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Basch Report: Split decision in CoreLogic proxy fight

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CHRISTIAN FLOWERS

OPPORTUNITY JACKSONVILLE

Record & Observer

The entrepreneur’s plans include a new e-commerce warehouse in Southside.

own Priority 50-50, and Lukenbach ran it while Flowers remained at Jacksonvillebased Suddath, a moving company. Flowers left Suddath full-time in 2001, in his early 40s, to run Priority. After the 2007-09 recession’s impact on the company, he decided to reinvent the business. “I was sitting in a chair on a Sunday night and a little voice said, ‘Look in the back of the newspaper again,’” Flowers said. It was 2010; he was in his early 50s. With the internet soaking up most of the classified listings by then, Flowers couldn’t find the section and put the paper aside. “The voice came back, ‘Don’t give up,’” he said. He looked again, there it was under “business opportunities.” “Fulfillment company, great add-on.” He thought it had a great name, ship-

JACKSONVILLE

Record & Observer I BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR

t was a low-tech start to high-tech businesses. Christian Flowers bought Jacksonville-based Priority Transportation Group Inc. in 1991 because he saw an ad in the newspaper that it was for sale. Then at The Suddath Companies, Flowers knew he wanted eventually to own his own venture. He was in his early 30s. “I am an entrepreneur at heart,” he said. “We could see the marketplace for logistics.” He and a cousin, Steve Lukenbach,

SEE FLOWERS, PAGE 6

Edgewood Commerce Center planned in Northwest Jacksonville The project will comprise 295,000 square feet of space. BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR

A group led by Easton, Sanderson and Co. President Sam Easton intends to develop the Edgewood Commerce Center in Northwest Jacksonville at North Edgewood Avenue and West 12th Street. Easton said Nov. 20 the group, Ocean

Swim LLC, paid $1.8 million for the 21 acres and will develop 295,000 square feet of space. Easton said he plans to build gradelevel metal warehouses with 2,500- and 5,000-square-foot units. The first phase comprises 60,000 square feet. Monthly rental rates are planned at $1,700 for the smaller units and $2,600 for the larger ones. Easton, Sanderson, in business since SEE EDGEWOOD, PAGE 5

What’s Trending: Unemployment rises in Northeast Florida PAGE 2 The biggest sales of the week in commercial real estate PAGE 7

MORE INSIDE ■ Two of Amazon.com’s 10 identified Jacksonville facilities making development moves. Page 4 ■ Benderson Development Co. plans to start work on two buildings totaling 2 million square feet. Page 5 Special to the Daily Record

Christian Flowers built his online fulfillment business after responding to a newspaper classified ad. “Luck is a big part of it. If you never work hard, you won’t be lucky. If you work hard, you might get lucky.” he says.

THE MARBUT REPORT

Essay contest winners honored by Bench and Bar Two city attorneys board certified. PAGE 8 VOLUME 3, NO. 26 • ONE SECTION

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Jacksonville unemployment rate rises to 5%

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Jacksonville Record & Observer a free weekly Hilco business newspaper in Streambank, an available intellectual A venture called Stein MartisOnline Downtown Jacksonville and key business throughout Jacksonville. Tomarketed find a advisory firm that Inc. was the winning bidder at a Nov.nodesproperty location near you, visit jaxdailyrecord.com/rack-locations. 18 bankruptcy court auction to buy the the assets for sale, said Stein Mart Online is a majority-owned subsidiary intellectual property of Stein Mart Inc., Editorial on news and trends, with a concentration onVentures. development, of Retail Ecommerce withcontent a bid offocuses $6.02 million, according real estate, construction, andsaid industry trends and how Hilco in a news release lastlocal to court documents.law, companies, economic and state government affects business. month that Retail Ecommerce VenStein Mart, a Jacksonville-based tures “has built a diverse group of fashion retailer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August and closed STAFFecommerce-focused businesses by acthe last of its 281 stores last month. How- quiring the intellectual property assets Publisher Matt Walsh of Advertising / Jay Lesowitz of Dressbarn, Franklin Mint, Linens ‘n ever,/the sale of the intellectual property Director mwalsh@jaxdailyrecord.com jlesowitz@jaxdailyrecord.com Things, Pier 1 Imports, and Modell’s allows the winning bidder to continue to Publisher Emeritus / James F. Bailey Advertising / Codi Gildberg SportingCoordinator Goods.” use the Stein Mart brand online.Jr.

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2020

Split decision in CoreLogic proxy fight

MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Fidelity spinoff gets three new directors after nominating nine. The proxy fight for control of CoreLogic Inc.’s board of directors resulted in a split decision at a special shareholders meeting last week. Three new directors nominated by Cannae Holdings Inc. and Senator Investment Group LP were elected to replace existing CoreLogic board members. But Cannae, the investment firm spun off from Jacksonville-based Fidelity National Financial Inc., and Senator nominated nine directors for seats on CoreLogic’s 12-member board. Cannae and Senator launched the proxy fight after their unsolicited $7 billion offer to buy the housing data firm in June was rebuffed by the board. The two investment firms said they hoped a new slate of directors would be more open

“Given CoreLogic’s recent announcement that it is engaging with potential acquirers at a value of at least $80 a share, we expect the Company to move forward promptly and arrive at a signed deal with the highest bidder,” they said.

“We are committed to better serving the MRO customer and growing in this space. The success we’ve had with our existing MRO business makes us confident in our ability to accelerate sales growth in a highly fragmented $55 billion MRO marketplace,” he said.

Home Depot expanding former Interline business

Record profits at Shoe Carnival

Home Depot Inc. announced a deal last week to significantly expand its professional contractor division, a business that grew from the company’s Interline Brands unit. Atlanta-based Home Depot said it agreed to buy HD Supply Holdings Inc., a distributor of maintenance, repair and operations products. The company is paying $8 billion to buy back HD Supply, a business it sold for $8.5 billion in 2007 to private investment firms. Home Depot’s last big investment in the maintenance, repair and operations business was its $1.625 billion acquisition of Jacksonvillebased Interline in 2015. In 2018, it established the Home Depot Pro division out of the former Interline business. “As you know, the MRO customer is an important pro customer for The Home Depot,” CEO Craig Menear said in Home Depot’s quarterly conference call with analysts last week.

Shoe Carnival Inc. last week reported flat sales for the third quarter ended Oct. 31 but record-high quarterly profits. The chain of 383 footwear stores controlled by former Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver said sales of $274.6 million were about the same as the third quarter of fiscal 2019, but sales at stores open for more than one year rose by 0.9%. “As we had anticipated and communicated, we achieved same-store sales growth in spite of the extended backto-school season, an achievement you are unlikely to hear from other fashion retailers,” CEO Cliff Sifford said in Shoe Carnival’s conference call with analysts. “Back-to-school played out largely as we had thought with sales occurring later in the fiscal third quarter due to delayed start dates for nearly all of the schools within the markets we operate,” he said. With higher profit margins, earnings rose by 9 cents a share to $1.03. The earnings were well above

the consensus forecast of 64 cents by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Weaver is chairman of Evansville, Indiana-based Shoe Carnival and its largest shareholder. His family controls 30.8% of the stock.

Landstar increases earnings forecast Landstar System Inc. said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week that it is slightly increasing its forecast for fourth-quarter earnings. The Jacksonville-based trucking company had been projecting revenue of $1.15 billion to $1.2 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.61 to $1.71 a share. In a webcast to an investor conference sponsored by Stephens Inc., CEO James Gattoni said revenue and earnings would be slightly above the high end of its previous forecast, the SEC filing said. “The improved guidance reflects truck load volume currently trending near the high end of the previous guidance and revenue per load on loads hauled via truck trending above the 2019 fourth quarter in a mid-teen percentage range,” the filing said. Landstar had earnings of $1.27 a share on revenue of $995 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.

THE BASCH REPORT

to considering a buyout, either the offer from Cannae and Senator or a competing bid. “Today’s vote is a clear mandate from shareholders for CoreLogic’s Board to promptly engage in good faith with all bidders for the Company and to maximize value,” Senator Partner Quentin Koffey said in a news release after last week’s meeting. However, the investment firms will have minority representation with only three of 12 board seats. CoreLogic Chairman Paul Folino welcomed the three new directors in a news release. Folino “We look forward to working together and will get them up to speed quickly on our business and our strategic review process,” he said. Cannae and Senator initially proposed a buyout at $65 per CoreLogic share and raised the offer to $66 in September. CoreLogic two weeks ago said multiple parties have come forward to potentially offer at least $80 a share to buy the company. Cannae and Senator said they will not try to match those offers. “We will vote in favor of and support any deal that maximizes value for all shareholders of the Company,” the two firms said in a news release.

MBASCH@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM

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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

DISTRIBUTION CENTERS DRIVE DEALS BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS • EDITOR

More than 2.6 million square feet of warehouse space is in the development pipeline for Northeast Florida.

$14 million warehouse planned at Crossroads Distribution Center Miles Rivers Partners LLC, through Crossjax Distribution II LLC, intends to develop the $14 million Crossroads Distribution Center Building 300 in Northwest Jacksonville by the third quarter. The 235,200-square-foot warehouse is planned on 28.48 acres at 6590 Pritchard Road at southeast Pritchard Road and Interstate 295. Miles Partners Principal Michael Bradley said the speculative structure can be single or multitenant. WRA LLC of Tampa is the civil engineer. The St. Johns River Water Management District and the city are reviewing the plans. Miles Rivers Partners is based in Southport, Connecticut. In March, Link Industrial Management LLC and Link Industrial Properties LLC of Chicago paid $24.25 million for 104.75 acres at southeast I-295 and Pritchard Road from Crossjax Distribution LLC. The sale included the 297,067-squarefoot Building 100 that Crossjax developed in 2019 at 6590 Pritchard Road. It is leased to W.W. Grainger Inc. Atlanta-based Republic Property Co. built the 126,000-square-foot Building 200 in 2009 at 6600 Pritchard Road. Miles River Partners LLC and TriGate Capital developed Crossroads Distribution Center.

The 1 millionsquare-foot Amazon distribution center at AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center. Amazon is proposing a second facility at 13450 Waterworks St. The next facility would be smaller at 278,237 square feet.

Amazon.com facilities at Cecil, St. Johns take steps Two of Amazon.com’s 10 identified Jacksonville facilities are making more moves toward development. At AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center, the St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing plans for Parcel F. Amazon.com Inc., code-named JAX9, is the tenant for the proposed 278,237-square-foot building on the 37.53-acre parcel at 13450 Waterworks St. Prosser Inc. is the civil engineer. The city owns the land, which is at southwest POW-MIA Memorial Park-

way and Waterworks Street. Hillwood is the developer. The St. Johns River Water Management District issued a permit for the project Oct. 19. The city is reviewing a permit application and plans for Amazon’s JAX9 at a construction cost of $40.4 million. The Conlan Co. is the contractor. In St. Johns County, the county Growth Management Department is reviewing an adjustment for plans for a last-mile distribution facility on about 20 vacant acres at 3960 Inman Road. DJX6, a delivery station, is at northeast

of Interstate 95 and Florida 16 near St. Augustine Outlets, in St. Johns County. The 125,000-square-foot project is shown with 824 parking spaces, comprising 196 for employees, 305 for vans, 315 off-site parking and eight accessible spaces. The Fountains of St. Augustine LLC is the property owner. The property is a half-mile north of Florida 16 on the east side of Inman Road. Ryan Companies US Inc., based in Minneapolis with a Tampa office, is the developer.

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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Benderson Development wants to build 2M square feet of space Benderson Development Co. LLC’s plans to start work on two industrial buildings totaling 2 million square feet of space in North Jacksonville continue through permitting. Engineer Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. filed civil engineering plans with the city Nov. 13 for Phases I and II. In June it requested a service availability determination from JEA. Florida-based Benderson Development said in April it intends to start work by the end of summer on its 203-acre industrial park at northeast Interstate 95 and Pecan Park Road. Director of Development Todd Mathes said April 16 he is working with prospects for both proposed buildings the 498,960-square-foot Building 100 and the almost 1.54 million-square-foot

Building 200. Asked if the prospects were e-commerce companies, Mathes said in April that “is a reasonable perspective.” Benderson is a privately held real estate company based in University Park near Sarasota. It says on its website that it owns and manages more than 700 properties totaling more than 40 million square feet in 38 states. Holdings include retail, office, industrial, hotel, residential and land. City agencies have been reviewing plans that show more than 2 million square feet of warehouse space. In 2019, the city calculated mobility fees for two industrial warehouses designed on 46 acres north of Pecan Park Road between I-95 and North Main Street.

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GCP sells two Jacksonville properties for $64M Growth Capital Partners, previously known as Graham Commercial Properties, sold two Jacksonville holdings Oct. 29 for $63.6 million to Exeter Property Group. Deeds recorded Nov. 19 with the Duval County Clerk of Courts show that GCP: ■ Sold the 871,952-square-foot NorthPort Logistics Center for $55.34 million through GCP-Northport LLC. GCP paid $49 million for the property in 2019. The warehouse, built in 2009, sits on 77.2 acres at 11530 New Berlin Road in North Jacksonville. Exeter Property Group bought it

through ES 11530 New Berlin LLC. ■ Sold Bayberry 7970 and 7980 for $8.27 million through GCP Bayberry LLC. GCP bought Bayberry for $3.9 million in 2009. The property comprises 54,427and 53,032-square-foot distribution warehouses at 7970 and 7980 Bayberry Road built in 1978 on 5.7 acres in the Baymeadows area. Exeter bought the property through ES 7970-7980 Bayberry LLC. Exeter Property Group operates as a real estate investment management firm.

Edgewood

He said there are no Phase 1 environmental problems. Plans show the potential for 15 buildings of 13,500 to 24,000 square feet each, comprising the small units. The land is in a federal Opportunity Zone. Such zones are in economically distressed areas where private investments may be eligible for capital gain tax incentives. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created the zones. Easton said the site has been owned by 12 members of a family that has farmed the property since the 1940s. “I have a lot of properties within the three-mile vicinity that I’ve had a lot of success renting out,” Easton said. “I have a lot of confidence there is a lot of demand in that area. It’s a good piece of property.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

1978, owns 38 warehouses with 176 tenants totaling almost 2 million square feet of space, Easton said. “A lot of them are these small 2,500- to 10,000-square-foot users,” Easton said. “The market for small space is great. I am sure it is below 4% vacant on space below 10,000 square feet.” That size appeals to tradespeople and to retailers and others who need storage, he said. Easton expects construction to start in the third quarter next year for availability in November 2021. There also are two outparcels of 1 and 2 acres, with the larger under a letter of intent for construction of 10,000 square feet of retail space, he said. Easton said the site, at 2305 Edgewood Ave. N., is zoned industrial light and is cleared with no wetland.

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Flowers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ping-and-handling.com. It was a young e-commerce site as internet retailing was taking off thanks to a 16-year-old startup, Amazon.com. He called the owner and they worked out a deal the next morning. “We were the perfect match,” said Flowers, now 61. E-COMMERCE DRIVES GROWTH

Today, Flowers and Lukenbach run Priority, which does business as Priority Couriers, and Flowers owns shipping-and-handling. com, whose corporate name is Fulfillment Shipping and Handling Inc. Flowers said customers had been asking Priority to house equipment and deliver it within the Jacksonville area. “We thought we could complement our delivery system with warehousing, which set us up for the e-commerce business,” he said. Priority comprises three divisions – Priority Couriers for same-day courier services; Priority Logistics for warehousing, fulfillment and distribution; and Priority Delivery for heavy freight distribution. It operates side-by-side with shipping-and-handling.com at 4344 Philips Highway, south of Emerson Street near Interstate 95. Flowers is the 90% owner of shipping-and-handling.com, having sold 10% to an employee, Jennifer Garcia, director of customer care and logistics. The site focuses on helping small businesses create and fulfill internet sales. It offers web-

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2020

site design, integrates the online shopping cart, answers phones and brings in and ships out the products. “We’re a one-stop shop for e-commerce entrepreneurs,” Flowers said. It also serves larger companies. The Philips Highway warehouse is filled with rows, stacks and pallets of products, including tires, clothes, cellphones, cosmetics, sporting goods, nutritional supplements, lampshades, cigars and printing materials. Customers include The First Tee, Leslie’s Pool Supplies, Dealer Tire, Icemule Coolers and the Tim Tebow Foundation. Orders are delivered and shipped through UPS, the U.S. Postal Service, DHL, FedEx and, of course, Priority. “Amazon led the way for everybody to get into the e-commerce business. We are kind of like a mini-Amazon when you combine our fulfillment services with our delivery system to be the largest same-day delivery service in Jacksonville,” Flowers said. He declines to divulge sales, but says the e-commerce side of the business has been growing by 25% to 30% a year. Half of his customers are national with the rest split between local and international clients. It provides business-to-consumer, business-to-business and business-to-distribution-center services. “We prepare a lot of products to go to the distribution centers like Amazon,” he said. Shipping-and-handling.com and Priority together have almost 1,000 customers. Priority has 100 contract drivers on the street making 800 deliveries a day within a 75-mile radius, Flowers said.

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Ten percent are national customers while 90% are local. Overall employment for both companies, not counting the drivers, more than tripled from 14 in 2010 to 45 today, illustrating the reliance on technology. ‘EXCELLENT INSTINCTS’

The Suddath Companies Chairman Steve Suddath considers Flowers “a very smart businessman with excellent instincts.” “There was no doubt in my mind that when he left to focus on his own business he was going to be highly successful,” Suddath said. “He has a way of sorting through less important issues to focus on what it takes to be successful, to keep focused on the proper information. He is a numbers guy, he enjoys the fundamentals, and he’s a great guy to be around.” Suddath Vice President Barbara “Babs” Suddath Strickland, a director and the corporate secretary, said Flowers “combined a cheerful temperament with intelligence and discipline and a strong drive to succeed.”

A NEW DISTRIBUTION CENTER

The holiday shopping season historically starts today, the day after Thanksgiving, so Flowers and his team prepared. New this year was accounting for the boom in internet retail business caused by the coronavirus that shut down the economy in March. “The COVID problem that hit the country has catapulted our demand,” Flowers said. “We think the virus sped up the move to e-commerce by at least five years.” That means expansion. Another of his companies owns the 40,000-square-foot Philips

Highway location that he built in 2001 and five more warehouses he bought in the area, totaling 215,000 square feet of space. “We saw pretty quickly we had to continue buying warehouses. Technology is moving fast, so we hired internal IT. We’ve had to change with the times,” he said. Next, he wants to buy 10-20 acres nearby for development of a 100,000- to 150,000-squarefoot building within a year to 18 months. He estimates a $7 million to $12 million investment. “We need more operating room,” Flowers said. Shipping-and-handling. com also has a warehouse in the Houston area that is owned by his brother. SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURS

Flowers grew up the son of a businessman in Madison, Wisconsin, with two brothers and two sisters. He is the father of five – three adults, none in the company, and a 10-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter from a second marriage. His father, now 90, was president and CEO of a company that made mufflers and silencers for “everything but cars.” The Flowers family held a percentage of the company, which sold in 1995. “All we ever talked about at the kitchen table was business,” Flowers said. “It was natural for us to emulate what our father had accomplished.” The family deal was that his parents would pay for half the college tuition for the children who enrolled out of state – and none for those who stayed in Wisconsin. “They didn’t want us to go to a suitcase college,” Flowers said,

“where you bring your laundry home.” Flowers graduated with a business degree from private Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He joined an oil and gas CPA firm in Houston and three years later moved to a shipping line as CFO of its barge and shipping operation. That company became Sea Star Line, now known as TOTE Maritime. That stint brought him to Northeast Florida. Flowers then became CFO of the international logistics division of Suddath, which started in 1919 as a moving company and has grown into a global transportation, relocation management and logistics company. “I gained the necessary experience at Suddath to propel me in that direction,” he said. Flowers credits two mentors for his career: his father and Suddath President and CEO Quinn Bell. His dad, he said, provided guidance, but didn’t bankroll his venture. Flowers and his surviving brother and sisters, in Texas, Indiana and Jacksonville, each distribute money from the Wisconsin-based Flowers Family Foundation. Flowers wants to set up an entrepreneurial institute to mentor business owners in accounting, banking and business models. “My dream is to start a nonprofit that will help other entrepreneurs like the help I got from Quinn Bell and my father,” he said. “I am motivated to give other people the same opportunities that I got.” KMATHIS@JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MATHISKB (904) 356-2466

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FROM STAFF

File image

Growth Capital Partners, previously known as Graham Commercial Properties, sold the NorthPort Logistics Center for $55.34 million. GCP also sold Bayberry 7970 and 7980 for $8.27 million.

DUVAL

ST. JOHNS

DUVAL

$55,341,270

$22,634,300

$20,000,000

$17,600,000

$10,000,000

11530 New Berlin Road, Jacksonville

225 Ponce Harbor Drive, St. Augustine

Pritchard Road, Jacksonville

9985 Pritchard Road, Jacksonville

4875 Town Center Parkway, Jacksonville

Type: NorthPort Logistics Center Parcel size: 76.82 acres Building size: 872,627 square feet Buyer: ES 11530 New Berlin LLC Seller: GCP-Northport LLC

Type: Ponce Harbor Apartments Parcel size: 21.7 acres No. of units: 144 Buyer: SREIT Ponce Harbor LLC Seller: Ponce Harbor Partners Ltd.

Type: Undeveloped industrial Parcel size: 251.41 acres Buyer: SET Westlake EAT LLC Seller: Southeast Toyota Distributors LLC Previous sale: $12,734,000 in 2007

Type: Southeast Toyota Vehicle Processing Facility Parcel size: 250.89 acres Building size: 15 buildings totaling 452,901 square feet Buyer: Southeast Toyota Distribution LLC Seller: Westlake Management Inc.

Type: Vacant building to become Rooms To Go Parcel size: 2.09 acres Building size: 74,018 square feet Buyer: Cormorant SJ Properties LLC Seller: Hines Global REIT 4875 Town Center LLC

DUVAL

$8,274,516

$6,515,000

$5,236,068

$4,400,000

$2,500,000

7970 and 7980 Bayberry Road, Jacksonville

E-Town Parkway, Jacksonville

Gate Parkway, Jacksonville

1811 Rogero Road, Jacksonville

13985 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville

Type: Warehouse Parcel size: 5.72 acres Building size: Two buildings totaling 107,459 square feet Buyer: ES 7970-7980 Bayberry LLC Seller: GCP-Bayberry LLC Previous sale: $3,900,000 in 2009

Type: David Weekley Homes Parcel size: Not available Buyer: CND-E7 LLC Seller: Eastland Timber LLC

Type: Undeveloped rehabilitation hospital Parcel size: 8 acres Buyer: Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Jacksonville LLC Seller: S-15 Land Holdings LLC

Type: Castille Court Apartments Parcel size: 2.59 acres No. of units: 55 Buyer: Castille Court LLC and Rose Jax LLC Seller: David H. and Shari Shuman Previous sale: $925,000 in 2000

Type: Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers Parcel size: 0.58 acres Building size: 5,616 square feet Buyer: SAVS03 LLC Seller: JWC Land LLC

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Top commercial sales of the week Here are the top 10 commercial real estate sales in Northeast Florida, comprising Duval and St. Johns counties. The sales were recorded Nov. 16-22.

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THE MARBUT REPORT

Federal Bench and Bar rewards essay contest winners Harrell

MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Students also will be recognized Dec. 11 at the annual Spirit of Giving luncheon. The lawyers and judges of the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida and the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association recognized the winners of the 2020 High School Essay Contest at a ceremony Nov. 13 at the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse in Jacksonville. Michelle Acosta, a student at Paxon School for Advanced Studies, received the firstplace award and $2,000 prize provided by the Bench & Bar Fund. The second-place $1,000 award went to Sean Gilliam from Flagler Palm Coast High School. The third-place essay was by Isabel Ritch of Episcopal School of Jacksonville. Ritch received a $500 prize. In addition, the students’ teachers, Mary Webster, Allison Elledge and Emily Farmer,

Provided by U.S. District Court

From left, Chief U.S District Judge Timothy Corrigan; U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard; 2020 High School Essay Contest winner Michelle Acosta, a student at Paxon School for Advanced Studies; and U.S. District Judge Brian Davis. Acosta wrote the first-place essay and received a $2,000 prize.

received $500 classroom grants. Students receiving honorable mention also were recognized: ■ Michael Horning, Episcopal School of Jacksonville. ■ Fatimata Jalloh, Paxon School for Advanced Studies. ■ Anyliah Miracle Whitefield King, Fleming Island High School. ■ Donald Kohla, Episcopal School of Jacksonville. ■ Kenneth J. Logan, Flagler Palm Coast High School. ■ Jose Monteagudo, Stanton College Preparatory School. ■ Cooper Richart, Episcopal School of Jacksonville. The theme for the third

annual essay contest was the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that granted women the right to vote. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest attracted entries from five of the 12 counties in the Jacksonville Division – Columbia, Clay, Duval, Flagler and Nassau – and from 11 high schools. The winners also will be recognized Dec. 11 at the virtual, annual Spirit of Giving Luncheon hosted by the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

City attorneys Harrell, Johnston board certified The Florida Bar board certified city Assistant General Counsels Sonya Harrell and Paige Johnston in city, county and local government law. A 1994 graduate of Stetson University College of Law, Harrell practices in the tort litigation department, where she handles personal injury, workers’ compensation and civil rights litigation. Before she joined the General Counsel’s Office in 2016, Harrell was a special magistrate for

Johnston

the city of Jacksonville Beach and an associate professor at Florida Coastal School of Law. She taught classes including Florida practice and procedure, Florida constitutional law, state and local government, torts, evidence and insurance and professional responsibility. Johnston is chief of the Legislative Affairs Department. She graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2000 and joined the General Counsel’s Office in 2012. Johnston provides legal and legislative counsel to the city’s boards and commissions, primarily City Council and its subcommittees and the Planning Commission. She has served as the primary legal counsel for the Waterways Commission, the St. Johns River Ferry Commission and ad hoc committees of the Council. According to The Florida Bar website, only about 5,000 (7%) of the attorneys licensed to practice in Florida are board certified. Certification requires peer review, established experiences over time, dedication in a specific field and passing an eighthour written examination. MMARBUT@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466