Hedrick, Dewberry, Regan & Durant is a law firm located in the Bank of America tower.
MEET THE FIRM?
There are four partners: Alexandra Krueger Hedrick, Michael Dewberry, Jeffrey Regan and Stephen Durant. The two associate attorneys, Charles Walker Jr. and Tonya Bomhard, were both born in Jacksonville.
WHEN WAS THE FIRM FORMED?
“Mike Dewberry and I started the firm in 1994,” said Hedrick.”We were shareholders with Rogers, Towers and wanted to have our own litigation firm because we had worked for a long time in a big firm. To own a firm, to make all the decisions about what business you’re going to do and what clients you’ll have, that’s a wonderful opportunity.”
“I left about a year later for the entrepreneurial side of the law practice,” said Regan. “All of us wanted to say, ‘This is ours.’ We were part of a great firm but we wanted it to be our firm.”
SIDE NOTE
“Mike and I were the first shareholders to leave Rogers, Towers and start a firm,” said Hedrick.
“It was common among most firms at the time,” said Hedrick. “Rogers, Towers was an uncommon law firm. That has since changed.”
PRACTICE AREAS?
Trial and appellate, employment, construction, health care, commercial, business, tort, insurance, creditors’ rights and mediation.
WHY THESE AREAS?
“We are a comprehensive, commercial and business litigation practice to serve all of our clients in all of the areas they need,” said Hedrick.
“It also matches the kind of work that each of us want to do,” added Durant, who joined the firm in 2001.
WHO DOES WHAT?
“I do a lot of construction companies and architectural engineering firms,” said Regan. “Some of it is a specialty type business that Sandra [Hedrick] does, which is employment law. All businesses have employees that are affected by that. Some of it is just general business. We represent a lot of different businesses in business disputes. We’re all very business-oriented in terms of our litigation practice. Although we have different areas of concentration, all of us do general business litigation work. For instance, if there’s a concentrated problem in employment, I’m going to go to Sandra. She’ll come to me or Steve if it’s real estate or construction. If it’s health or anti-trust, we’ll go to Mike. If it’s securities, they’ll come to me.”
“Mike represents hospitals and medical professionals with all types of problems,” added Hedrick.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND?
Regan was also employed at Rogers, Towers, Bailey, Jones & Gay. Durant and Walker both practiced at Martin, Ade, Birchfield and Mickler. As far as learning the trade, Walker started his career at Holland & Knight. Bomhard served as a paralegal at Korn & Zehmer and Dewberry worked for The Travelers Corporation as the assistant manager of its surety division prior to switching to law.
THEIR ROOTS
Hedrick is a Jacksonville native; Dewberry grew up in Georgia; Regan came from Virginia; and Durant was born in Massachusetts. While living in the Northeast, Durant earned degrees from both Princeton University and Yale University. He also served in the U.S. Navy for three-and-a-half years.
WHY LEAVE THE IVY LEAGUE TOWNS FOR JACKSONVILLE?
“I’m a damn Yankee. My whole childhood, we lived part of the year in Massachusetts and part of it in Florida. My wife’s originally from Sarasota. When I got out of law school, I wanted to practice in Florida. I interviewed all over the state and eventually came here. I went to those schools because I was interested in the pursuit of excellence. They are super schools, but I don’t like big cities. We wanted to live somewhere that we could have a better quality of life and raise our children.”
WHAT EDUCATION DO THE OTHER ATTORNEYS HAVE?
With the exception of Durant, all the partners and Walker graduated from law school at the University of Florida. Bomhard earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. Regan also attended Florida State University, majoring in criminology. Hedrick earned her a bachelor’s degree in English from Stetson University.
DID SHE PLAN TO TEACH?
“Absolutely. I interned in a junior high my last year. That’s when I decided to go to law school. They were throwing paper balls and passing notes while I was teaching Shakespeare. It was very sad.”
LAW & ORDER
For a year-and-a-half, Regan worked as a parole and probation officer.
“I had intended to finish my doctorate and teach sociology and criminology,” said Regan. “I worked for the governor’s office dealing with parole recidivism. The Department of Corrections offered me a job. Once I was into the job, I had opportunities to go to the court from time to time as a liaison officer. Then I became very interested in the law. Now, I don’t do any criminal law.”
HOW MANY ARE ON STAFF?
Three paralegals, two secretaries, one receptionist/bookkeeper and an accounting manager.
CLIENT BASE?
“We represent a lot of entrepreneurial clients like us,” said Hedrick.
“We have clients from single individuals to Fortune 500 companies,” added Regan.
WILL THEY ADD MORE PARTNERS?
“We’ll probably grow slowly and deliberately, but we’re not looking to do any major expansion,” said Regan. “Yes, we would will hire another associate but we’re not in the immediate market.”
“Our overall plan is for our associates to grow into fellow owners over time,” said Durant. “We have a nice variety of experience levels and age levels in the firm. We’re pretty well staggered.”
— by Monica Chamness