Overview

Erica Smith Roodhouse is Senior Counsel in the firm’s Private Client Services Practice Group. She concentrates her practice in estate planning, tax planning, and probate and trust administration.

Ms. Roodhouse writes and speaks on various issues related to wills, trusts, estates, and guardianships. In addition, she is very active in several local professional associations. She is currently Immediate Past-President of the Suncoast Estate Planning Council, a Board Member for the Pinellas Community Foundation, the Secretary of the Board of the St. Petersburg Free Clinic, and a Grievance Committee member for the Florida Bar. She has previously served as President of the St. Petersburg Bar Association (2016-2017), an organization serving approximately 1,000 local attorneys and judges, and as a member of the Hospice Professional Partners Council (5 years), as well as being active in leadership at First United Methodist Church of St. Petersburg.

Ms. Roodhouse is a graduate of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Florida Fellows Institute, and she was one of three finalists in the “Woman to Watch” category of the 2015 Iconic Women of Vision Awards presented by the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce.

Honors and Distinctions

  • Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Award 2018, Sixth Judicial Circuit (Pinellas and Pasco Counties)

Professional Involvement

  • St. Petersburg Bar Association
    • Past President
    • Past Executive Committee Member (6 years)
    • Past Chair of the Young Lawyers section
    • Past Chair of the Real Property Section
  • The Florida Bar
    • Real Property and Trust Law Section
    • Grievance Committee Member
  • Suncoast Estate Planning Council, Board Member and President, 2022
  • American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Florida Fellows Institute

Community Involvement

  • St. Petersburg Free Clinic, Secretary of the Board
  • Pinellas Community Foundation, Board Member
  • First United Methodist Church, Church Council
  • Lawyers for Literacy, Tutor
  • Community Law Program Volunteer
  • Sixth Judicial Circuit, Master Guardian ad Litem

Thought Leadership

  • “Intent vs. Interpretation: A Panel Discussion,” Panelist, Central Florida Estate Planning Council, September 2022
  • “Estate Planning 101,” Speaker, St. Petersburg Sunset Rotary Meeting, May 2022
  • Gulf Coast Estate Planning Council Meeting, Speaker, May 2022
  • “The Great Migration to Florida: What Estate Planners Need to Know About Community Property,” Speaker, May 2022
  • “Two Halves = A Whole, A New Kind of Florida Trust,” Author, St. Petersburg Bar Association Paraclete,  November 2021
  • “Estate Planning for Physicians,” Speaker, Hillsborough County Medical Association, October 2021
  • “Community Property Issues (Chapter14) of Basic Estate Planning in Florida,” Author, The Florida Bar, 2018