For five decades, Colodny Fass has advised businesses, insurers, trade associations, public entities, and other regulated organizations on sophisticated legal, regulatory, legislative, and governmental matters.

With offices in Sunrise and Tallahassee, Florida, the firm has developed a particularly strong reputation at the intersection of insurance regulation and government relations, where changes in legislation, agency policy, compliance requirements, and market conditions can have immediate business consequences.

The firm represents clients before the Florida Legislature, Executive Branch, Cabinet, and state regulatory agencies, while also providing legal counsel on regulatory compliance, administrative proceedings, corporate transactions, litigation, and other matters affecting highly regulated industries. This integrated approach allows Colodny Fass to address an issue from both the legal and public-policy perspectives—whether a client needs to understand a proposed statute, advocate for legislative change, respond to regulatory scrutiny, obtain an agency approval, or manage a complex insurance transaction.

Colodny Fass is consistently recognized among Florida’s leading law and lobbying firms for the depth of its legal experience, regulatory knowledge, and governmental affairs capabilities. The firm and its attorneys have earned recognition from respected legal and professional organizations including Chambers USA, Best Law Firms®, Martindale-Hubbell® with AV Preeminent™ ratings, Super Lawyers, Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, South Florida Legal Guide, and AM Best Recommended Attorneys.

These honors reflect the firm’s longstanding reputation for handling sophisticated legal, insurance regulatory, legislative, and governmental matters for clients operating in complex and highly regulated industries.

Insurance Regulation and Insurance Industry Counsel

Insurance and reinsurance have long been central to the firm’s practice. Colodny Fass represents insurance carriers, reinsurers, managing general agents, brokers, third-party administrators, investors, agencies, and other insurance-market participants on regulatory, transactional, compliance, and litigation matters. Its attorneys work with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and Department of Financial Services, as well as insurance regulators throughout the United States.

The firm’s insurance regulatory work can span the complete life cycle of an insurance enterprise, including company formation, licensing, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, product development, market-conduct matters, examinations, mergers and acquisitions, financing, reorganizations, and exit planning. The firm also assists insurance clients with legislative initiatives and public-policy matters that can directly affect Florida’s insurance marketplace.

That depth of experience is reflected in the firm’s longstanding involvement with Florida’s property and casualty insurance system. Founder Mike Colodny previously served as General Counsel to the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association and later Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, where his work included catastrophe financing, reinsurance, organizational restructuring, and other significant regulatory matters.

Florida Lobbying and Governmental Consulting

Colodny Fass also maintains a substantial lobbying and governmental consulting practice from its Tallahassee office. For more than 50 years, the firm has represented businesses, associations, insurers, and regulated industries before Florida policymakers and administrative agencies.

Its governmental consulting work includes legislative advocacy, bill monitoring, statutory amendments, executive-branch advocacy, regulatory strategy, agency matters, appropriations, government procurement, and broader public-policy planning. The firm has particular experience with matters involving property and casualty insurance, health care, maritime interests, and other heavily regulated industries.

For insurance companies and insurance-related organizations, the combination can be especially valuable because legislative advocacy and regulatory counsel are frequently interconnected. Colodny Fass can advise a client on existing regulatory requirements while also representing its interests before lawmakers and government agencies considering changes to those requirements.

Shareholders

Mike Colodny – Founder and Managing Shareholder
Mike Colodny has more than five decades of experience advising corporations, financial institutions, insurers, and other regulated businesses on insurance regulatory, corporate, governmental, and administrative matters. His career includes extensive work before regulatory agencies, public boards, and governmental entities, and he played a significant role in the development of Florida’s property insurance system through his work with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation and its predecessor. His practice today includes insurance regulatory and transactional matters, governmental consulting, corporate transactions, business regulation, and administrative law.

Katherine Scott Webb – Shareholder
Katherine “Katie” Scott Webb leads the firm’s Lobbying and Governmental Consulting Division in Tallahassee. She represents insurers, businesses, public entities, and industry organizations before the Florida Legislature, Executive Branch, and regulatory agencies. Her experience includes significant involvement in Florida property-insurance reform, no-fault insurance legislation, workers’ compensation initiatives, crop-insurance issues, and regulatory modernization. She also serves as Florida counsel and lobbyist for national and state property and casualty insurance trade organizations.

Sandy P. Fay – Shareholder
Sandy Fay focuses heavily on insurance regulation and corporate transactions, representing insurance-industry clients throughout the United States. His work includes regulatory compliance, insurer formation and licensing, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, solvency matters, market-conduct issues, financing, and regulatory approvals. He regularly works with insurance regulators across all 50 states and also represents clients in administrative matters involving licensing, rate hearings, and rule challenges.

Maria Elena Abate – Shareholder
Maria Elena Abate is a longtime insurance and commercial litigator with more than 25 years of experience handling matters involving insurance fraud, coverage disputes, bad faith, class actions, professional liability, regulatory issues, and high-exposure commercial litigation. She has represented insurers, agents, brokers, businesses, and public entities and has worked extensively with insurer special-investigations units and joint-defense groups. She also served alongside Mike Colodny as outside general counsel to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation following major hurricane events, helping oversee complex litigation and claims-related issues.

Matthew C. Scarfone – Shareholder
Matthew C. Scarfone is a shareholder whose work is closely associated with the firm’s insurance practice. The firm’s current team identifies him among its five shareholders, and Colodny Fass lists him among the attorneys serving its insurance and reinsurance industry clients. His background includes insurance litigation and sophisticated matters involving insurers and other regulated businesses.

Integrated Legal and Governmental Strategy

A distinguishing characteristic of Colodny Fass is its ability to combine insurance-industry knowledge, regulatory counsel, litigation experience, and governmental advocacy within a single firm. A regulatory issue may require interaction with the Office of Insurance Regulation; a legislative proposal may require lobbying in Tallahassee; a corporate initiative may require regulatory approval in multiple states; and a contested agency action may ultimately require administrative or civil litigation.

Colodny Fass is structured to address those overlapping concerns. Its attorneys and governmental consultants represent clients not only after disputes arise, but also when companies are evaluating legislation, entering new markets, restructuring operations, pursuing regulatory approvals, or anticipating changes in public policy.

For insurers, insurance organizations, corporations, trade associations, and other regulated businesses operating in Florida or nationally, Colodny Fass offers a combination of regulatory experience, legislative access, industry knowledge, and sophisticated legal counsel developed over approximately 50 years of practice.