Spiritus Law Expands Lobbying Practice, Adds Halsey W. Beshears as Chair

MIAMI, May 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Spiritus Law announced today that former Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Halsey W. Beshears is joining the firm as Chair of the firm's Lobbying and Government Relations Practice.  Mr. Beshears is a seasoned non-attorney practitioner well versed in government relations. His addition to Spiritus Law will expand the firm's advocacy capabilities on behalf of clients in the alcohol and hospitality industries in Florida as those sectors recover from the effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Mr. Beshears will assist clients with administrative and investigative issues and will serve as a mediator with state and local government agencies. Most recently, Mr. Beshears served as Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, or DBPR, under Governor Ron DeSantis from 2019 to 2021. During the early stages of the Coronavirus Pandemic, he led the alcohol and hospitality industries through forced pandemic closures. He also played an instrumental role in creating operational exceptions that allowed restaurants to continue operating and permitted cocktails-to-go emergency sales authorizations through the pandemic.

Prior to his work at the DBPR, Mr. Beshears was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2012, where he represented District 7 from 2012 to 2019. As a former secretary, he fought to improve Florida's business climate by streamlining government involvement, lowering taxes, and increasing transparency. He also sponsored and passed legislation in policy areas including the federal single-subject amendment, alcoholic beverage laws, construction defects, transportation matters, and public records in public agency contracts.

"Halsey brings to Spiritus Law tremendous experience as both a legislature and lead of a state regulatory body that will be a valuable asset for our clients," said Robert Lewis, Co-Founding Partner of Spiritus Law.  "He not only has a wealth of relationships in Tallahassee, but also an intimate knowledge of regulatory laws and a unique ability to bring people to the table. Those are true assets to our clients who are interested in long-term changes and solutions that would allow them to reposition their operations much faster in the event of another pandemic."

As Secretary of the Florida DBPR, he showed himself to be a leader and consensus builder with Florida's hospitality and alcohol industries. He played a vital role in providing stability to those industries at a difficult time, such as spearheading the implementation of the cocktail-to-go policy and moving quickly to allow breweries to re-open during the pandemic by bringing licensed on-site food service providers.

"I am thrilled to be joining a dynamic firm like Spiritus Law and I am excited to help the firm grow its government relations services," said Mr. Beshears. "I am looking forward to working closely with the firm's clients to advocate for sensible short- and long-term solutions for regulatory issues."

Mr. Beshears holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Science from Florida State University and a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship from the University of Florida.

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SOURCE Spiritus Law