Mary Jo Carney

Experience

Before joining Johnson Pope, Mary Jo Carney was a founding partner of a boutique law firm in St. Petersburg, Florida which enjoyed 34 years of providing legal services to many local and out-of-state clients.  Mary Jo is a real estate transactional attorney specializing in commercial retail projects.  Throughout her 40-year career, Mary Jo has represented clients in the acquisition, financing, leasing, development, re-development and sale of numerous grocery-anchored, build-to-suit and mixed use projects.  Mary Jo’s practice has also included representation of owners of apartment, hotel, industrial, office and car wash properties.  Incidental to her commercial real estate practice, Mary Jo has negotiated and prepared complex leases with numerous credit tenants and she has extensive experience in title insurance matters and in coordinating and conducting closings.

Distinctions & Memberships

• Admitted to The Florida Bar  —  1981
• Member St. Petersburg Bar Association
• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, 1981
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, 1981
• A/V Rated by Martindale -Hubbell
• Graduate of Leadership St. Petersburg, 1996
• U.S. News Best Lawyers Best Law Firms through 2020
• The Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Law, Since 2009
• The Best Lawyers in America® 2024 Real Estate Law “Lawyer of the Year”

Education

• Denison University ( 1978 ) B.A. ( English; Education; certified teacher high school and middle school ); Magna Cum-Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
• University of Cincinnati ( 1981 )  J.D.

When She Is Not Working Hard For Her Clients

Mary Jo enjoys following the Tampa Bay Rays and Bucs, reading, urban walking and traveling.  She and her husband have visited nearly all 50 states and 23 countries.