Mia L. McKown practices in the firm's Public Policy and Regulation Group in the Tallahassee office. Ms. McKown regularly appears before the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, the Florida Legislature, various state agencies, local governments, trial and appellate courts. Her practice encompasses all aspects of Florida administrative law, and she has a broad range of experience with the Florida Administrative Procedure Act and in procurement matters and state governmental affairs.
She also has more than 16 years of experience in the agribusiness, banking, mental health and insurance industries, including serving as General Counsel to the Florida Department of Citrus and serving as the Hearing Officer for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. She brings a unique perspective to the area of procurement law. While serving as General Counsel to the Department of Citrus, she developed and implemented the agency's Purchasing Policy. Additionally, she worked closely with agency staff during the development of the proposals and she ultimately drafted the contracts. Ms. McKown has represented a state agency, as well as private sector companies, in bid protests. She has also successfully challenged rules enacted by state agencies including, but not limited to the Florida Department of Health, Florida Board of Psychology and the Office of Insurance Regulation.
Ms. McKown has been involved with legislative process for over seven years and has a keen awareness of the process. She has obtained many successes for her clients through the passage of legislation that saved her clients significant monies and the defeat of many pieces of legislation that would have been detrimental to her clients' interests. She reads every piece of legislation once it is filed in order to determine the impact it would have on her client and immediately contacts them if there is such an impact. Ms. McKown has good relationships with both the Legislative and Executive Branches. She recently worked with the Crist/Kottkamp transition team by assisting with the evaluation of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.
McKown has always been active in her community. She is currently involved with the United Way and March of Dimes.