Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 231 • Two SecTioNS
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Rogers Towers attorney Adam Brandon began his private practice career three years ago after several years serving as an attorney in the U.S. Navy.
Photo by David Chapman
Advanced Disposal alters its IPO plan
Serving his country first
By David Chapman Staff Writer As a young attorney with Rogers Towers, Adam Brandon often travels across the state handling construction and bank cases, breach-ofcontract and employment disputes. He’s more of a generalist than anything right now. Brandon, 34, said there’s been a learning curve to being a private litigator and to business law in general. Any issue that may pop up, however, will pale in comparison to his past legal experience. “Whatever situation I run into here, it’s never going to be like it
was there,” he said. “There” isn’t in Florida. It’s not even the U.S. “There” is a world away in Iraq. Lt. Adam Brandon spent six months of his U.S. Naval career in the Middle Eastern country prosecuting more than 130 terrorists and working with an Iraqi judicial system that significantly differs from that of the U.S. Different language, different rules, different customs — he navigated it to such a level he was called “exceptional” and “most successful” during his time supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. His military legal career covered BRANDON CONTINUED ON PAGE A-11
Brandon, top row middle, with colleagues during his deployment to Iraq. They are at the Victory Arch, a pair of crossed swords that serve as the entrance to Great Celebrations square in Baghdad.
Photo provided by Adam Brandon
Brandon practiced in Iraqi courts before Rogers Towers
As it makes a second attempt at an initial public offering this week, Advanced Disposal Services Inc. has altered its plan from its first try in February. The waste management company filed an updated registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week saying it intends to sell 19.25 million shares of stock at $18 to $21 each. All of the stock will be new shares issued by the company, which is a big change from its original IPO plan. Advanced Disposal’s previous filings in February indicated it wanted to sell 21.4 million shares at $20 to $22 each, but only 9 million of those shares would have been new stock issued by the company. The other 12.4 million shares that would have been sold in the IPO were controlled by a Canadian government pension fund manager. Advanced Disposal would not have received any proceeds from the sale of those shares. It became a moot point when Advanced Disposal called off the stock sale in February because of the poor overall conditions in the stock market early this year. Advanced Disposal, headquartered in Nocatee in St. Johns County, remained silent on the IPO until it filed an updated registration statement in August. Last week’s filing was the first indication of how much stock it hopes to sell in its second try. The filing said the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which has increased its holdings to 15.3 million shares, now intends to hold on to its stake. BASCH
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Adams taking on bigger role at Gunster
By Kevin Hogencamp Contributing Writer Biannela Susana was assured at least 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of her 2-year-old son, David. She could have received 30 years. But some of Jacksonville’s philanthropic and legal power brokers, including Gunster’s Bill Adams, stepped in to help her. Citing mitigating circumstances and the likelihood of rehabilitation after hearing from Adams and other advocates for Susana,
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Circuit Judge James Daniel sentenced the lifelong domestic violence victim to probation in 2013. In his 14-page ruling, Daniels said there was no evidence she ever tried to harm any of her three children. The mother of former highprofile juvenile murder defendant Cristian Fernandez, Susana had spent two years in jail awaiting trial. Adams and Gunster partner David Wells were drawn to the case through the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center, which was advocating for Susana. Mental health professionals
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testified Susana, who became pregnant with Cristian as an 11-year-old, suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder resulting from abandonment, poverty and domestic abuse. Adams bumped into Susana, who’s been working for the Barr center since 2013, last week. “She’s doing great, looking wonderful and has a great future,” he said. The case was largely off the beaten path for Adams, who has litigated and resolved disputes in courts and arbitrations nationwide. But not entirely.
“We started off with the case wanting justice to be done. In the end, that’s what you always want,” he said. Cristian, who was 12 when David died while Cristian was babysitting him, also received free help from an elite legal team. Instead of a mandatory life-without-parole Cristian faced due to being tried as an adult, he was sentenced to remain in a juvenile facility until he turns 19. Adams became managing shareholder for Gunster’s Jacksonville office in September; he co-founded the firm’s Jacksonville GUNSTER CONTINUED ON PAGE A-7
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