Started in 1906 as W.E. Kay Law Firm, it is one of the oldest law firms in continuous service in Jacksonville. It has had numerous name changes over the years, but it became Moseley, Warren, Prichard & Parrish about six years ago.
NAME CHANGES?
“We were most recently Taylor, Moseley and Joyner,” said Richard Jones, managing partner. “Dale Joyner died in 1993 and Neil Taylor retired, so we just kept Moseley and moved up the three attorneys who had been here the longest.”
WHAT DOES THE MANAGING PARTNER DO?
“Because I was formerly a certified public accountant, I not only have a business law practice, but I manage the finances and people of the law firm. I guess I have been designated in part because of my CPA background.”
WHAT DOES THE FIRM DO?
It represents clients in marine, transportation, commercial and insurance matters. “We are a full-service law firm. Most people are aware of us because of our expertise in transportation law. We have an outstanding expertise in maritime and admiralty law. We also do quite a bit of work for railroads.”
WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL?
“It can include a lot of things, including cargo claims, where steel gets put on a ship all nice and shiny and when it gets to the other side it is rusty, or cans of fruit go in all nice and pretty and are all dented at the other end; pollution in the rivers or ocean or crew members getting hurt. When a crew member or seaman gets hurt on a ship, it is a totally different law than it is if someone got hurt on land. We also represent shipyards and tug and barge companies.”
YOU ARREST SHIPS?
“Another thing that we do that is fun is that we arrest ships. If the ship has not paid its mortgage or if the ship has not paid for its necessaries like fuel or repairs, unlike a mortgage foreclosure on a house where the house is fixed and not going anywhere, we have a U.S. Marshal actually go out and arrest the ship and take it under custody. They give it to a substitute custodian to hold it while it goes though the court system and is eventually auctioned off to pay its debts.”
DO YOU PARTICIPATE WHEN THE SHIP IS ARRESTED?
“Yes, I go all the time. Every once in awhile, they find out you are coming and they try to get away. Sometimes the Coast Guard will get involved to make sure they don’t leave the river and you can actually arrest them.”
LOCATION
The law firm has owned the 1887 building at 501 W. Bay St., right across from the Charles Bennett Federal Building, since 1982. It occupies about two-thirds of the building and leases the rest out to another law firm. “It is supposed to be the second oldest building in downtown Jacksonville. It is one of the few buildings that survived the Great Fire of 1901.”
WHO IS IN THE FIRM?
James Moseley, Robert Edward Warren, J.W. Prichard Jr., Robert Bruce Parrish, Andrew Knight II, Richard Jones, James Moseley Jr., Phillip Buhler, Stanley Weston, Kimberly Held Israel, Tracy Chesser and Charlie Trippe are partners. Carolyn Blue, David Reeves, P. Michael Leahy, Nancy Davis, Michael Garfield, Eric Lee Hearn and Samuel Maroon are associates. Neil Taylor is retired, but still keeps an office there. They also have three paralegals, an office administrator, a receptionist, a bookkeeper, a custodian, a runner and one secretary for every two attorneys.
AREA THE FIRM SERVES?
“We do quite a bit of work throughout Florida and Southeast Georgia. We do quite a bit of maritime work in Brunswick and in Port Canaveral.”
WILL YOUR MARITIME LAW PRACTICE INCREASE WITH INCREASED ACTIVITY IN JACKSONVILLE’S PORTS?
“Jacksonville is really an under-appreciated port city. The port here is extremely important to people and as it continues to grow, obviously our maritime practice continues to grow. If we ever did get cruise ships in here, obviously that would be more business. We have represented cruise ships in Port Canaveral, but not in Jacksonville because nobody really comes here.”
CLIENTS
Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company, Atlantic Marine, Crowley Maritime, CSX Transportation and Jacksonville Maritime Association — International Longshoremans Association Welfare and Pension Funds.
WHAT DO YOU OFFER
YOUR CLIENTS?
“First off, we are a full-service law firm. We are very experienced and competent in both federal and state courts. We probably practice more maritime and admiralty law than anybody in this area. We are large enough that we can service their needs and small enough that we know them very well.”
WHERE DO YOU HIRE LAWYERS FROM?
“Trippe is the only lawyer we’ve ever hired as a partner, and he had 25 years experience with CSX Transportation. The majority of associates that we hire have clerked for us in the summer. We have seldom gone to law schools and interviewed, but we still seem to get numerous resumes. Every summer we have hired two or three law clerks. They finish one or two years of law school, come here and clerk for the summer. We get to know them, decide if they fit and if we have a need for new associates that particular year. When they graduate, we hire them.”
WILL YOU GROW THE FIRM?
“I think we have. When I started here 20 years ago, there were probably nine lawyers. Now, we have 19. We have been growing slow, but steady. We hired one person this year and whether we hire someone next year will depend on how things continue to go.”
PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT
The firm encourages professional involvement and leads by example. “Jim Moseley Jr. is president-elect of the Jacksonville Bar Association. We’ve had two other partners, Jim Moseley Sr. and J.W. Prichard, who have been president of the the JBA. Because we do a lot of practice in federal courts, we also encourage participation in the Jacksonville chapter of the Federal Bar Association. We’ve had four presidents of the Jacksonville chapter of the FBA, including Robert Warren, Robert Parrish, myself and Andrew Knight.”
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
“We encourage every single lawyer to pick some charity. We don’t necessarily tell them which one, but they need to pick one.” Again, setting an example, Jim Moseley Sr. is currently on the national board of United Way. Others are involved in Legal Aid, Character Counts and Boy Scouts of America.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF ABOUT YOUR FIRM?
“I am very proud of the legacy that this firm has had for many, many years. The name means something in this community. I think we are thought of as very professional, doing quality work and being very active in the community. We have a wonderful group of lawyers. We are very loyal to each other and I can’t personally imagine a better group of people to work with.”
BACK IN TIME?
“We found a gentleman named Paul McGee whose expertise was painting ports and rivers. We hired him to come to Jacksonville from Baltimore and research what downtown Jacksonville and the St. Johns River looked like in 1931. There were no bridges, everyone had to use the ferry to get across to the city.” His painting now hangs in the lobby. Prints of the painting were made and given to the firm and others were sold to the public. The print also is used on the firm’s website and brochure.
WEBSITE
www.mwpplaw.com
— by Michele Newbern Gillis