For over three decades, our team has been honored to serve the legal needs of families and businesses throughout Central Florida. We’re proud of our roots in the community, and we greatly value the trust we’ve worked so hard to earn.
STUART J. BARKS
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Contact: [email protected]
Stuart Barks grew up in Central Florida, attending Greenwood Lakes Middle School and Lake Mary High School. During this time, he worked to become an Eagle Scout, the highest achievement attainable in the Boy Scouts of America.
After high school, Stuart pursued a B.A. in English from the University of Florida. While at UF, Stuart was a member of Florida Blue Key, UF Honors Program, the Golden Key National Honor Society, and the Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society. He graduated cum laude, and went on to pursue his law degree.
During law school, Stuart participated in the Wetlands and Watersheds Seminar, where he worked with a team of law, soil science, wetlands ecology, and environmental engineering students. He also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Donna McIntosh in the 18th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
Stuart graduated with his Juris Doctor from UF’s Levin College of Law in December of 2007. In Spring of 2008, Stuart was named Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C. In March of 2009, he was hired by Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C., a trial and appellate advocacy firm located in the nation’s capital.
In 2012, Stuart began work with the Tampa Bay office of Becker and Poliakoff, P.A., where he represented clients in the matters of business and real estate litigation, environmental law, and community association law.
In 2014, he was named Senior Assistant General Counsel for the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Stuart litigated Florida’s natural resource damages claims in the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill lawsuit. As Enforcement Counsel for the Southeast District, he drafted and negotiated voluntary cleanup agreements with purchasers of contaminated property, developed site access agreements with landowners, enforced natural resource permits, advocated for the State of Florida in public lands claims in the Florida Everglades, and brought enforcement actions for vessel damage to coral reefs.
In 2016, Stuart brought his experience back home to Central Florida, working with his father, Jim Barks, to expand the practice areas at the James A. Barks law office. Together, Jim and Stuart continue to build on the Barks family legacy by providing expert legal representation to clients throughout the region.