Ira Gonzalez

Ira Gonzalez joined Adams and Reese in 2011 as an Associate in the firm's New Orleans office as part of the Litigation Practice Team. He has experience in environmental, real estate, land use and zoning law.

Ira served in a number of roles in Miami government, including as chief of operations for code enforcement, in which he represented city interests at solid waste and code enforcement hearings; executive assistant to the City Manager, in which he supervised several operational task forces; assistant policy coordinator for the Mayor, in which he advised the Mayor on various public interest issues in an effort to establish citywide policies; and law clerk for the Office of the City Attorney, in which he analyzed zoning laws, local code applicability, lien foreclosure and federal/state preemption issues. As chief of operations for code enforcement, he directed zoning ordinance enforcement, public works enforcement and city code enforcement activities in a city of 400,000 residents, monitored the activities of over 50 employees, and assisted the director in administering a $3 million budget. 

Ira participated in a legal internship at the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Texas, in Sherman, Texas, and at the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office.

Ira’s other significant experience includes:

• Co-Author of “Regulating Vacant Property,” an article published by The Urban Lawyer and re-published by the American Bar Association in its book, At the Cutting Edge 2010: Land Use Law. The article discusses how lawmakers are turning to regulation of non-use of real estate through vacant property regulatory programs to cut down on blight, and how vacant property regulations may provide an efficient way for local governments to contain neighborhood deterioration, but may also pose unanticipated problems for owners and neighborhoods.
• Graduated cum laude from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and earned a Certificate in Environmental Law.
• Certified as a Florida Stormwater Erosion and Sedimentation Control Inspector and Federal Emergency Management Administration certification.
• Selected to be a member of Class XXV of the Governor’s Executive Development Program at the University of Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, in Austin, Texas.

Ira is married to Vanessa Bolano Gonzalez, who is a reporter for WGNO News in New Orleans. He is fluent in Spanish and was an athletic scholarship recipient to play collegiate baseball.