Michael Hyman

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.

Firm partner Michael L. Hyman was featured in a “Profiles in Law” article by the Daily Business Review, South Florida’s exclusive business daily and official court newspaper. The article, which appears in today’s edition of the newspaper, chronicles his career as one of the founders of community association law as a legal specialty in Florida.

The profile, which is written by DBR reporter Samantha Joseph, reads:

Michael Hyman’s journey into law reads like a series of fortunate coincidences.

It starts with a friend on his way to take the law school admission test stopping by and inviting Hyman to join him. It was the mid-1960s—decades before Hyman would contribute to shaping Florida real estate law, battle developers and help free condominium buyers in a then-emerging market from clauses buried in 99-year ground leases to escalate rents for shared amenities.

Back then, before he was shareholder at Siegfried Rivera Hyman Lerner De La Torre Mars & Sobel in Coral Gables, Hyman taught English and journalism to students five years his junior at a Hialeah high school, earning a $4,700 salary. His soon-to-be-wife, Iris, was completing her senior year of college, and he’d started considering career moves to support a young family. He knew little about law school, even less about being an attorney and had never considered taking the entrance test.

“I loved teaching, but it was a very different story to think about getting married and having kids,” Hyman said. “A friend of mine said he was going the next morning to take the law school admission exam. He picked me up. Without going to any type of tutelage or anything, I walked in, took an academic exam and did well enough to get admitted to University of Miami and UF.”

Articles Tagged with Michael Hyman

Michael Hyman Featured in CAI Book Titled “Creating Community Association Law: True Tales from Early Pioneers”

Michael Hyman Profiled in Article in Daily Business Review