The firm was started in 1986 by Robert Harris, Dennis Guidi and Alan Rosner.
WHO IS THE MANAGING PARTNER?
Robert Harris.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I work with the lawyers on cases that are set for trial, primarily in the personal injury area and work through any of the more difficult situations that arise,” said Harris. “I also have a case load of my own.”
WHAT DOES THE FIRM DO?
It concentrates on five different areas, including personal injury and wrongful death, criminal defense, workers compensation and social security, commercial and real estate litigation and divorce, marital and family law.
A WIDE RANGE OF PRACTICES?
“I can think of only one or two other firms this size that practice this many types of law. There are certain areas of practice that are compatible. We take the position that if someone calls here, we can pretty much do anything that they need with the exception of tax and security work and employment law.”
WHO WORKS THERE?
Robert Bethea, Terry Bork, Paula Preziosi Brice, Harold Catlin, Dennis, Guidi, Robert Harris, L. Lee Lockett, Brian McDuffie, John Mordecai, Paola Parra, Alan Rosner, Michael Rudolph, M. Stephen Stanfield and G. Glenn Warren are attorneys. There are 12 legal assistants and two bookkeepers.
WHERE DO YOU FIND YOUR LAWYERS?
“We do not hire lawyers fresh out of law school. We used to and we are now so preoccupied that by the time someone gets here, we want them to have at least three to five years worth of experience so we can just give them a case load. Most of our lawyers are in the courtroom from the first day.”
CLIENTS?
They include Watson Realty Corporation, Northeast Florida Catholic Diocese and Prudential Atlantic Commercial Real Estate Services. “We have a lot of commercial clients, including contractors. We get a lot of referrals from other lawyers because it is is a trial practice. A lot of times, people will hit an impasse and the issue will have to get litigated whether it is a personal injury case or something else.”
WHAT DO YOU OFFER YOUR CLIENTS?
“Diversity of practice. The nice part is that there isn’t a legal problem that somebody has that doesn’t spin off into another area. Quite often when someone is involved in an automobile accident, they are in the middle of a divorce or have family law issues. Often when they have workers compensation issues, they have third party issues. More often than not, the case stays here and doesn’t get referred out.”
LOCATION
The firm owns the two buildings it occupies at 1837 Hendricks Avenue. “We built 10,000 square feet for our offices. We built the first building in 1986 and then built the second building in 1994 and connected the two. It was a vacant lot owned by Florida East Coast Railway. I rode by it everyday. I had been practicing for about 11 years when I bought the property and built the building.” The firm currently occupies almost all of the building. The Miller & Skinner law firm is the other tenant.
EXPANSION
“We also own the property across the street, next to us and the property that Panera Bread sits on. We will lease it out for a little while and then hopefully occupy it ourselves. We will grow the firm a little bit. I don’t think we would want to go too much beyond 20 lawyers. We fluctuate. We have gone to as few as 10 lawyers to where we are now [14].”
PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT
“I encourage professional and civic involvement in a major way. Dennis Guidi is heavily involved with the Catholic Church on a professional level and also on a personal basis. Alan Rosner is real involved with two or three Jewish organizations and the Fraternal Order of Police in St. Augustine. I serve on the Police Athletic League board and on the Epping Forest Yacht Club board. Everybody here to some degree is involved real strongly with their area of speciality, religion or community.”
WEBSITE
www. harrisguidi.com
— by Michele Newbern Gillis