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The firm’s Michael L. Hyman is prominently featured and profiled in a new book from the Community Associations Institute titled “Creating Community Association Law: True Tales from Early Pioneers.”
The new volume focuses on the history behind the laws governing homeowners and condominium associations. Author Marvin Nodiff delves into the creation of states’ first association laws and the attorneys who led the charge to enact them.
Hyman first began work with condominium associations and HOAs in 1970. The book discusses his work in the 1970s and ‘80s in filing lawsuits to free communities from triple-net leases that left buyers and owners responsible for paying developers rent for shared recreational amenities for up to 99 years. 
He was appointed to The Florida Bar’s first condominium commission, which conducted hearings throughout the state, and he was one of the authors who rewrote the condominium statute to provide operational rights to owners.
Hyman became the first attorney in South Florida to launch a major practice dedicated to the representation of community associations.
“My work and that of other attorneys around the country changed the landscape for buyers and created a new body of law for attorneys representing community associations,” said Hyman. “It is an honor to be included in this new volume, which will help many of today’s association law practitioners understand the stories and decisions that led to the creation of the state laws governing communities.”
Nodiff interviewed some 20 pioneers for the book about their recollections and insights on their experiences as the first generation of community association lawyers. In addition to the history behind states’ laws, Creating Community Association Law reflects on the innovation and creativity that was necessary to help enact the laws and establish the new legal field.
Michael Hyman is the co-author of a two-volume set of legal tomes titled Florida Condominium Law & Practice, which is among the industry standard information sources for community association law practitioners in the state. After serving as a director for seven years of the South Florida chapter of the Community Association Institute, which is the largest organization representing associations in the country, Michael was inducted into its 1994 charter class of its College of Community Association Lawyers, which recognizes the leading attorneys in the practice area nationwide. He has continued to conduct seminars for other lawyers at the organization’s annual conferences over the years, and he has lectured extensively at conferences on association issues organized by the University of Miami and others. He has also served as the lead counsel for associations in several landmark appellate rulings that set major precedents over the issues involved.
Our firm salutes Michael for his work as one of the founding fathers of community association law in the state of Florida, and the recognition that his efforts received in this new volume from CAI. Click here to learn more and order the book.