About James Theodore
James Theodore Schatt built a legal career that began at the University of Florida and moved steadily into private practice and local legal organizations. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1992, majoring in environmental policy and economics. He returned to the University of Florida for law school and completed a Juris Doctor in 1999. During that time he also completed a Certificate in Environmental Law in 1996, an early signal of the areas of law that would shape parts of his work.
After law school, Schatt joined Mateer & Harbert, P.A., as an associate in 2000. He spent the next several years moving through roles that increased in responsibility. By 2003 he was managing associate at Mateer & Harbert. He later took a partner position at the same firm in 2005. In 2002 he also served as an associate at Bond, Arnett, Phelan, Smith & Craggs, P.A., gaining additional courtroom and client-facing experience that fed into his later leadership roles.
In 2009 he became a partner at The Schatt Law Office, PLLC. Two years later he helped launch Schatt & Hesser, P.A., where he is listed as managing partner beginning in 2011. Those moves marked a transition from associate and firm-level roles to firm leadership and firm ownership. Colleagues and court records reflect a lawyer comfortable handling the administrative and strategic responsibilities of running a practice while remaining active on case work.
Schatt holds admissions to practice before the Florida courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has combined trial-court practice with appellate work and has maintained memberships in several local legal and civic organizations. Since 2014 he has been a member of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission. His involvement in local institutions goes back further; he is listed as a past president of the Downtown Business Alliance, a role linked to activity beginning in 2010, and as past president of the DR Smith American Inn of Court, a designation in place since 2003.
Schatt’s educational background in environmental policy and his certificate in environmental law inform part of his approach to cases that touch on land use, environmental regulation and related disputes. His career arc — from associate to managing partner — reflects steady movement into leadership and courtroom work. He practices at Schatt & Hesser, P.A., where his current work draws on his environmental law training and appellate admissions.
