Areas of Practice
Industries
Education
- L.L.B., University of Florida College of Law 1960 (replaced by a J.D., 1967)
- A.B., cum laude, Vanderbilt University 1957
Bar Admissions
- Florida
Memberships
- American Bar Association
- American Bar Foundation, Fellow
- American Law Institute
- Bank of Florida, Boarding of Directors (founding member) and Executive Committee member
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, Lifetime board member (and Past Chariman)
- Boys and Girls Club of Tampa Bay Foundation, Trustee
- Development Council of Bay Area Legal Services, Chairman
- Florida Lawyers Legal Insurance Corporation, Board of Directors (and Past President)
- Memorial Hospital of Tampa, Board of Directors (and Immediate Past Chair)
- National Associate of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America
- Tampa Downtown Partnership, Board of Directors
- The Florida Bar Foundation, Fellow
Suite 2700
Tampa, FL 33602
TEL: 813-222-6610
FAX: 813-314-6910
A member of the Firm's Corporate, Real Estate and Banking Practice Groups, Mr. Shear concentrates his practice in the representation of clients in real estate, corporate, banking, commercial and investment interests. He has extensive experience in the purchase and sale of businesses, real estate, lending, leasing, mergers, joint ventures, acquisitions, corporate and partnership formation and project financing. He has also represented numerous clients before governmental boards and agencies.
Mr. Shear is a past president of The Florida Bar, during which it received the American Bar Association award as the outstanding state bar in the country. He is also Past President of the Hillsborough County Bar Association and the Florida Lawyers Legal Insurance Corporation of which he is currently a member of the Board of Directors. As a Fellow of both The Florida Bar Foundation and the American Bar Foundation, he serves as Chairman of the Development Council of Bay Area Legal Services and is past Chairman of the American Bar Association IOLTA Commission. Mr. Shear previously served as the President of the Real Estate Investment Council, which includes the Tampa Bay area, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Tampa Downtown Partnership and a member of the Board of Directors of Memorial Hospital of Tampa, which he chaired for seven years, and currently serves as Immediate Past Chair.
Mr. Shear was a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, and former Chairman of two American Bar Association Standing Committees. He has served as President of the American Prepaid Legal Services Institute and on several American Bar Association Commissions. He is currently a member of The American Law Institute. He is a former chairman of the Southern Conference of State Bar Presidents, the Florida Council of Bar Association Presidents and was a member of the Executive Council of the National Conference of Bar Association Presidents.
Mr. Shear is the Past President and now lifetime board member of The Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay, a Trustee of the Boys and Girls Club of Tampa Bay Foundation, a National Associate of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and is a past board member of the Florida Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. He has served on other corporate boards, including serving on a former bank Board of Directors for thirteen years. He presently is a founding member of the Board of Directors and member of the Executive Committee of the Bank of Florida, Tampa Bay.
Mr. Shear has been awarded honors by a variety of respected organizations, associations and businesses. He was the recipient of the first statewide award as "Outstanding Local Bar Association President."
