LeavenLaw

LeavenLaw is an AV? Preeminent? rated law firm that traces its roots back to 1972 in St. Petersburg, Florida to the late Honorable Charles Richard Leavengood. The Law Offices of C. Richard Leavengood focused on real estate law, specifically eminent domain. For almost a decade, "Dick" built a small but reputable practice serving Pinellas County's residents.

After a brief stint in private practice, Dick ran for Circuit Court Judge of the Sixth Circuit of Florida. Once elected, Judge Leavengood served on the bench for almost twenty years, eventually serving as its chief judge for more than a decade. After being appointed to the Supreme Court as an interim Justice, Judge Leavengood was eventually defeated by Justice Boyd in his campaign efforts for re-election to the State's Highest Court.

A FOCUS ON HELPING THE TAMPA BAY COMMUNITY
In June of 1978, after graduating from the University of Florida College of Law, Judge Leavengood's son, Richard Timothy Leavengood, returned home to join his father in the practice of law. Leavengood & Leavengood, as the firm was then known, re-focused its efforts on serving the Tampa Bay community's legal needs. For the next several years, this father and son firm practiced in the areas of real estate, wills, trusts, probate, estate planning and wealth management. In 1980, Richard followed his father's lead and decided to run for County Judge. At 27 years of age, however, Richard was the inexperienced underdog, finishing third out of five candidates.

CONTINUING A LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE
Returning to the practice of law, Richard decided to expand Leavengood & Leavengood's practice areas by familiarizing himself with an area of law new to the practice...an area that would eventually become the firm's primary focus to this day: Consumer Bankruptcy Law. Leavengood & Leavengood continued to serve the community until Dick passed away in 1993.

THE NEXT GENERATION

In May 1995, Richard T. Leavengood's son, Ian Richard Leavengood, graduated from the University of Florida's Fisher School with his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Accounting. After two years working as an internal business consultant for The Procter & Gamble Distributing Company, Ian returned to the University of Florida to earn his law degree. During his second stint at UF, Ian served as a Judicial Extern to The Honorable Justice Ben F. Overton of the Supreme Court of State of Florida. After graduating from the Levin College of Law in May of 2000, Ian took a job for Deloitte & Touche, practicing the federal taxation of Mergers & Acquisitions in New York City. For three years, Ian utilized both his law and accounting degrees serving one of Wall Street's financial pioneers and one of Deloitte's most influential and affluent clients - the leveraged buy-out firm Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts.

After four years working in New York City, Ian returned home to St. Petersburg to join his father in the practice of law. Charged with growing the practice, Ian began to expand the firm's personnel, reach and areas of practice. In 2004, Ian brought Christopher Charles Nash over from Akerman Senterfitt, creating the foundation for the LeavenLaw firm.