
    • "Examining the 1990 Oil Pollution Act to Improve the Governmental and Scientific Response to Future Events," Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference (GOMOSES), New Orleans, February 2018
    • "Cases and Materials in Civil Procedure," 7th Edition, Carolina Academic Press, David Crump, Kevin Leske, Keith Rizzardi et. al., 2018
    • "Sea Level Lies," Columbia University Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, January and March 2017
    • "Expectations in the Mirror: Lawyer Professionalism and the Errors of Mandatory Aspirations," Florida State Law Review, 44:691, 2017
    • "Public Records: Ensuring Compliance and Avoiding Sunburn," Florida League of Cities University, 2016 Summit, September 2016–January 2017
    • "Direct Legal Services for Sustainable Aquaculture Farmers," Animal and Environmental Law Conference, Yale University Law School, November 2016
    • "Sea Level Lies: Applied Science and Ethics," Brookhaven National Laboratories, November 2016
    • "Rising Tides, Receding Ethics: Why the Real Estate Professions Should Take the High Road," Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment 6(2) 402, 2015
    • "Sunburned: How Misuse of the Public Records Laws Creates an Overburdened, More Expensive, and Less Transparent Government," Stetson Law Review 44(2) 425, 2015
    • "Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and the Water Professional," Energy, Climate and the Environment Symposium, Washington and Lee University School of Law, February, 2015
    • "Appealing Administrative Action: The Threshold Considerations," Florida Bar Journal 88:39, 2014
    • "Redefining Professionalism: Florida’s Code Mandating the Aspirational Raises Challenging Questions," 87(9):39, November 2013
    • "Greener Choices," TEDx Jupiter, November 2013
    • "The Duty to Advise the Lorax: Environmental Advocacy and the Risk of Reform," William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review 37:25, 2012
    • "'Controlling Jurisdiction' and the Duty to Disclose Adverse Authority: Florida’s District Courts of Appeal Reign Supreme on Matters of First Impression," Florida Bar Journal 85:46, 2011
  • Affiliations
    • The Florida Bar
      • Government Lawyer Section, Chair, 2003-2004; 2009-2010
      • Ethics and Professionalism Committee
    • Association of American Law School
    • U.S. Department of Defense, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves, Ombudsman
  • Credentials
    • M.P.A., Florida Atlantic University, 1998
    • J.D., University of Florida, 1994
    • B.A., University of Virginia, 1991
    • Board-certified by The Florida Bar in State and Federal Government and Administrative Practice
  • Admissions
    • Florida
    • District of Columbia
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th and Federal Circuits
    • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
    • U.S. Court of Federal Claims