GrayRobinson Builds Relationships, Growing Where Clients’ Needs Are
Approaching its 55th anniversary in 2025, the GrayRobinson law firm in Lakeland continues to be successful by focusing its energies on building relationships and serving its clients and the communities it operates in.
“GrayRobinson was built on our founder and chairman emeritus’ vision. ‘When you build your community, you build your firm,’” said shareholder Sandy Sheets. Sheets serves as the Lakeland Managing Shareholder and the Private Client Services Deputy Chair. “That is exactly what we have done and continue to do. GrayRobinson is engrained in our local communities and is recognized as one of the most influential firms in Florida.”
Founded in 1970, GrayRobinson is a full-service legal and lobbying firm. It has a multidimensional team of attorneys, advisors and consultants. Over the years, they have grown organically and through acquisitions. GrayRobinson expanded its presence in Lakeland in January 2001 when it merged with Lane, Trohn, Bertrand & Vreeland, a firm founded in 1926. It now has offices in 14 key Florida markets and Washington, D.C.
“Grounded by more than 50 years of service and advocacy, we are intimately connected to Florida’s dynamic economy. Our people have helped transform commerce and communities across the Sunshine State. And, our growing ecosystem of resources and relationships has expanded to our nation’s capital and beyond,” said Sheets. Sheets earned her law degree from George Washington University College of Law in 1987.
GrayRobinson defines their mission easily. It applies its “legal, lobbying and regulatory backgrounds and skills in ways that enable our clients to define and achieve their goals while supporting our communities as a matter of mission as well as passion,” Sheets said. “We do this while honoring and continuing an established tradition of serving our clients and communities through the cultivation of relationships based upon respect, loyalty, and integrity.”
The Future of GrayRobinson
GrayRobinson seeks to ensure “clients maintain access to the personal counsel and concierge service you find at a small boutique firm,” Sheets said.
As for the future: “Our firm’s growth strategy is based on client demands. We grow where our clients need us to be – both geographically and with respect to service offerings,” she said.
The firm’s roughly 240 lawyers, including 16 in the Lakeland office, focus on everything from health and education to cannabis and construction. They cover more than 80 practice and industry groups, and state and federal lobbying services. It employs more than 540 professionals, including 34 in Lakeland.
As GrayRobinson’s President and CEO Dean Cannon says, “We help clients thrive at the intersection of business, law and politics.”
In February 2019, GrayRobinson opened an office in Washington, D.C. — the first outside Florida. That office is “enhancing our capabilities to offer federal lobbying services. And marking a significant milestone in our commitment to serving clients with diverse needs,” she said.
Future growth is possible. “We are continuing to proactively explore measured growth and targeted expansion opportunities across geographic boundaries with like-minded firms and partners that will enhance our service capabilities,” Sheets said.
Growth in Polk County
Reflecting on the deep roots GrayRobinson has in Polk County, Sheets said the firm is “committed to succeeding as a preeminent firm in the region. We continually add capabilities to achieve that goal and have recently recruited many associates and younger shareholders to ensure our clients are well-served here throughout the next generation.”
Serving Polk County is personal for GrayRobinson, Sheets said. She noted that Cannon started at the firm as a runner in the Lakeland office.
Cannon served eight years in the Florida House of Representatives. He was Speaker of the House for the 2010 to 2012 term. According to the GrayRobinson website, he “played pivotal roles in property tax reform, growth management reform, health care and Medicaid reform, and major transportation infrastructure policy initiatives”. He is “credited with leading the Florida House effectively during a time of great economic and political turmoil.”
In addition, Sheets said, “Most of our local team has called Polk County home for their entire lives. We invest resources and time into this community because we value its natural beauty, deep history and flourishing tourism. We’re excited to fuel its success as Florida’s fastest-growing county and a leading contributor to our state’s economy. We’ll continue to build our Lakeland office to meet the evolving legal needs that arise here.”
The Lakeland office offers a variety services but focuses on private client services (trusts and estate planning, wealth management, probate, etc.). Also real estate and land use law, business law, corporate transactions and litigation and appellate representation.
Giving Back
GrayRobinson supports numerous local organizations, including Academy Prep Center of Lakeland, Camp Fire Sunshine Council, EMERGE Lakeland, Girls Inc. of Lakeland, the GiveWell Community Foundation, the Humane Society of Polk County, the Lakeland Police Foundation, Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine, Peace River Center, VISTE, Polk Museum of Art and YMCA of West Central Florida.
Sheets is a graduate of Leadership Lakeland and a member of the Bonnet Springs Park Steering Committee, among other alignments.
“In Polk County, we are very involved in our community,” she said.
The Lakeland office also “takes pride in being a great place for our professionals to come to work each day. We care about each other like family, and we are dog friendly.”
