Environmental Law Adjunct Faculty

Ralph Demeo is a shareholder at Baker Donelson’s Tallahassee branch. His experience includes environmental, land use, administrative, occupational health and safety, toxic torts, brownfields, construction defect, transportation and aviation, energy, local government, aquaculture and pesticides, and animal law, with emphasis in civil and administrative litigation. He represents industry, businesses, landowners, corporate and individual clients, as well as local governments, throughout Florida and the southeastern United States. He also represents clients in state and federal courts, and before agencies and the legislature. Ralph has served as environmental and land use counsel on more than $3 billion in projects and transactions in his career, including some of Florida's most significant projects. He has also served as counsel in several high-profile cases in Florida, including the leading case on primary administrative jurisdiction and the leading case on right to privacy.

Capt. Alan S. Richard is a captain with the Division of Law Enforcement for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and is a 1994 graduate with highest honors from Florida State Law. He is teaching Admiralty Law, a topic on which he has published extensively and taught previously at the law school. As a student, he was a member of the Florida State University Law Review and the Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, and graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif.

Susan Stephens graduated with a J.D. from Florida State Law with highest honors. She is a shareholder with Stearns Weaver Miller, P.A. She has extensive experience that includes helping clients decide on property investments and the best utilization of that property and navigating the complex universe of local, state, and federal environmental regulations to achieve the clients' development goals. This includes working with agencies to develop workable rules, challenging rules that put an unfair burden on business interests, negotiating with stakeholders, and obtaining environmental permits from local, state, and federal agencies. Her experience includes complex administrative hearings to defend permits against legal challenges that involved numerous expert witnesses.