Melissa Tapanes Llahues

Practice Areas

Growth Management

Land Use

Zoning

Environmental

Permitting

Historical Preservation

Archeological Resources

Due Diligence Reviews

Development Agreements

Public Benefit Agreements

Career

Melissa Tapanes Llahues has made her mark not only in the legal profession but also in the greater Miami community. She became a named partner at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin and Tapanes, PLLC in 2020.

Melissa represents the interests of landowners, institutional clients, and developers seeking real estate licensing and regulatory approvals from governmental boards and agencies at the local, state and federal levels. She specializes in managing complex and politically sensitive legislative and quasi-judicial matters from initial due diligence to permitting, including applications and issues related to developments of regional impact, amendments to local government comprehensive plans, vested rights, public private partnerships, zoning, platting, and site planning, as well as development agreements, enforcement, eminent domain, historic preservation, and archaeological resources.

Highly committed to her community, Melissa was appointed as a member of the Miami Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors. She served on the City of Miami’s Miami 21 Report Ad Hoc Task Force where she was elected Chairperson by her peers to lead in the review of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. She is the immediate past Chair of the Florida International University President’s Council, a trustee of the Builders Association of South Florida, and served on the Board of Directors of the Latin Builders Association for over a decade. She is involved with numerous legal and civic organizations, including Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), Florida Association of Women Lawyers (FAWL) and the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA). In 2017, the South Florida Business Journal recognized her professional accomplishments and community leadership with its coveted 2017 “40 Under 40” Award. In 2021, she was recognized as one of Ford Motor Company’s Mujeres Legendarias representing Ford’s pillar of leadership.

The Legal 500 has named her a “Recommended Attorney” every year since 2017 and is ranked in Chambers USA 2021. She has been named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers® and an “Up and Comer” by Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, and selected for inclusion in numerous Who’s Who publications.

Melissa graduated from the University of Miami School of Law (Juris Doctor, cum laude) and the Florida International University Honors College (Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Geography, magna cum laude). During her law studies, she clerked for the Honorable Scott J. Silverman in the 11th judicial Circuit of Florida and for the law firm of Black, Srebnick, Kornspan, & Stumpf.

Her activism has been long in the making. In 1999, Melissa was appointed to the State of Florida Board of Education Postsecondary Education Planning Commission (PEPC) by Governor Jeb Bush, where she recommended legislation, funding, and policy initiatives to the Governor, Legislature, and Board of Education for both public and private higher education institutions. While still an undergraduate, Melissa spearheaded the student initiative for the approval and funding of a public law school as a lobbyist for Florida International University’s Student Government Association.

Professional Memberships

City of Miami, Downtown Development Authority, Board Member (2021-2025)

City of Miami, Miami 21 Ad Hoc Task Force, now completed, Chair (2021)

Builders Association of South Florida, Trustee (2019-Present)

Florida International University President’s Council, Chair (2017-2020)

Florida International University Alumni Association, Lifetime Member

Florida International University Foundation, Director (2017-2019)

Latin Builders Association, Executive Board (2010-2019)

Florida Bar, Section of Environmental and Land Use Law, Member

Dade County Bar Association, Environmental Land Use Law Committee, Member

Cuban American Bar Association, Member

Friends of the Underline, Real Estate Committee, Member

Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Miami, Member

Florida Association of Women Lawyers (FAWL), Member

City of Doral Design District Steering Committee, now completed, Chair

City of Miami Charter Review & Reform Committee, now completed, Member