After graduating from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2007, Adam Brandon began his legal career as a commissioned officer and defense attorney in the U.S. Navy.
Fourteen years later, he’s a partner at Rogers Towers who joined the law firm in 2013 after six years of active duty.
Brandon, 38, continues to serve his country, now in the U.S. Navy Reserve, a commander in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
“I love the Navy and I love the opportunity to go around the world and serve the active component,” Brandon said.
In December, he returned to Jacksonville after six months at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where soon after 9/11 the U.S. established a detention facility for suspected international terrorists.
At Guantanamo, Brandon was chief of the Litigation Support Section in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate.
“That’s all they’ll allow me to say, but it’s pretty obvious what kind of litigation is going on down there,” he said.
While on active duty, he was deployed in 2009 to Baghdad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Brandon was liaison officer to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq where he led the prosecution of more than 100 detainees affiliated with groups including Al Qaeda.
“Everything that I learn on deployment makes me a better lawyer and helps me serve my clients better,” Brandon said.
In 2011, the Navy brought Brandon and his family to Northeast Florida, where he was in-house counsel to the commanding officer at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
Two years later, he left active duty and went into private practice with Rogers Towers. Brandon focuses on complex commercial, construction, liability defense and banking litigation.
That is, unless he’s deployed as part of his annual reserve commitment or called back temporarily to active duty, as he was for his recent assignment in Guantanamo.
While he’s fulfilling his Navy Reserve responsibilities, his colleagues at the firm take care of his clients and cases.
“We’re a large, full-service firm. It would be a lot harder if I was a solo practitioner,” Brandon said.
Brandon found out he was elected partner a few days before the end of his tour of duty in Cuba.
“That speaks to how much the firm and the firm’s clients value military service. That’s part of what drew me here,” he said.
“Rogers Towers has a rich history in supporting those who serve in the military. We are pleased that Adam has safely returned from Guantanamo Bay, and we support his endeavors as he continues his service as commander in the Navy Reserve,” said managing director Fred Franklin Jr.
Florida’s legislative term limits law has Brandon considering another form of service outside the firm.
With state Sen. Aaron Bean ineligible for re-election because of term limits and state Rep. Clay Yarborough planning to seek Bean’s seat in the Senate instead of a fourth term in the House, Brandon, a Republican, said he’s considering launching his campaign to succeed Yarborough.
“I’m likely to declare next month. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years,” he said Feb. 4.