Thomas Jay Baird

Tom Baird is certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in City, County and Local Government.  He is the current Town Attorney for the Towns of Jupiter and Lake Park, and serves as General Counsel to the Westgate/Belvedere Homes Community Redevelopment Agency. He serves as a Special Magistrate for the municipalities of North Palm Beach, Stuart and Pahokee. He has also served as a Special Master/Mediator in Property Rights cases.   He is a member of States Attorney David Aronberg’s Recovery Residences Task Force.

Mr. Baird’s practice focuses on the representation of municipalities, land use and zoning law and litigation, including code enforcement, property rights, takings and constitutional  law matters. He has represented counties, municipalities, and developers in legal matters in land use zoning and constitutional law matters in state and federal courts, and in administrative law proceedings.

Mr. Baird has a B.A. in American Studies from Heidelberg University (Ohio) and a Masters of Public Administration with a specialization in Growth Management (planning) from Florida Atlantic University. He graduated from Nova University’s College of Law in 1984 where he was a Research Editor of the Law Review.

Mr. Baird has been an adjunct professor of land use, zoning and administrative law at the Florida Institute of Technology and Florida Atlantic University.  Prior to his legal career, Mr. Baird worked as a Regional Planner for the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and has been certified as a professional Planner by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 1993. He is a member of the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association and served as the President of the Treasure Coast Section of the American Planning Association.

From 2005-2010, he was a Director of the Third Federal Savings and Loan Association of Cleveland MHC and TFS Financial Corporation, and a member of the Corporation’s Compensation Committee. He has been a member of the Roger Dean Stadium Advisory Board since it’s inception in 1998.