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The Mathis Report: What’s coming to Tinseltown Plaza
January 3-9, 2019
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Another prospect for a large warehouse
THE BASCH REPORT 2018’S BIGGEST JACKSONVILLE WINNER AND LOSER
Of the 20 publicly traded companies headquartered in Jacksonville, Marker Therapeutics had the highest total return in 2018 (stock increase or decrease plus cash dividends paid) and ParkerVision the biggest decline.
YEAR FOR REGION’S Record & Observer STOCKS 41%
Hillwood reports unidentified company wants to lease a 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center at Cecil Commerce Center.
JACKSONVILLE
JACKSONVILLE
Marker Therapeutics Inc. jumped 41 percent after merging with Jacksonvillebased TapImmune Inc. TapImmune was the surviving company in the merger but it changed the corporate name to Marker. The company is planning to relocate its headquarters to Houston, but Jacksonville remained the home office for 2018.
BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
Record & Observer
MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
With the Dow and S&P 500 falling about 6 percent in 2018, the performance of Jacksonville-area stocks also suffered.
I
SEE BASCH, PAGE 6
Restaurant Notes: Hightide Burrito building-out second location PAGE 4 Editorial: It’s time to give Rick Scott his due PAGE 8 OBSERVER MEDIA GROUP
-87%
ParkerVision Inc., a developer of wireless technology, had a disappointing rollout of its new home Wi-Fi product and its pending patent infringement lawsuits against major mobile technology manufacturers remain in limbo. ParkerVision finished the year trading below 20 cents for much of December.
f you’ve been paying attention at all to the stock market in the final weeks of 2018 (and it would be good for your blood pressure if you didn’t), you know it’s been a tumultuous time for your portfolio. The overall market’s worst year since the financial crisis 10 years ago ended with both the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 stock index falling by about 6 percent. The performance of Jacksonville-based stocks reflects the overall market with only six of 20 publicly traded companies finishing with gains in 2018. However, the poor 2018 performance follows a terrific year for stocks in 2017, when both the Dow and S&P 500 indexes rose more than 20 percent. Even if your portfolio lost value in 2018, the
As it prepared to develop a warehouse for Wayfair Inc., Hillwood responded to another prospect this summer seeking a lease for a 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center at AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center. Boston-based e-commerce home-furnishings retailer Wayfair will lease a 1 million-squarefoot distribution center to be built at the Westside business park. Dallas-based Hillwood told the city Monday it also responded to a request for proposals from the larger prospect, which did not reach any decision about the proposed facility during the reporting period. As the master developer at AllianceFlorida, Hillwood must file quarterly activity reports with the city. The third-quarter report filed Monday was for July 1 through Sept. 30. The large prospect was not identified in the report. Hillwood also did not identify Wayfair in the third-quarter report but said it agreed to letterof-intent deal terms with a confidential prospect seeking to lease a 1 million-square-foot distribution facility. After that, Hillwood and the prospect began negotiating a definitive lease agreement and defining a detailed construction scope for the facility. At the end SEE WAREHOUSE, PAGE 6
ECONOMIC TRENDS
A comeback for frozen foods Acosta’s 2019 insights PAGE 3 VOLUME 1, NO. 31 • ONE SECTION
Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer
WHAT’S TRENDING
Page 2 • Thursday, January 3, 2019
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A rendering of the entrance to The Club JAX at Jacksonville International Airport.
JACKSONVILLE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT The Club JAX will offer food, drink for a price Travelers through Jacksonville International Airport soon can access a new club — The Club JAX. Club JAX is designed with zones labeled relax, replenish, productivity and kids, along with a concierge and a bar. It will be between the food court and service pet relief area after travelers clear security. Jacksonville Aviation Authority spokeswoman Debbie Jones said the lounge should open in the spring and will be available to all departing passengers, regardless of airline, through either a $40 day pass bought online or at the club or with a Priority Pass membership that comes with several travel credit cards. JAA Senior Properties Administrator Jeff Taylor said the airport lounge will offer a complimentary hot and cold buffet that features a seasonal menu rotation that showcases the flavors of Jacksonville. The lounge also offers premium wines, local craft beers, premium spirits and cocktails, all of which are complimentary with guest access to those over 21 years old, he said.
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Jacksonville Daily Record, Jacksonville Record & Observer and Realty-Builder are a division of Observer Media Group Inc. Established in 1912, the Financial News & Daily Record, now the Jacksonville Daily JACKSONVILLE Record, is published Monday-Friday and is the Official Court Newspaper of the Circuit Court and publisher of public notices in Duval County. Jacksonville Record & Observer is a free weekly business newspaper available in Downtown Jacksonville and key business nodes throughout Jacksonville. To find a location near you, visit jaxdailyrecord.com/rack-locations. Editorial content focuses on news and trends, with a concentration on development, law, companies, economic and industry trends and how local and state government affects business. Realty-Builder is a monthly publication connecting Northeast Florida’s real estate professionals and homebuilders. Content focuses on timely news, information and trends affecting residential real estate sales and construction, as well as events and legal issues impacting the industry. Visit Realty-Builder.com to request your free copy.
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Potter’s House Soul Food Bistro II moving
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Potter’s House Soul Food Bistro II intends to move from its East Arlington location at Kernan and Atlantic boulevards to Regency Park in the former Outback Steakhouse. Angel McLaughlin, chief strategy officer of The Potter’s House International Ministries, said the lease was up at 11876 Atlantic Blvd. Soul Food Bistro opened there Jan. 1, 2013, as the second location for the Potter’s House restaurant. McLaughlin said owners hope to open the new location in the next few months at 9400 Atlantic Blvd. Brixmor Property Group, the Regency Park landlord, lists the restaurant as the tenant of almost 7,800 square feet at the former Outback space. Outback closed there in late 2016.
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GROCERIES Aldi to reopen its Southside store Aldi announced it will reopen its Avenues-area Southside Square store Thursday. The store, at 9041 Southside Blvd., was the Germany-based discount chain’s first in Duval County and one of the first in the area when it opened in 2015. On Friday, shoppers can enter a sweepstakes for a year’s supply of free produce. Store hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
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CONSERVATION North Florida Land Trust acquires two properties The North Florida Land Trust Inc. acquired 687 acres in Putnam County and 465 acres in Clay County. The Putnam land is in the recharge area for the Florida aquifer and will help protect several rare animal species. The Land Trust did not say how much it paid for the property, its first in Putnam County. The Land Trust paid $1.56 million for property in Clay County. The land is northwest of Keystone Heights and east of Camp Blanding.
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Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Page 3
Acosta looks ahead at retail in new year ECONOMIC TRENDS
The Jacksonvillebased company that provides sales, marketing and retail merchandising services to businesses offers insights for 2019. BY MARK BASCH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
As the new year begins, pricing will be a big topic for companies that produce and sell consumer packaged goods, according to Jacksonvillebased sales and marketing company Acosta. “The topic of price will be on the agenda for both manufacturers and retailers. With increasing transportation and commodity costs, manufacturers will be forced to increase prices,” Acosta Senior Vice President Colin Stewart said in a news release. “Retailers will be aggressively scrutinizing Stewart price inflation to stay competitive in a fragmenting retail environment.” Acosta provides outsourced sales, marketing and retail merchandising services to businesses across the country. In addition to the impact of pricing, the company predicted a number of trends that will impact the consumer packaged goods industry in 2019. Frozen food will have a resurgence. “Shoppers are coming to the realization that frozen is healthy and convenient, with dramatic improvements in quality and variety of prepared foods,” Acosta said. Online retailers will expand by moving “selectively” into brick-and-mortar stores or partnering with established retailers. Brick-and-mortar retailers will be enhancing the in-store experience. “Convenience, immediacy and the ability to browse and sample will continue to be key draws,” Acosta said. As shopping malls decline in importance, they will be anchored more by entertainment and lifestyle destinations. “Expect to see pop-up
FROZEN FOOD RESURGENCE
“Shoppers are coming to the realization that frozen is healthy and convenient, with dramatic improvements in quality and variety of prepared foods,” Acosta said.
File image
ONLINE GOES BRICK-ANDMORTAR
Acosta says online retailers will expand by moving “selectively” into brick-andmortar stores or partnering with established retailers. Amazon Go has opened stores in Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco.
stores fill empty retail storefronts for seasonal or promotional ‘limited time only’ periods,” Acosta said. As people avoid cooking from scratch, grocery home deliveries will focus more on prepared foods and complete meals. That will have impacts beyond food compa-
nies. “E-commerce and home delivery create increased stress on trucking and delivery networks, and the infrastructure they depend on. Cardboard and other packaging suppliers and packaging waste will add to refuse challenges,” Acosta said. The normal shopping
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benefits without psychoactive effects, will rise in popularity. “The stigma of being related to cannabis will continue to decline as marijuana legalization expands and recognition of medicinal value grows,” Acosta said. Another report last month from Acosta advised retailers to be more mindful of shelf management in their stores. According to Acosta, manufacturers spend $300 million a year on shelf management, a fraction of the $100 billion spent on promotions. Yet, 66 percent of sales and 85 percent of profits are tied to shelf management practices. “Fixing the shelf” produces a 6 percent increase in sales, it said. “Shoppers report that more than half of their grocery buying decisions are made at the shelf, proving that influence in-store is crucial for brand success,” Senior Vice President John Clevenger said in a news release. Acosta said consumers make decisions at the shelf on products such as spices/seasonings, cookies, meat marinades/rubs, chocolate candy and tuna. MBASCH@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
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Page 4 • Thursday, January 3, 2019
Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer
THE MATHIS REPORT
Tinseltown Plaza signs full tenant lineup
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
Class Fitness, Kazu Sushi Burrito are among the seven tenants for the new shopping center in front of the movie theater. Tinseltown Plaza is fully leased at 4549 Southside Blvd., bringing seven tenants into two buildings in front of the 20-screen Cinemark Tinseltown theater. Tenants in the 8,000-square-foot building are Class Fitness (3,000 square feet), Pizza Hut (1,500 square feet) and Senor Loco Tacos & Tequila (3,500 square feet). Tenants in the 6,600-squarefoot building are Kazu Sushi Burrito (2,000 square feet), Noire the Nail bar (2,000 square feet), Soupa Saiyan (2,000 square feet) and Insomnia Cookies (600 square feet). Triforce Development is led by brothers Paul and Louis Sleiman, who said the shopping center will be completed with tenants open for business by the summer. Triforce said Cinemark Tinseltown is one of the top performing movie theaters in Northeast Florida and the Tinseltown area is one of Jacksonville’s highest performing retail areas. The city issued permits Oct. 12 for Auld & White Constructors LLC to prepare site work for the 1.84 acres and build the two Tinseltown Plaza structures at a construction cost of $2.4 million. Bueme Engineering is the civil engineer and Kasper Architects + Associates is the architectural firm. The leasing brokers are Carrie Smith and Ricky Ostrofsky with Franklin Street. The Sleiman brothers developed the 9,000-square-foot Galleria Marketplace at 6025 Butler Point Road in 2016 and sold it at the end of 2017 for
Special to Daily Record
Tinseltown Plaza at 4549 Southside Blvd. in front of the movie theater will include a fitness center, nail bar and five food-related businesses. The shopping center is expected to be open by summer.
DEVELOPMENT NOTES Industrial Park Investments Inc. applied to the St. Johns River Water Management District for a Phase 2 addition of 182,910 square feet to a previously permitted 140,833-squarefoot building on about 22 acres at 10531 Busch Drive in Imeson International Industrial Park. That addition boosts the building to 323,743 square feet. EnVision Design + Engineering LLC is the civil engineer. WGV Gymnastics broke ground at World Golf Village for a 14,500-square-foot gymnastics facility at 135 Center Place Way in St. Johns County. Owners Candace Smith and Heather Newton, a mother-and-daughter team, will keep their business open at 314 Commerce Lake Drive until they move to the new location in the summer. Brad Hollett, owner of ACT Architects and Accelerated Contractors Inc., designed and will build the project. WGV Gymnastics opened in September 2011 to train and prepare athletes for collegiate gymnastics as well as those “who are just in the sport for fun.” The city issued mobility fee and concurrency reservation
certificates for a self-storage center at Kernan Village. The 109,788-square-foot project is planned on 2.22 acres south along Atlantic Boulevard, west of Kernan Boulevard. Plans show a four-story, 89,868-square-foot climate-controlled facility and four single-story buildings – three at 4,800 square feet and one at 5,520 square feet. The city calculated a mobility fee of $38,985 to mitigate the traffic impact. The St.
$4.8 million. Kazu Sushi Burrito opened its first location in Galleria Marketplace in 2016. Triforce also developed the 7,600-square-foot Baymeadows Corner center at 8355 Baymeadows Road. Tenants include T-Mobile and Firehouse Subs, which opened its first Jacksonville
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SunCap Southeast Industrial Joint Venture LLC seeks to update its planned unit development zoning on 66.3 acres at northwest Interstate 295 and Lem Turner Road in North Jacksonville to permit use as a solar farm. Plans previously submitted to the city indicate National Solar LLC will lease the land and be able to produce about 5 megawatts of power, or 5 million watts, through a series of nearly 28,000 photovoltaic solar modules. A JEA spokeswoman said in October the cityowned utility has a power-purchase agreement with National Solar at the SunPort Solar Farm. Solar energy is part of JEA’s effort to diversify its power production. The Jacksonville Planning Commission is scheduled to review the application Jan. 17. It is listed for a first reading at City Council on Jan. 22 and for the council Land Use & Zoning Committee Feb. 5. Amazon.com received a permit to add a $1.3 million conveyor support system at its fulfillment center in North Jacksonville at 12900 Pecan Park Road. RTM Renovations Inc. is the contractor. Champion Brands was permitted by the city to add solar panels to its new headquarters building at 5520 Florida Mining Blvd. S. A1A Solar Contracting Inc. is the contractor for the $233,350 construction project.
drive-thru location there. A 3,000-square-foot space remains available.
Youngerman Circle land sold for development A group led by hotelier Samir Patel paid $2 million for almost 10 acres at Youngerman Circle
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Johns River Water Management District also is reviewing plans. Sleiman Enterprises is the property owner.
and Parramore Road in Southwest Jacksonville, buying the property from a group led by landowner E. Chester Stokes Jr. Youngerman and Parramore LLC, led by Patel, bought the property Nov. 26 from 295 Venture LLC, led by Stokes. Drummond Community Bank issued a $1.4 million mortgage to Patel’s group.
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In April, 295 Venture LLC of Ponte Vedra Beach applied to the St. Johns River Water Management District to develop a surface stormwater management system for the project. The group also applied to the city to rezone 9.7 vacant acres there from industrial business park to planned unit development for up to 200,000 square
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Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer feet of nonresidential use. City Council enacted the rezoning ordinance, 2018-261, in April and amended it in June. The Youngerman Circle PUD property is south of Interstate 295. The project engineer is EnVision Design + Engineering and the agent is the Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow law firm. According to the planning application, the proposed PUD differs by adding hotels, adult congregate living facilities, restaurants that include the retail sale and service of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption, day care centers, service garages, service stations and car washes. The project is west of Keith Pierson Toyota.
VyStar to build in Bartram Park VyStar Credit Union, which is renovating space Downtown in the SunTrust Tower that it bought and will occupy, also is building in the suburbs. The city is reviewing a permit application for Jacksonvillebased VyStar to build a branch bank at 13680 Old St. Augustine Road at a cost of $1.5 million. Dana B. Kenyon Co., the contractor on the tower work, will build the 2,905-square-foot branch bank. RS&H Inc. is the architect. VyStar paid $1.5 million for the vacant 1.39-acre site in the Shoppes at Bartram Park in May. It bought the land from 121 Financial Credit Union. KMATHIS@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM @MATHISKB (904) 356-2466
Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Page 5
RESTAURANT NOTES
Hightide Burrito Co. building-out location at Sadler Point Marina BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
Hightide Burrito Co. intends to open at the Sadler Point Marine Center at 4591 Lakeside Drive, joining The Loop Pizza Grill and Synergy Studios in the Ortega and Avondale area development in West Jacksonville. The city is reviewing a permit application for a $450,000 buildout for a restaurant that includes an inside and outside bar. Work is planned on 3,744 square feet of inside space and 2,400 square feet outside. The contractor is Cesery Properties Inc. Hightide Burrito’s first restaurant is at 1538 Hendricks Ave. in the San Marco area. Alejandro Juarez is the owner and creator of Hightide Burrito, described on its website as a relaxed restaurant serving up fresh Beach Mex — authentic Mexican recipes combined “with the vibe and flavors of Florida to create an original menu.” Juarez said Wednesday the 150-seat Sadler Point location could open in April or May. He said the San Marco restaurant has been open about 10 years. The Sadler Point location is at Sadler Point Marina across the St. Johns River. “For a second location, it was a good spot for us,” he said. “I think it was time.” Taco Bell intends to demolish its restaurant at 13160 Atlantic Blvd. and rebuild one the same size, according to a mobility fee application. The mobility fee calculation and concurrency reservation certificates cover construction of a 1,980-square-foot restaurant on 0.79 acres. Atlantic Bells II LLC of Clearwater is the owner and Cornelison Engineering & Design Inc. of Zephyrhills is the agent. No mobility fee is calculated because the replacement is the same size. The existing restaurant was built in 1992. St. Johns County approved a permit for Sonny’s BBQ to remodel the interior of its restaurant at 2720 Florida 16 in St. Augustine at a cost of $500,000. It’s a 5,851-square-foot project.
Special to the Daily Record
Above, a rendering of the Hightide Burrito Co. planned in the OrtegaAvondale area. Hightide will join The Loop and Synergy Studio in the in the Sadler Point Marina retail center at 4591 Lakeside Drive.
Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
McDonald’s intends to renovate its St. Johns Town Center restaurant at 4587 Town Center Parkway at a construction cost of $325,000. Southland Construction Inc. of Apopka is the contractor for the 3,502-square-foot project, which includes replacing the drive-thru equipment. Marco’s Pizza applied for a certificate of use at 11406 San Jose Blvd. in the Mandarin Oaks Shopping Center.
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Page 6 • Thursday, January 3, 2019
Basch CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
indexes still finished last year with a net gain since the beginning of 2017, so hopefully, you’re still ahead of the game. With that in mind, you’ll probably feel better if you look at the performance of Jacksonvillebased companies over the past two years combined, rather than just for 2018. It’s something of a mixed bag, with nine of the 20 stocks finishing ahead over the two-year period when you look at their total return – that is, the increase or decrease in their stock prices since the beginning of 2017 plus cash dividends some of them paid out in those two years. The best performer has been Jacksonville’s largest company, CSX Corp. Even though the stock has dropped from its summer 2018 highs as the market slipped, CSX Harrison finished 2018 with a twoyear total return of 78 percent. It even managed to produce a return of 15 percent just for 2018. CSX’s last two years were marked by a management upheaval, as new CEO Hunter Harrison began overhauling operations when he took over in March 2017. The stock rose even before his arrival as Wall Street responded to rumors of his pending appointment in early 2017. Harrison died in December 2017 but under successor James Foote, the company achieved operating targets for its railroad by mid-2018, about two years earlier than expected. So, the stock has continued to produce positive results. FIDELITY COMPANIES PRODUCE BIG GAINS
The two Jacksonville-based Fidelity companies also produced strong returns over two years: Title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc. was up 37 percent and bank technology company Fidelity National
Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer
Information Services Inc. rose 39 percent. Fidelity National Information Services, or FIS, has been rising steadily since 2016. Fidelity National Financial has a big twoyear return despite a sharp dropoff in the stock in the second half of last year, resulting in the stock losing 17 percent for all of 2018. Investors may be concerned about a decline in homebuying as interest rates rise, which will impact the company’s title insurance business. However, outdoing both of those companies was Marker Therapeutics Inc., which jumped 41 percent just in 2018 after merging with Jacksonville-based TapImmune Inc. That also gave it a strong two-year gain of 43 percent. TapImmune was the surviving company in the merger but it changed the corporate name to Marker. The company plans to relocate its headquarters to Houston but Jacksonville remained the home office for 2018. PARKERVISION SUFFERS BIGGEST LOSS
At the other end of the spectrum, ParkerVision Inc. had the biggest loss for 2018, dropping 87 percent. The developer of wireless technology had a disappointing rollout of its new in-home Wi-Fi product and its pending patent infringement lawsuits against major mobile technology manufacturers remain in limbo. ParkerVision closed its second office in Lake Mary and sharply cut its staff in 2018. Its stock dropped below $1 early in 2018 and finished the year trading below 20 cents for much of December. The stock’s two-year loss reached 92 percent. Stein Mart Inc. also had a big two-year net loss of 79 percent, after a sales slump sent the stock plummeting in 2017. The stock rebounded in mid2018 as sales trends turned around but as the overall market fell late in the year, Stein Mart’s stock finished 2018 with a net decline of 8 percent.
GEE GROUP HAS FISCAL YEAR LOSS
GEE Group Inc. last week reported a net loss of $1 million,
Jacksonville-area stock performance Total return (stock increase or decrease plus cash dividends paid) for every publicly traded company headquartered in the Jacksonville area for 2018 and for the two-year period from 2017-2018: 2018 Advanced Disposal
2017-18
0%
8%
Ameris
33%
26%
ARC Group
29%
41%
Black Knight Financial
2%
19%
CSX
15%
78%
Drone Aviation
46%
82%
Duos Technologies
7%
64%
Fidelity National Financial
17%
37%
FIS
10%
39%
FRP Holdings
4%
22%
GEE Group
75%
84%
International Baler
24%
27%
Landstar System
6%
15%
Marker Therapeutics
41%
43%
ParkerVision
87%
92%
Patriot Transportation
11%
11%
Rayonier
9%
12%
Rayonier AM
47%
27%
Regency Centers
12%
9%
Stein Mart
8%
79%
or 9 cents a share, for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30 and a loss for the full fiscal year of $7.6 million, or 74 cents. Revenue for the staffing services company was $39.9 million in the fourth quarter, down from fiscal 2017 fourth-quarter revenue of $46.4 million. The company said revenue decreased because of office consolidations and a reduction in “marginally performing and underperforming staff” in certain areas, as it works to improve operations. “We made excellent progress in fiscal 2018 and expect to obtain additional operational efficiencies and economies of scale in fiscal 2019, which will lower selling, general and administrative expenses overall and as a percentage of revenue, and significantly improve our
bottom line,” CEO Derek Dewan said in a news release. Dewan said GEE Group will seek to grow organically and through potential acquisitions in the new year, and he thinks economic trends will increase demand for the company’s staffing services. “We anticipate that the robust employment environment experienced in the last several years will continue as we enter 2019,” he said. “Secular changes in employment, resulting in more widespread use of ‘on demand’ labor in the ‘gig economy,’ will continue to benefit the staffing industry and GEE.” GEE Group moved its headquarters from Naperville, Illinois, to Jacksonville in fiscal 2018. While it still has much of its headquarters operations in
the Chicago suburb, Dewan and other top executives work from Jacksonville. Dewan became CEO in 2015 and has been working from Jacksonville after the company, then known as General Employment Enterprises, bought Jacksonville-based Scribe Solutions Inc., which was run by Dewan at the time. GEE Group said in its annual report the company has 34 branch offices in 13 states. Its total regular employment at the end of the fiscal year was 389. GEE Group’s stock has been one of the worst performers among Jacksonville-based companies, with a 75 percent drop last year and a two-year decline of 84 percent. DRONE AVIATION RESTRUCTURES DEBT
Drone Aviation Holding Corp. last week said it reached an agreement to eliminate more than 70 percent of its debt by converting $5 million in secured notes to 10.2 million shares of common stock. Drone Aviation had 9.2 million outstanding shares when it filed its third-quarter report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, so the conversion would double its shares outstanding. The notes were held by Drone Aviation Chairman and CEO Jay Nussbaum and one of the company’s largest stockholders, Phillip Frost. Including the shares from the convertible notes and warrants to buy additional shares, Frost controlled 6.1 million Drone Aviation shares, according to the company’s annual report. Nussbaum said in a news release that the reduction in debt will help the company’s expansion plans. Jacksonville-based Drone Aviation, which produces lighterthan-air aerostats and electricpowered drones, reported revenue of about $1 million and a net loss of $3.9 million in the first nine months of 2018. Drone Aviation also was one of the worst performers among Jacksonville stocks, falling 46 percent last year and 82 percent over the last two years.
MBASCH@JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
Warehouse: Hillwood has begun development work CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
of the quarter, the negotiations were “still in progress.” Hillwood said it started development work on the land – Parcels A and B. In December, the city and Wayfair announced plans for the $72 million, 250-job Westside distribution facility in AllianceFlorida. City Council approved incentives
for the deal under the code name Project Empire. Hillwood filed plans with the city in September seeking civil plan review to clear a site for a 1.5 million-square-foot warehouse on Parcels H and I near POW-MIA Memorial Parkway. Hillwood said in the thirdquarter activity report it began the land entitlement process “should a prospect materialize
for the parcels.” In addition to those projects, Hillwood said it: Received and responded to an initial inquiry from a company seeking 20 to 30 acres for a 300,000-square-foot distribution center. Received and responded to a preliminary inquiry from a developer interested in buying land for a 50,000- to 100,000-square-
DEVELOPMENT TODAY These are the largest commercial building permits by job cost issued Monday by the city of Jacksonville. HOTEL, MOTEL, DORMITORY Holiday Inn Express, 13934 Village Lake Circle, contractor is Omega Construction Services Inc., 53,905 square feet, new building, $10 million. RESTAURANTS B&H Land Trust, 13500 Beach Blvd., No. 29, contractor is 3 Rivers Construction Services LLC, 1,146 square feet, tenant build-out, $35,000.
foot industrial build-to-suit for an undisclosed client. Hillwood also reported that JinkoSolar (U.S.) Inc. continued to make progress on tenant improvements for its solar-panel assembly plant. Hillwood additionally said it completed tenant improvements for England Trading Co., which operates as Industry West. It sells furniture over the internet.
JinkoSolar leases 285,652 square feet in the 407,435-square-foot building at 4660 POW-MIA Memorial Parkway. Industry West leases the remaining 121,783 square feet of the building. Hillwood Senior Vice President Dan Tatsch said he had no comments beyond the report. KMATHIS@JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE SCHOOLS, OTHER EDUCATIONAL Episcopal School of Jacksonville, 4455 Atlantic Blvd., contractor is Giles-McIvor Inc., 3,640 square feet, reconstruct softball batting cages, $65,000. SIGNS Meadow at Oakleaf, 8148 Merchants Way, contractor is Bent Construction LLC, two permits for monument sign, $21,500. Osprey Landing, 5494 Preston Bentley Drive, contractor is Bent Construction LLC, monument sign, $1,500. Compiled by Scott Sailer
Promotions, hirings and happenings for business people in Northeast Florida. Send items to ssailer@jaxdailyrecord.com
Chris Quinn joined Wexford Strategies as vice president of international affairs in the new global business development practice. Quinn is responsible for international business development and advocacy strategies providing assistance for international firms with business in the U.S. and U.S. firms seeking interna-
Quinn
JAX Alliance.
tional development. Quinn most recently was vice president of industry and government affairs with the JAX Chamber, managing the
Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer
Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Page 7
REAL ESTATE
Top 10 sales of the week BY SCOTT SAILER • EDITORIAL RESEARCH DIRECTOR
Here are the top 10 real estate sales in Northeast Florida, comprising Baker, Clay, Duval and St. Johns counties. The sales were recorded Dec. 24-28.
File image
Moncler Landings Apartments at 401 Monument Road sold for $23.2 million, 72 percent more than its previous sale of $13.53 million in 2014.
$23,200,000
$18,800,000
$9,500,000
401 Monument Road, Jacksonville, Duval County
300 Silver Creek Trace, Jacksonville, Duval County
U.S. 1 South, St. Augustine, St. Johns County
Type: Moncler Landings Apartments Size: 12.37 acres Buyer: CMF The Oaks on Monument LLC Seller: Woodcreek LLC Previous sale: $13,525,000 in 2014.
Type: Desert Winds Apartments Size: 10.22 acres Buyer: Desert Winds LLC Seller: LRC Desert-Silver LLC Previous sale: $15,500,000 in 2015
Type: Timberland Size: About 346 acres Buyer: Cordova Palms Investment LLC Seller: FDG Cordova Palms LLC
$3,564,000
$3,400,000
$2,968,000
$2,516,000
$2,403,662
20 Mile Road, Ponte Vedra, St. Johns County
11101 Old St. Augustine Road, Jacksonville, Duval County
Twin Creek Drive, St. Augustine, St. Johns County
Trailmark Drive, St. Augustine, St. Johns County
1735 Eagle Harbor Parkway Fleming Island, Clay County
Type: 37 single-family lots in Twenty Mile at Nocatee Size: Not available Buyer: Providence Construction Co. Seller: Hydry Co. LLC
Type: Winn-Dixie Size: 4.93 acres Buyer: Gator Old St. Augustine JAX LLC Seller: Modern Woodmen of America Previous sale: $3,100,000 in 1994
Type: 56 single-family lots in Creekside at Twin Creeks Size: Not available Buyer: Lennar Homes LLC Seller: Twin Creeks Ventures LLC
Type: 34 single-family lots at Whisper Creek Phase 5, Unit B Size: Not available Buyer: Richmond American Homes of Florida LP Seller: Six Mile Creek Investment Group LLC
Type: Eagle Harbor Parkway KinderCare Size: 1,23 acres Buyer: MDC Coast 15 LLC Seller: KC Propco LLC Previous sale: $2,471,400 in 2005
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Type: 38 single-family lots in Twenty Mile at Nocatee Size: Not available Buyer: Weekley Homes LLC Seller: Hydry Co. LLC
20 Mile Road, Ponte Vedra, St. Johns County Type: 37 single-family lots in Twenty Mile at Nocatee Size: Not available Buyer: TMN Construction Holdings LLC Seller: Hydry Co. LLC
$3,656,000
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Attorney Mitchell Ghaneie Member of Florida Bar and Patent Bar since 2015. Florida native. B.S., Florida State University, Biological Science; J.D., Florida State University College of Law.
904-717-6325 GibneyLaw.com
Page 8 • Thursday, January 3, 2019
Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer
OPINION / OUR VIEW
It’s time to give Rick Scott his due MATT WALSH PUBLISHER
Scott’s “relentless discipline” was crucial to his winning four races and leading Florida’s economic turnaround.
T
he wrapping paper is in the trash. Opened presents are still stacked under the tree. The relatives and friends are gone. You’re exhausted. Finally, you have time to relax … maybe page through the Observer to see what has been happening locally. But probably the last thing you want to do is wade into an article about politics and politicians. We all need a break. Got it. Sorry, we’re going to do it anyway. It’s the time we traditionally have looked back at the past year’s events. And besides, no one else in Florida’s newspaper media will do what we’re about to do: Give outgoing Gov. Rick Scott and soon-to-be U.S. Sen. Rick Scott his due. If you think through what he has accomplished since declaring his candidacy for governor in early 2010, it’s extraordinary. In all of Florida history, you will not find another individual who did what he has done. Even if you dislike him — and there are at least 4,089,472 Floridians who don’t; they voted for Bill Nelson — you must at least be willing to acknowledge the following as extraordinary: Without ever having run for office, he won three statewide elections and one primary election. Not an easy feat by a long shot. Florida is a huge state, geographically and culturally. People who have run statewide races for the first time will tell you how hard it is.
TARNISHED CEO
Go back to April 2010. When Scott entered the Republican race for governor against Bill McCollum, then Florida’s attorney general and a 30-year Florida politician, it was only five months before the primary election. Few Floridians had ever heard of Scott, not a native Floridian; and those who had known him as the tarnished and ousted CEO of Columbia-HCA, the nation’s largest hospital chain and the company that was slapped with the largest fine in U.S. history — $1.7 billion — for Medicare fraud. Suffice it to say, Scott’s opponents unleashed on his CEO tenure a relentless barrage of Tomahawk missiles, branding the ex-CEO as a crook, even though none of the charges were ever linked to him. On paper, everything was against Scott beating McCollum: ousted, besmirched CEO;
rookie politician; rich guy spending $60 million of his own money on the campaign; awkward in public political rallies. Rare is the business executive who wins his or her first run at statewide public office. Even Jeb Bush — a Miami businessman with a blue-blood political name — lost his first run for governor. To the shock of all the experts, Scott beat McCollum — by 40,000 votes. Then it was on to the general, against a popular state CFO, Democrat Alex Sink. Again, the experts expected Scott to lose, especially as Democrats turned up the attacks accusing Scott of being a Medicare crook. Before the election, polls placed Scott’s unfavorable rating near 50 percent. To almost everyone’s surprise again, Scott beat Sink — by 61,550 votes, a 1.2 percent margin. Four years later, in 2014, Scott faced another intense challenge, this time from Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist. Even though Crist switched parties, he remained popular, playing on his nice-guy, moderate, “I always fight for you” persona versus Scott’s perceived strident, cold persona (a misperceived persona, by the way). Scott won again — by 64,145 votes, a 1 percent margin. 1 PERCENT CHANCE OF WINNING
Then this past November, Scott faced his toughest race of all, challenging three-term incumbent, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Seen by many as a gold-plated fixture of Florida politics, the epitome of a moderate with Florida’s needs at heart, Nelson first was elected to the Florida House in 1972. He served 12 years in the U.S. House, became Florida’s insurance commissioner for six years, and then was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Since then, no matter who tried from the Republican Party — U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, 2000; U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, 2006; or U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, 2012 — none came close to beating Nelson. Once again, Scott was not expected to win. On Oct. 22, one national poll had Nelson up by 5 percentage points. Of course, we know the outcome. Scott once again did the unexpected and unlikely — by the thinnest of margins, 10,033 votes, a 0.12 percent margin. Each of those election victories was an exceptional achievement. If, say, you would have predicted Scott’s chances of winning all three races, Joe Gruters, a longtime top official in the Republican Party of Florida, says he would have given Scott a 1 percent chance, a 20 percent chance of winning each one. But Gruters and Rich Heffley, who worked in Jeb Bush’s administration and is a highly regarded Tallahassee-based lobbyist and strategist, attribute Scott’s victories to more than Scott spending $200 million of his own money on his campaigns. “That does help,” Gruters acknowledges. But Heffley notes that in each of Scott’s races there was parity in how much each side
1,637,100 jobs. The unemployment rate is 3 percent. Last year, Scott sent to the Tampa Bay Times’ PolitiFact a list of 82 cuts in taxes and fees that had occurred during his tenure. And Scott reported recently Florida’s high school graduation rate reached a 15-year high, 86.1 percent, an increase of 3.8 percentage points over last year and 17.1 percent since the year before he took office. Floridians know Scott alone is not responsible for the increase in graduation rates. Nor does a governor create jobs. But as the state’s CEO, the governor sets the tone and has more influence than anyone on creating the policies and climate that allows an economy to flourish. And as a CEO who saw firsthand the effects of taxes and regulations on business, Scott knew a relentless (there’s that word again) pursuit against those burdens was essential for his and Florida’s success. FLORIDA’S TOP SALESMAN
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Surely, many Floridians remember Scott personally traveling to high-tax states to encourage businesses to move to Florida. As top economic salesman, Scott stands as a model for all governors who want economic growth and jobs in their states. spent. The difference, says Heffley, was Scott’s “relentless discipline.” Says Gruters: “He is the best candidate in the country to stay on message and stay focused on his agenda. The guy is an unbelievable machine.” Gruters also credits Scott with revolutionizing political campaigns in Florida. Scott shunned the traditional model of volunteers and donors. Instead, true to his businessman-CEO core, Scott ran his campaigns as serious business enterprises that paid employees for results. “He knew how many doors he needed to knock and how many calls were needed each day,” Gruters says. “With paid employees, he could guarantee certain outcomes. When you don’t have volunteers, you can have control.” To be sure, Scott’s relentless, CEO approach to political campaigns were crucial to his victories. But here’s what also has set Scott apart from most of his political peers: Says Heffley: “Promises made, promises kept.” “Jobs, jobs, jobs,” Heffley says. We all saw and heard him. That was his mantra — over and over and over. Every time a
reporter asked him a question, Scott throughout his two terms as governor always emphasized his focus on trying to create an environment in Florida that results in more jobs. Scott told us shortly after he began his first gubernatorial campaign that he honed his message to the three things that Floridians care about most: having a job, good education and low taxes. He always added two more ingredients: cut regulations and spending. Scott never veered from his No. 1 message: jobs. The Capitol press corps chafed at Scott’s monotonous drumbeat, and especially scoffed at Scott when he promised that during his governorship Florida would add 700,000 jobs in seven years. At the time of this pronouncement, Florida’s economy was gasping with 11 percent unemployment. The big-city newspaper editorial writers and columnists all but laughed at Scott, creating for readers the impression there was no way Scott could deliver. After seven years, Florida’s employment rolls had increased by 1,444,730 — two times more than Scott promised. After eight years, employment will have risen by
To that end, Scott, indisputably, served as Florida’s No. 1 salesman, constantly promoting Florida’s business climate throughout the United States and the world. Surely, many Floridians remember Scott personally traveling to high-tax states to encourage businesses to move to Florida. As top economic salesman, Scott stands as a model for all governors who want economic growth and jobs in their states. Heffley credits Scott with one other attribute that ultimately helped him defeat Nelson. “He became Florida’s consoler in chief,” Heffley says. You remember: He was everywhere before and after Hurricane Irma in 2017. And after Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico; after the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016; after the Parkland High School shooting in February; and before and after Hurricane Michael in October in the Panhandle, Scott always was on the scene. In his eight years as governor, as politicians do with time, Scott became more at ease in public and with public speaking. Heffley notes: “One of the things that really helped him, he learned to speak Spanish. That really helped with the Puerto Ricans in Orlando.” You have to concede Scott still isn’t perceived by Floridians as a warm and fuzzy Charlie Crist. But those who have observed and worked with him know that whenever he’s oneon-one or working a room, he is down-to-earth and likable. As Scott prepares for his next political challenge — that of being one of 100 senators and not in charge — he will leave the governor’s office with his critics ticking off long lists of what Scott didn’t do well. No one is perfect. But most Floridians are likely to remember Scott, not for his extraordinary election victories, but as the governor who set the tone, led Florida’s dramatic economic turnaround and did what so few politicians do: stayed focused on his promises and kept them.
Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Page 9
Government shutdown: Federal courts respond
Bono Service Award from The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division and the 2019 Chief Justice’s Advisory Committee Pro Bono Service Award.
MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Anti-Deficiency Act may be invoked after Jan. 11 to keep limited operations running. The federal courts are fully operational, despite the partial federal government shutdown, using court fee balances and other funds not dependent on a new budget appropriation, according to a news release published Dec. 22. If the shutdown continues past Jan. 11 and the courts’ reserves are depleted, the courts will operate under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act. It allows work to continue during a lapse in appropriations if it is necessary to support the exercise of Article III judicial powers. Each court and federal defender’s office would determine the staffing resources required to continue operations. The U.S. Justice Department adopted a contingency plan in September that outlines what limited operations would con-
tinue beyond Jan. 11, including: Those funded by a source that has not lapsed, such as permanent indefinite appropriations and carryover of no-year funds previously appropriated. Department examples are Diversion Control, Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control, Debt Collection, Assets Forfeiture Fund, Federal Prison Industries and Special Counsel. Most personnel – about 84 percent - working within the Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives; and the FBI are excepted from furlough and will continue to operate under the contingency plan. Those related to “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.” Those related to the discharge of presidential Constitutional duties and powers. The contingency plan states that the Department of Justice comprises about 40 components with national security, law enforcement and criminal justice system responsibilities with the mission to enforce the law and defend the interests of the U.S.; ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; provide leadership to prevent and control crime; seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.
Chipping away at old City Hall Annex
Rockwell joins Woolsey Morcom
Photo by Max Marbut
By the time the demolition charges are ignited, scheduled Jan. 20, most of the exterior of the former City Hall Annex at Bay and Newnan streets Downtown already will be on the ground. Workers are removing much of the brick, glass and steel, leaving behind to be imploded the structural concrete and steel components.
The contingency plan assumes that the courts will remain in operation throughout the shutdown. However, the plan states that civil litigation will be curtailed or postponed if that can be done without significantly compromising the safety of human life or protection of property. Criminal litigation will continue without interruption as an activity essential to the protection of life and property. Also, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in the Middle District of Florida Michael Williamson issued an order Friday, retroactive to Dec. 22, citing that since the ability of certain federal agencies that appear before the court to take record action prior to deadlines may be affected by the shutdown, the “time is enlarged” for any federal agency affected to take record
action within seven days after the shutdown ceases.
Leitch
Stocker
Leitch and Stocker partners at Akerman Akerman has promoted Amy Leitch and Allison Stocker to partner in the law firm’s Jacksonville office. Leitch, a graduate of the Emory University School of Law, specializes in commercial litigation and bankruptcy matters. Stocker specializes in business and commercial litigation. She received the 2018 Pro
John Rockwell has joined Woolsey Morcom in Jacksonville as a partner. Rockwell primarily practices criminal defense, Rockwell personal injury and construction law.
Local attorney suspended Brett Allen Mearkle, 547 Selva Lakes Circle, Atlantic Beach, is suspended by the state Supreme Court for 90 days, effective Jan. 19. He also was ordered pay restitution of $2,500 to each of three clients. According to a report submitted to the court, after being retained, Mearkle did very little work on one case and nothing on the other two cases. He also failed to respond to The Florida Bar regarding complaints from his clients. Mearkle admitted to similar charges in 2017, regarded under rules of The Florida Bar as minor misconduct. He was formally admonished at that time but was allowed to continue to practice. MMARBUT@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466
JO IN U S FO R AN O P E N H O USE
Ponte Vedra Beach Campus Fri., Jan. 11, 9-11 a.m.
Whitehurst Campus Tue., Jan. 15, 9-11 a.m.
Bartram Campus Thu., Jan. 17, 9-11 a.m.
Explore a World of Opportunities Bolles Life includes a superior curriculum and the greatest variety of high-quality educational offerings in Northeast Florida for grades Pre-K to 12. Extraordinary opportunities and grand discoveries await you in our vibrant, global community. Join us for an Open House to experience a day in the life of our students. We encourage you to see
for yourself how our high-caliber teachers engage students in exciting, active and challenging learning. Try Bolles Life for a day and you might not want to leave! Discover the possibilities at Bolles. To find an upcoming Open House, please visit www.Bolles.org or call (904) 256-5030.
San Jose Campus Fri., Jan. 18, 8 a.m.
Four Unique Campuses Ponte Vedra Beach Pre-K–5 Whitehurst Pre-K–5 Bartram 6–8 San Jose 9–12 Day school Pre-K through 12 and Boarding for Grades 9–12 with 5- and 7-day options.
THE MARBUT REPORT
Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer
Page 10 • Thursday, January 3, 2019
THE BAR BULLETIN
Jacksonville Daily Record
Bar Bulletin The
PROTECTING RIGHTS • PURSUING JUSTICE • PROMOTING PROFESSIONALISM
PRO BONO FROM THE PRESIDENT
HAVE YOU HEARD? JUSTICE IS THE WORD Justice 1. The fair treatment of people. 2. The quality of being fair or reasonable. 3. The legal system by which people and their causes are judged; esp., the system used to punish people who have committed crimes. 4. The fair and proper administration of laws. 5. A judge, esp. of an appellate court or a court of last resort.
INSIDE
YOUNG LAWYERS
Now’s the time to get ahead If you can master time management in your personal and professional lives, you can increase efficiency and productivity. PAGE 13
Source: Black’s Law Dictionary
COMMITTEES
Reflecting on path to chair JBA Labor and Employment Committee Chair Scott Fortune looks back – and ahead. PAGE 13
Let’s work to keep it that way in 2019.
H
KATIE DEARING JBA PRESIDENT
appy 2019 and I hope each of you had an enjoyable and indulgent holiday season. Now that we’ve digested our holiday feasts, depleted our bank accounts, completed our yearend travel and joyfully ushered our children back to school (almost), we’re all energized and ready to map out some New Year’s resolutions and rejuvenate some good habits. The trouble with resolutions though, is
that after about a month (or less), we’ve forgotten about them or simply decided that they weren’t all that important after all. So for our purposes here, let’s stipulate that we’ll all eat better, exercise more, generate more business, succeed at work and find work-life balance. Now that we’ve committed to be our best selves, I won’t write an article about
COMMENTARY
Disease not a secret that should be kept Make responsible decisions about your career when dealing with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. PAGE 12
SEE DEARING, PAGE 14
PRO BONO
Make 2019 your year to volunteer; service needed in all areas Help to improve justice for the most vulnerable Northeast Florida residents.
KATHY PARA JBA PRO BONO COMMITTEE CHAIR
Imagine the impact we could make if every attorney took just one pro bono case a year and volunteered for one clinic. Those simple contributions could significantly improve access to justice for the most vulnerable Northeast Florida residents.
You can offer your legal expertise by contacting these legal services organizations: GUARDIAN AD LITEM
When you volunteer with the Guardian ad Litem program for the 4th Judicial Circuit, you become a voice for a child in dependency court. Other pro bono opportunities include assisting using your area of expertise such as special education, probate, guardianship, appeals or
immigration. Contact Christine Meyer, supervising program attorney, at christine.meyer@gal.fl.gov for more information. JACKSONVILLE AREA LEGAL AID AND THREE RIVERS LEGAL SERVICES
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid is a law firm established in 1935 by the Jacksonville Bar Association that specializes in providing civil legal assistance to low-income residents.
Three Rivers Legal Services has its headquarters in Gainesville and also provides civil legal assistance to low-income people in the Jacksonville area through its Jacksonville office. Requests for services are at critical levels. Volunteer attorneys are urgently needed to represent clients in a single legal matter and to assist with group information clinics and one-day events. SEE PRO BONO, PAGE 14
THE BAR BULLETIN
Jacksonville Daily Record
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
We are justice seekers and zealous advocates
TUESDAY JUDICIAL RELATIONS Noon, Duval County Courthouse, Room 6174. Register at jaxbar.org
JAN. 18 SOLO & SMALL FIRM Noon, Jacksonville Bar Association. Register at jaxbar.org
JAN. 11 LEGAL TECHNOLOGY Noon, Jacksonville Bar Association. Register at jaxbar.org
JAN. 24 PROFESSIONALISM & MENTORING Noon, Duval County Courthouse, Room 6174. Register at jaxbar.org
JAN. 14 PRO BONO Noon, Jacksonville Bar Association. Register at jaxbar.org JAN. 15 ELDER LAW Noon, Jacksonville Bar Association. Register at jaxbar.org
EUGENE B. NICHOLS JBA CRIMINAL LAW COMMITTEE CHAIR
New chair of Criminal Law Committee outlines goals. In the late summer of 1998, I was a recent graduate of law school and a survivor of the Florida Bar exam. I found myself sitting in the office of Bill White, chief assistant public defender, interviewing for my first job. He fired question after question, the majority of which I was as prepared for as I could be. We talked about my internship at the State Attorney’s Office, my desire to switch sides and defend people accused of crimes, the death penalty, my father and uncle (both prominent Jacksonville lawyers) and Florida Gator football, circa 1966. After discussing Steve Spurrier’s winning drive, Bill hit me with a question I will never forget: “What are the ethical requirements of a state attorney and a public defender?” I started to sweat. While I figured I could muddle through the response, I knew I was in trouble and I knew my answer was not going to be what he was looking for. While I have no memory of my answer, to this day I remember Bill’s: “A public defender’s obligation is to zealously advocate for his or her client. A state attorney’s obligation is to seek justice.” That precise summary of the criminal practice has stuck with me all of these years. This is who we are and what we do every day. I have the pleasure of serving the Jacksonville Bar Association as the chair of the Criminal Law Committee. I have to admit, after serving as the treasurer of President Katie Dearing’s judicial campaign, I thought I was finished doing what she asked, at least until she started wearing her robe. However, it was my honor to accept this new role. Now the question becomes: What can I do to help grow this committee after the great work of my predecessors? Over the past few months I have opened a dialogue with many of my contemporaries all over the state to learn how their criminal law committees work, what they accomplish and how they differ from their local chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. What I have learned from these conversations is what I expected. The state association is fairly well attended by the defense Bar, but few also are members of the local voluntary Bar association. Further, the State Attorney’s Office is rarely involved at the local Bar level and in some cities, not at all. Henry Ford said “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
JAN. 25 HEALTH & WELLNESS Noon, Jacksonville Bar Association. Register at jaxbar.org
File image
Public Defender Charlie Cofer and State Attorney Melissa Nelson.
It is time for the JBA to work even harder with State Attorney Melissa Nelson and Public Defender Charlie Cofer to make sure each lawyer and their respective offices feels welcomed by the Bar association. It is time for all criminal practice lawyers in Jacksonville to join the association. It is time for the JBA to work even harder with State Attorney Melissa Nelson and Public Defender Charlie Cofer to make sure each lawyer and their respective offices feels welcomed by the Bar association. Further, each lawyer must be shown the benefits of joining the association and how it can impact their careers. These seekers of justice and zealous advocates are the backbone of the criminal Bar. Many are the true future of our law firms, no matter the type of practice they may one day pursue. It is time for all of us to make sure they know they are a part of the larger whole and help them become members of our organization. So, as chair of this committee, I am not only extending the challenge to all members, but accepting the challenge to make a change. I will be reaching out to Nelson and Cofer to meet with their staff and persuade them to be more involved with the JBA. If nothing else, it will give all the real estate lawyers someone they can call when their phone rings at 2 a.m. and they don’t know what to do. I look forward to the challenge and I am honored to be your committee chair. EUGENE B. NICHOLS IS A PARTNER WITH NICHOLS AND PINA FOCUSING ON CRIMINAL DEFENSE, PERSONAL INJURY AND FAMILY LAW.
THE JACKSONVILLE BAR ASSOCIATION LEADERSHIP President T. A. “Tad” Katie Dearing Delegal III Delegal Law Dearing Law Offices Firm
Secretary MichelleFox Michael Bedoya Orr Barnett Alexander Dawson | Orr DeGance Barnett
President-elect Katie L. Dearing Elizabeth Ferguson The Dearing Marshall Dennehey Law Firm Warner Coleman & Goggin Treasurer Elizabeth B. Ferguson Treasurer Marshall Bedoya Michelle Dennehey Barnett Warner Coleman &DeGance Alexander Goggin Barnett
Young Lawyers Section President Alexandria Jessica Byrne V. Hill Maple Street Dawson | Orr Biscuit Co. Executive Director Jim Bailey, (904) 399-4486 Interim Executive Director Carla Ortiz-Ramos
JAN. 16 FRANCHISE, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & TECHNOLOGY LAW Noon, Marks Gray. Register at jaxbar.org
JAN. 31 LAW WEEK Noon, Jacksonville Bar Association. Register at jaxbar.org
UPCOMING EVENTS FEB. 1 JBA SPORTING CLAYS SHOOT 8 a.m., Jacksonville Clay Target Sports. We are pleased to host the Sporting Clays Shoot presented by Milam Howard Nicandri Gillam and Renner. It is sure to help you fine-tune your shooting game. A portion of proceeds will benefit Three Rivers Legal Services. Space is limited and we anticipate a soldout event, so be sure to sign up early. Register at jaxbar.org
WEDNESDAY JUDGES, JAS & JAVA 8:30 a.m., Duval County Courthouse, chief judge’s conference room. Register at jaxbar.org JAN. 27 JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY VS. LIBERTY UNIVERSITY NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME Hospitality Room opens at 1 p.m.; game starts at 2 p.m., Jacksonville University Swisher Gymnasium. Register at jaxbar. org JAN. 30 JBA MEMBER LUNCHEON 11:45 a.m., Omni Jacksonville Brian Cuban, mental health and recovery advocate and bestselling author, will share lessons learned from his recovery journey. Register at jaxbar.org
FEB. 16 YLS CHILI COOK-OFF 10 a.m., Riverside Arts Market The Young Lawyers Section is bringing chili, charity and community together at Riverside Arts Market under the canopy of the Fuller Warren Bridge. Proceeds will benefit the nonprofit Best Buddies, so be sure to come out to vote for your favorite chili and support a great cause. For more information, see the ad on Page 15. Register at jaxbar.org
JUDolphins.com
Watch the Jacksonville University Dolphins play Liberty University on Jan. 27 at Swisher Gymnasium.
BOARD BOARD OF OF GOVERNORS GOVERNORS MEMBERS MEMBERS Fraz Fraz Ahmed Ahmed The Coker LawLaw Offices of Eric S. Block
Blane Blane McCarthy McCarthy Blane Blane McCarthy McCarthy
Michael Michael I. I. Bateh Bateh Office Office ofof the the Public Public Defender Defender
Michael AsgharF.A.Orr Syed Dawson Gunster | Orr
Brian Brian T. T. Coughlin Coughlin Bedell Bedell Firm Firm
Asghar CyndyA.Trimmer Syed Smith Driver, Hulsey McAfee, & Busey Hawthorne & Diebenow Lindsay L. Tygart Coker, Lindsay Schickel, L. Tygart Sorenson, Coker Law Posgay, Camerlengo & Iracki
Christian Christian P. P. George George Akerman Akerman
JAN. 29 COMMERCIAL LITIGATION Noon, Jacksonville Bar Association. Register at jaxbar.org
EDITORIAL EDITORIAL COMMITTEE COMMITTEE Editor-in-chief Editor-in-chief Cynthia Kelly Trimmer Karstaedt Driver, McAfee, Karstaedt Peek&&Stanko Hawthorne Editors Iana Iana Benjamin Benjamin Darlington Darlington Jordan Jordan Law Law Dave Dave Chauncey Chauncey Alexander Alexander DeGance DeGance Barnett Barnett Ashlea Ashlea Edwards Edwards GrayRobinson Akerman
Kelly Jessica Karstaedt Byrne Karstaedt Dawson&| Orr Stanko Adina Kirsten Pollan Oliver Pollan Steve Legal Watrel, P.A. Adina Pollan Pollan Legal
JBA CALENDAR
COMMENTARY
Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Page 11
Page 12 • Thursday, January 3, 2019
THE BAR BULLETIN
Jacksonville Daily Record
COMMENTARY
Reflections on ’80s icons, Alzheimer’s
ROSE MARIE K. PREDDY JBA ESTATE PLANNING, PROBATE AND TAX LAW COMMITTEE CHAIR
The disease that strikes at the heart of a lawyer’s skills should not be kept a secret. A few months ago, we heard the news about media mogul Ted Turner. Days later, the same news came about retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Before that, it was actor and comedian Robin Williams. The first person I heard announce the news was former President Ronald Reagan. The “news” was the dreadful fact that these people were literally losing their minds. They were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. I was in middle school when Reagan, the Great Communicator, picked O’Connor as the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Soon after, Turner created the concept of 24/7 news with CNN. Williams was a household name for making America laugh on TV and in movies. Later, their minds betrayed them. I wonder how Turner and Williams would have reacted if in 1985 they were told that in 30 years they would be haunted by little imaginary people running around them, since both were diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. For Williams, hearing that news might have been too much to bear as he took his own life in 2014. In my practice, I have observed an increase in those (including fellow attorneys and judges) coming forward and “admitting” that they or their family mem-
File images
President Ronald Reagan and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Reagan died in 2004 at age 93. O’Connor is 88 years old and lives in Arizona.
Ted Turner, the founder of Cable News Network, is 80.
Comedian Robin Willams died by suicide in 2014. He was 63.
ber have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. I use “admit” in quotes because of the stigma associated with the disease. Once admitting you have the disease, people expect you to ride off into the sunset.
to the announcement, I assume they were functioning well enough to keep their diagnosis a secret. Many know the disease’s progression can be gradual and subtle. A 2015 study compared nonscripted news conferences of
When Turner and O’Connor announced that they had Alzheimer’s, they did so to announce that they were leaving public life. I personally think it also was to fend off demeaning reports about their mental failures. Prior
President Reagan and President George H.W. Bush. The study showed a significant decline over time in Reagan’s use of unique words and an increase in filler words such as um, er, OK, right and well. President Bush, who did not have Alzheimer’s, did not show the same pattern of decline. It is unclear what stage of Alzheimer’s Reagan was in during his years in the Oval Office. His presidency ended in January 1989, but he did not announce his diagnosis until 1994. While I would like to see an end to the stigma, I believe the news would be devastating to the careers of attorneys and judges, even in early stages. Alzheimer’s can be unforgiving. It is always there to trick and discourage you by making you forget words and lose focus. Our memory, use of language, focus and concentration are critical to success. Unlike other diseases, Alzheimer’s strikes at the heart of a lawyer’s skills. On the other hand, attorneys and judges keeping the secret for too long, combined with the gradual impairment, can harm many parties. When working in a firm, other attorneys and staff may notice your impairment before you do and catch mistakes. Years ago, when working with an older and highly reputable opposing counsel, in the midst of a critical negotiation he forgot a very basic legal term. There was awkward silence. It was clear he was embarrassed. I gave him the word and we moved on. While you may not (and perhaps should not) announce that you have early stages of Alzheimer’s, you still can make responsible decisions including asking, in confidence, trusted colleagues to hold you accountable and delegate duties gradually. Early stages of Alzheimer’s may not impact your practice, but regular assessment with trusted family, friends and your own attorney are wise moves. ROSE MARIE K. PREDDY IS OWNER OF THE PREDDY LAW FIRM P.A. SHE PRACTICES IN ESTATES, TRUSTS, PROBATE AND GUARDIANSHIP.
Once admitting you have the disease, people expect you to ride off into the sunset.
LEGAL BRIEFS
Need CLE hours? Check out the JBA website
The Jacksonville Bar Association has a CLE video library where you can purchase online CLE presentations and get those CLE credits you need in the convenience of your home or office. You may choose from as few as 0.5 CLER hours to as many as 8.0 CLER hours, including various certification hours. Just select the videos that correspond with the CLE credits you need, purchase them, watch online and submit for credit. Topics include family law, technology law, transactional law and professionalism for new practitioners. Visit jaxbar.org/store
Upcoming CLEs TUESDAY Veteran & Military Affairs Committee Lunch & Learn Noon, Jacksonville Bar Association 1.0 CLE credit pending Florida Bar approval. Free to JBA members. Register at jaxbar.org JAN. 14 Family Law Judges Lunch & Learn Noon, Duval County Courthouse, chief judge’s conference room 2.0 CLE credits/2.0 ethics credits pending Florida Bar approval. Register at jaxbar.org
JAN. 15 ADR Committee Noon, Florida Coastal School of Law 1.0 CLE credit and 1.0 ethics credit pending Florida Bar approval Register at jaxbar.org JAN. 30 CLE Presented by the Health & Wellness committee 1:30 p.m., Omni Jacksonville 3.0 CLE credits and 3.0 substance abuse certification credits pending Florida Bar approval. Register at jaxbar.org
Keep involved in the JBA The driving force behind this organization is the active participation of its members. Please give the association the benefit of your ideas and talents by volunteering to serve on one or more of the committees shown on the JBA website. With your active involvement, this association will flourish. To join or change your committee preferences, open your web profile at jaxbar.org and click on “Join a Committee.”
THE BAR BULLETIN
Jacksonville Daily Record
Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Page 13
YOUNG LAWYERS
Time is of the essence NICK ELDER JACKSONVILLE BAR ASSOCIATION YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION
Be a better lawyer by managing your schedule. It’s Saturday morning, and my wife just hurried out the door with our two toddlers. If things go as planned, I may have a solid hour to attack my to-do list and accomplish as much as possible in a short amount of time. Do I focus on work or household chores or try and exercise for the first time in weeks? No matter which task I choose, it is inevitable that something will fall by the wayside. A common saying among attorneys is that there never is enough time in the day. This is especially true as you progress
from a young professional to a more seasoned counselor. With age comes wisdom but also marriage, kids, finances, aging relatives and other responsibilities we never imagined as fresh graduates just passing the Bar. We replace late nights and weekends in the office with grocery shopping, feeding children, dinner with our significant other or visiting a loved one. Following graduation from law school, I failed to grasp the importance of time management. Then a wise mentor shared with me a quote by Henry David Thoreau that has stuck with me throughout my career: “It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is what are we busy about?” It reminded me that working many hours is only one aspect of being an effective attorney. If you can master time management in your personal and professional lives, you can increase efficiency and productivity. Quite simply, you can get more done. The first step in taking control of your time is to make planning your schedule just as important as accomplishing each task. Set aside time at the beginning of each week to map out a game
plan and set priorities. While this seems like a simple concept, consistently setting goals and prioritizing tasks often gets lost in the chaos of a busy life. The weekly (if not daily) planning exercise will get you focused on projects or tasks that slipped through the cracks. It also will allow you to see the big picture more clearly and be in a position to respond quickly to that senior partner who comes inquiring about the status of a project. If you’re working on a group
project, request regular meetings with your colleagues so that everyone is aware of the assigned tasks and is on the same page. After you prioritize time management in your professional life, use the same skill in your personal life. Dedicate an hour in the afternoon to exercise, schedule family cleaning time every weekend or set aside two hours a week for a date night. Once a schedule is set, be disciplined enough to follow through on each item. Tasks that are not accomplished go to the top of the next schedule.
With a comprehensive plan in place and productivity increasing, your anxiety will fade and the overall stress of life will decrease. You will notice the difference and so will those around you. Mastering time management will make you a better lawyer and it might make you a better person as well. NICHOLAS ELDER IS AN ATTORNEY AT GUNSTER, YOAKLEY & STEWART, FOCUSING ON CONSTRUCTION AND BUSINESS LITIGATION.
COMMENTARY
The lunch invitation that came out of the blue
SCOTT FORTUNE JBA LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR
It’s how I became a committee chair. My involvement with the Jacksonville Bar Association Labor and Employment Committee began with a phone call about five years ago. “Scott, Tom Harper is on line 1,” my legal assistant announced over my office intercom.
The call was out of the blue, in the middle of the week. Although I knew of Harper & Gerlach, and had litigated a case with Gregg Gerlach, I had not met Tom. I asked my assistant to put the call through. Much to my surprise, Tom asked if he could take me to lunch. I asked what he wanted to meet about and he told me he just wanted to talk about my practice. About a week later, we had lunch at a Thai restaurant that used to be across the street from my office. Tom told me that he had been serving for several years as the chair of the Labor and Employment Committee and he was ready to pass the torch. He asked if I would be interested in serving as his co-chair, so that I might learn about the role. Now let me back up a bit. When I was a brand-new lawyer in 1981, fresh out of the Uni-
versity of Florida Levin School of Law, I worked at two Jacksonville law firms before starting my own practice in 1985. Each of those firms were led by lawyers who had served, or would soon serve, as president of The Florida Bar. They also had served in various capacities with the JBA. Each of them encouraged me to join the JBA and to actively participate on the committees. Good advice, but I didn’t follow it. Whether it was immaturity on my part, a lack of social skills or some other reason, I don’t know. But back then I felt that I didn’t “fit in” at Bar functions and stopped attending them soon after my first few meetings. The call from Tom came about 30 years later. I had been running my own law practice during that time and had enjoyed some successes practicing labor and employment law in and around
Florida. I’m not sure whether it was because I had matured during those 30 years, or had acquired some better social skills, but I was flattered by the invitation and honored to accept it. Tom walked me through it for several meetings and eventually he turned it over to me. While having the privilege of serving as chair during the past several years, and with significant assistance from Allison Fielding-Cook and Katie Belock, my legal assistants, I have held meetings about once a quarter. I have tried to include as many of my labor and employment colleagues as possible in each meeting. Because roughly 90 percent of the committee members represent management, they comprise most of the members who attend our informal luncheons. We also typically have a good sprinkling of plaintiff’s lawyers.
At our meetings, one or two attorneys give a presentation about some aspect of their practice, followed by questions and discussion among all members. The gatherings are a lot of fun for me and they provide a way to spend time with colleagues in a nonadversarial context. Because I remember how uncomfortable I was at Bar functions as a young attorney, I make it my mission at each of these meetings to reach out to the younger attorneys to include them in the discussions we have. It’s about time for me to be reaching out to another attorney and asking him or her to lunch, to see if they might like to co-chair the committee in the future. SCOTT FORTUNE REPRESENTS EMPLOYEES IN ALL INDUSTRIES, FOCUSING PRIMARILY ON HIGHLY COMPENSATED INDIVIDUALS.
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Page 14 • Thursday, January 3, 2019
THE BAR BULLETIN
Season for giving
Jacksonville Daily Record
Pro Bono: Review cases online and then volunteer CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
Bar Bulletin staff photos
Duval County Judges Eleni Derke and Roberto Arias delivered gifts to a senior as part of the JBA’s annual Holiday Project. More than 350 people received gifts. BAR BULLETIN STAFF
A
heartfelt “thank you” is in order to all the people and law firms that participated in this year’s Jacksonville Bar Association Holiday Project. Gifts were delivered to more than 350 seniors served by the Meals on Wheels program. Members again made the holiday season brighter for those who received the generous gifts.
Attorneys can specify the practice areas in which they will assist and review cases prior to acceptance. Professional liability insurance and educational webinar support are provided. Review cases online at floridaprobonomatters.org by typing your county in the general search line. When you read through the summaries, find a case you’d like to consider and click “Interested?” You’ll be sending an email to a case placement manager who will provide additional information. Cases posted are from JALA, TRLS, the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership and the Veterans Legal Collaborative. Clinics and outreach opportunities are organized and implemented through collaboration of JALA, TRLS, the JBA, Florida Coastal School of Law and other voluntary Bar associations and community agencies. Opportunities include events such as Advance Directives for Seniors, Citizenship Day, Lawyers in Libraries, Ask-ALawyer, Guardian Advocacy Pro Bono Project, Brief Counsel and Advice at the VA Clinic and family law group information clinics in Clay, Duval and Nassau counties. Contact kathy.para@ jaxlegalaid.org for more information about available training and civil pro bono opportunities. JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT PANELS
GrayRobinson staff members Calah Campbell, left, and Nancy Lynch delivered gifts to senior Pamela Morris.
The JBA is the point of contact for dependency court and civil circuit court appointment of pro bono attorneys. Attorneys interested in assisting a child in a dependency matter and receiving pro bono appointment from the dependency bench may contact Nikki Hawkins at nphawk@ comcast.net. Attorneys interested in assisting an indigent client in a civil matter and receiving pro bono appointments from the
civil bench are encouraged to contact kathy.para@ jaxlegalaid.org. MISSING LINK INC.
Family law attorneys and paralegals are needed to assist victims of domestic violence with preparing pro se divorce documents. Contact Cindy Houston for schedule and location details at chouston@hacsr.com.
NORTHEAST FLORIDA MEDICAL LEGAL PARTNERSHIP
When a doctor, nurse, social worker or other member of a medical team suspects that an environmental, economic, social or educational legal issue may exist, that person can make a referral to NFMLP for a legal diagnosis. A staff attorney interviews the patient and evaluates whether he or she could benefit from legal assistance or another community service. If legal assistance is recommended, the next step is pro bono placement. Volunteer attorneys receive case summaries and full case information prior to acceptance of the case. Support includes training and professional liability insurance. For more information, contact kathy.para@jaxlegalaid.org.
OFFICE OF PUBLIC DEFENDER
Attorneys are needed to volunteer as special assistant public defenders representing clients in misdemeanor cases in criminal court. Training and support is provided. Volunteers help a lowincome client seek justice, allowing staff attorneys more time to focus on the cases they already handle. For more information, contact Gary Beard at gbeard@pd4.coj.net.
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE 4TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, CONTACT KATHY.PARA@ JAXLEGALAID.ORG OR CALL (904) 356-8371, EXT. 363.
Dearing: Justice a word truly fitting of the times CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
a “new year/new you.” Instead, let’s look at the year we just closed out and what it may tell us about the year ahead. As I write this article, yearend lists summarizing 2018 are coming out and one caught my eye. Merriam-Webster announced that its 2018 word of the year was “justice.” The distinction is based on look-up data, meaning that it was among the top words looked up online last year and that users looked it up far more in 2018 than in 2017. Whether criminal justice reform, the Justice Department, or social justice, it seems “justice” was on the minds of the people last year.
As a lawyer, that doesn’t surprise me. It seems the third branch of government, our branch, where parties go in search of justice, is front and center these days. Our friends and neighbors ask what we think of cases they read about, of Supreme Court confirmation hearings and seemingly every legal issue discussed on television. As the leader of an organization with a mission that includes aiding in the administration of justice, I find this year’s word selection truly fitting of the times. Access to justice issues pervade state and local Bar discussions. Three Rivers Legal Services, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid and the Jacksonville Bar Asso-
ciation Pro Bono Committee are busier than ever. People in our community and throughout the state need help and they don’t always know where to turn. Our members helped guide them and responded to their needs this year, whether assisting residents in the Panhandle recovering from Hurricane Michael, raising money for the North Florida Medical Legal Partnership or handling local pro bono matters. I know 2019 will reveal the same commitment among our members to helping those less fortunate. As the world was reminded this fall with the SCOTUS hearings, the word “justice” also refers to a title, as in a judge or justice.
Though that title has new meaning for me personally, I really felt its import while chaperoning in December a field trip to the state Supreme Court in Tallahassee. When our tour guide pointed out the portraits of former justices that adorn the walls, noting aloud that only one female portrait hangs and the only other two women to have served on the bench are about to retire, one fifth-grade girl perceptively asked, “Why do mostly men get to be justices?” (Why, indeed, my dear; why, indeed?). After the guide deftly told the students the court was waiting for them to join, I reflected on the fact that public confidence in the administration of justice necessarily depends on public
understanding and buy-in to the system. If that girl doesn’t see women in the role, will it undermine not only her personal goals or potential, but her understanding and acceptance of the system itself? That certainly would be unjust. I am proud to join an extraordinary group of dedicated judges, men and women, who embody the qualities of being just, impartial and fair. As attorneys, it is incumbent upon us to promote justice as we continue our practice of law in the new year in the hope that “justice” will remain the word. KATIE DEARING IS PRESIDENT OF THE JBA BOARD AND JUDGEELECT FOR THE 4TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT.
Jacksonville Daily Record
THE BAR BULLETIN
Thursday, January 3, 2019 • Page 15
IN THE LAW
Page 16 • Thursday, January 3, 2019
Jacksonville Daily Record/Jacksonville Record & Observer
ANDREW BONDERUD
The Bonderud Law Firm
BY MAX MARBUT • ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Andrew Michael Bonderud was a recipient of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association’s 2018 “Spirit of Giving” award for his pro bono representation of indigent defendants in federal court. A U.S. Navy surface warfare officer before he went to law school, Bonderud practices criminal defense, family law and civil litigation. Who or what inspired you to become a lawyer? Jack McCoy (a fictional Manhattan district attorney played by Sam Waterston in the television drama series Law & Order). One person who inspires me: Federal criminal appeal attorney William Mallory Kent of Kent & McFarland.
What has been the biggest change in your practice area since you passed the Bar? It’s always nice when former adversaries seek to bring me in as co-counsel in subsequent litigation. What do you think will be the next biggest change in your area of law? I plan to narrow the scope of my practice as my law firm grows. Or, perhaps the next big change will be the addition of an associate attorney. We’ll see.
Age: 36 Education: Vanderbilt University, bachelor’s in political science and Spanish with a mathematics minor; Boston College Law School, J.D. Hometown: Germantown, Tennessee
How do you relate your undergraduate degree to your practice of law? I earned a bachelor’s from Vanderbilt University on an NROTC scholarship. My college experience taught me how to read, write and reason. It was a great foundation for law school. How did you decide your practice area? And why have you chosen that? I’ve always been a solo practitioner. I’ve defined my law practice not by what I do, but by what I don’t do: e.g., tax, probate, immigration, social security disability and other specialized areas of law. These days, I’ll take a case if it’s intellectually stimulating and if it’s likely to pay the bills.
ANDREW MICHAEL BONDERUD
Family: Two girls, ages 4 and 5 Favorite book: I’d be lying if I held myself out as an avid pleasure reader. Most of my work hours are spent reading and writing. In my off-hours, I pursue other interests Photo by Max Marbut
Attorney Andrew Bonderud, right, and U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan. Bonderud received the “Spirit of Giving” award from the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association in December.
If I could change anything in the legal system, I would ... I don’t control the legal system, but I do control how I show up and interact with it. I will always (imperfectly) try to be the change I want to see: treating others with respect and dignity. What community service have you pursued and why that? I routinely volunteer my time representing prisoners in connection with civil
rights claims. I enjoy representing vulnerable clients in litigation against government actors where clearly established Constitutional rights have been violated.
Website I can’t live without: The Drudge Report Favorite nonwork activity: Spending time with my two little princesses
What’s your advice for new lawyers? You must check out the pool deck at the Duval County Courthouse. Just go up to any attorney at the courthouse, tell them that you’re a new lawyer and ask them where it is.
TM
The Nursing Home Abuse Expert™