Allen was born August 21, 1957 in Washington, D.C. He was raised in Vienna, Virginia, where he graduated from high school in 1975. After graduating from Purdue University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Allen returned to Virginia to attend law school at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary. In 1983, Allen came to Miami, Florida to serve as the Associate Director of the Southeast Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. Allen married Lynn Allison Hoffman in 1984. After serving three years with the ADL, relocated to Tallahassee to accept a position as an Assistant Attorney General. During his thirteen years with the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Allen became the Deputy Chief of the Attorney General’s Administrative Law Section and served as legal counsel for numerous health care regulatory boards. From 1994 through 1996, Allen was an adjunct member of the graduate faculty at Florida State University and taught a graduate course in Administrative Law. Allen was awarded an AV rating by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory in 1993, and he was selected by the Attorney General’s Office as the 1998 Civil Litigation Employee of the Year. Allen went into private practice in 1999 and after eight years in another state-wide law firm, joined his current partners in 2008.

Allen’s practice of law while in government, primarily involved legal representation of state regulatory agencies. As an Assistant Attorney General for over thirteen years, Allen provided legal counsel to a wide variety of state professional regulatory boards including Florida’s boards of Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Chiropractic, Psychology, Acupuncture, and Respiratory Care. Allen also provided legal counsel for other regulatory agencies including the Florida State Boxing Commission, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Review Board, and the Capitol Center Planning Commission. Allen’s current practice of law involves the representation of clients before state regulatory agencies, in Florida courts and before the Florida Legislature. In addition, a significant portion of Allen’s practice consists of consulting on health care regulatory issues. Allen is widely recognized in the practice of Health Law and Administrative Law in Florida and he has extensive experience representing a wide array of professionals on all matters relating to the regulation of their Florida licenses. He is experienced in the representation of clients in state administrative proceedings, state court trial and appellate actions, and federal court trial and appellate cases.

As part of Allen’s professional development, he actively participates in state and national health law and administrative law organizations, including serving as Chairman of The Florida Bar’s Health Law Section and on the Executive Council of the Government Lawyer and Administrative Law Sections. Allen served three terms, including his final years as chairman of the Florida Bar’s Certification Committee for State and Federal Government and Administrative Practice and has provided numerous continuing legal education lectures on various aspects of administrative law and health care regulation.