by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
As the old adage goes, good things come to those who wait. For Bill Joel, one of 10 attorneys at the Jacksonville headquarters of Winn-Dixie Stores, his patience has paid off. More than a decade of service has led him to the pinnacle of leadership in the Jacksonville Bar Association. On May 23, at the organization’s annual meeting, Joel was announced as the JBA’s newest president, securing the position without opposition.
“Finally, I was the most senior person on the board besides the president-elect so if I was going to run, it was my turn to run,” he recalled.
Joel joined the JBA immediately upon his graduation from law school at the University of Florida. Due to his public service with the Special Olympics while attending The Bolles School, the Young Lawyers Section of the bar piqued his interest. In addition to the athletic competition for the handicapped, YLS assists with a number of other community-oriented projects each year. Joel dove into YLS’s activities head first and his colleagues took note of his enthusiasm.
“Somebody with the Young Lawyers said I should run for their board, so I did,” said Joel.
He was elected and served for five years, rising to president of the YLS in 1995. The board of governors has been receiving his input ever since.
After almost 10 years of private practice and service under six other presidents, Joel feels confident he has the temperament to take charge of the body of local attorneys.
“I’m pretty easy-going and open to the opinion of others,” he remarked of his management style. “I would much rather manage by consensus than by force. Since I’ve been on the board, things seem to work by consensus.”
Unlike most other incumbents, Joel also brings the unique perspective of an in-house counsel to the JBA.
“There are things I’ve learned from being in-house counsel that may not necessarily have a direct impact on serving as president. But, I’m very in tune to the many facets of the organization,” he said.
“We have in-house lawyers, government lawyers, lawyers in big firms, lawyers in small firms, sole practitioners. Hopefully, I’m more aware of that. The strength of our association is that diversity.”
Other skills such as being a good listener, keen communication skills, diplomacy and time management also top the list of characteristics predicated by the position.
“Since we’re all running a practice, have a family life and have obligations to the association, you better have some time management skills,” said Joel. “The common denominator is our people are passionate about the bar association and the importance of the lawyer’s role in society. If you’ve got that and you’re willing to work hard, I think you’ll do all right.”
A Jacksonville native, Joel resides in Ortega Forest with his wife Kim and their two sons. He didn’t always embrace the profession, though. Joel’s career path almost led him away from law. Influenced by his father’s medical practice, Joel was inclined to become a doctor but once he got to college, his thoughts turned elsewhere. His undergraduate studies at Washington & Lee focused on history, a natural tie-in to the legal profession.
“I thought that maybe my skills and interest leaned more towards the law,” he said.
Having made that decision, Joel toughed out law school and subsequently landed a job at Ulmer, Murchison handling general commercial litigation. After the firm split, Joel followed some of the partners to Rogers, Towers, Bailey, Jones & Gay.
When the opportunity arose four years ago to work for Winn-Dixie, Joel took the bait. Now he manages real estate transactions for their Charlotte and Jacksonville divisions. He also handles leasing, sales and outside litigation that does not involve personal injury or labor employment.
Considering his name, Joel has spent years dealing with the inevitable questions and comments regarding his namesake and pop music icon, Billy Joel. For the most part, Joel takes them in stride and has even received unsolicited “star” treatment.
“It was much worse when he was married to model Christie Brinkley,” Joel said. “People would always ask, ‘How’s Christie?’ Once in Albany, N.Y., the airport held a plane for me because they thought I was the singer. I was 30 minutes late.”
Like all JBA presidents, Joel will be responsible for serving the members, the profession and the community as a whole. Satisfied with the status quo, Joel doesn’t believe major changes are necessary to the organization.
“We’ve done a great job and I want to expand on that,” he said. “The way we serve our members is by providing continuing legal education and social opportunities such as the luncheons or socials. The more we get to know each other, the more it promotes civility within the practice. I think we serve our profession by practicing with professionalism. Then we serve our community in all different ways like providing legal services to the poor.”
Running good programs and adhering to the principles of service will be the main challenges Joel will face during his tenure. The prime objective for him will be to promote the system of justice and the rule of law in society. On top of that, Joel envisions broadening the club’s membership base while in office.
“We want to show that we have something for anyone that practices law,” he said.
Fortunately for Joel, he’s had plenty of experience seeing his predecessors in action.
“(Outgoing President) Tom Beverly’s been very good this year about keeping me involved in the activities of that process to help give me a feel for what I have ahead of me. I’ve had the chance to serve on the board under some wonderful presidents and I hope that I can follow in their footsteps.”