Opportunities can come at the most unexpected time and long before you know they’re right for you.
Jack Webb found that out one day while driving home from a deposition in Mississippi. A headhunter called to ask Webb about his interest in being the managing partner to build a Jacksonville office for a South Florida law firm.
Not interested, Webb said.
He was happy as a partner at Brennan, Manna & Diamond, where he’d been since 2009.
The next call from the headhunter came with a simple request: Would Webb at least talk to someone at Kelley Kronenberg?
Webb agreed and said the conversation with Michael Fichtel, principal partner and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale-based firm, intrigued him.
Kelley Kronenberg was growing rapidly in Florida, has about 110 lawyers and wanted to add Jacksonville to its eight offices in the state, Webb said. (The firm also has a Chicago location.)
Webb flew to Fort Lauderdale, where he said he had a “very straightforward” conversation with Fichtel.
Webb said the full-service business law firm is advanced technologically and progressive with client relationships. And, he said, the firm is pro- business and pro-solution driven.
“That’s kind of me, as well,” said Webb, who had an MBA before his law degree.
Webb had worked on Wall Street before deciding to go to law school.
Not necessarily to practice law, he said, “But, I wanted to be able to play in the sandbox with lawyers.”
He got the bug to return to school and get a law degree after marrying his lawyer wife, Elizabeth, in 1989. (She handles appellate work in the Public Defender’s Office.)
Webb then joined Mahoney, Adams and Criser after working for CEVA Logistics (formerly TNT Logistics) for more than eight years as director of labor and employee relations.
While at the law firm, Webb was elected to City Council to represent Mandarin. His four-year stint included serving as council president for a year. Webb lost his re-election bid to council member Matt Schellenberg.
Politics isn’t out of his system, though. He’s considering a run for chair of the Republican Party of Duval County.
And while he doesn’t expect to run for another city office, Webb coyly said, “Maybe in two to four years maybe another opportunity might open up.”
He said his new firm is politically active.
“They like politics. That’s good because I like politics, too,” he said.
In his job as managing partner of the Jacksonville office of Kelley Kronenberg, Webb would like to have 10 lawyers on board in the next 18 months. He’s got some attorneys in mind he’d like to work with and who would fit the collaborative culture he plans to build.
Asked if he’s ever managed employees before, Webb said he had numerous indirect reports at one job and has been involved in leadership roles with different civic groups.
“And, of course, there was that herding 19 cats for a year,” he laughed, referring to his time as council president.
As happy and grateful as he is to have this new challenge, leaving Brennan, Manna & Diamond was difficult.
Webb’s an emotional guy. He laughs freely but feels deeply.
Tears filled Webb’s eyes as he talked about walking out of the building July 10 for the last time as an employee of the firm.
On a professional level, he knew it was the right move. On a personal level, it was something totally different.
“It’s like leaving home. It’s like leaving family,” he said.
But before leaving for his new job in the Stein Mart building, Webb had one last laugh to share with friends at his old firm.
A buddy had given him a reproduction of a television magazine from the 1950s. On the cover was a picture of a young Jack Webb, the actor who starred in “Dragnet.”
“He looks like me,” Webb said. “It’s just bizarre.”
The headline on the cover was “Why women love Jack Webb.”
He left copies in his colleagues’ desk drawers.
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