by Bailey White
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association is leading the local effort in a court historical project aimed at producing a comprehensive history of the bankruptcy court in the Middle District of Florida.
“We’re looking for information on past referees and judges of Jacksonville’s bankruptcy court,” said Jay Brown, an attorney with Akerman Senterfitt and JBBA’s president. “We’re trying to track down biographical information and pictures of as many of them as we can.”
The project was spearheaded by Tampa bankruptcy judge Arthur Briskman, who said
organizers are trying to get a complete picture of the people who had an impact on the court from its beginnings.
“We’re trying to get information, bios and photographs of everyone who has sat as a bankruptcy judge or referee as well as other court archives,” he said. “And we’re thinking about getting information from some of our more senior lawyers who are still around and can speak to what bankruptcy law was like in its early days and how it compares with today.”
Briskman said he’s not sure yet if the information and materials collected will go to a book or simply an organized archive.
“We haven’t gotten that far,” he said. “We’re taking our time with this, so we’re not sure yet what form this project will take. We have done a video — an oral history of Judge [George] Proctor in Jacksonville and we’re planning to do one of Judge [Alexander] Paskay [a retired bankruptcy judge] in Tampa. We’d like to do oral history of all current judges.”
Locally, Brown is heading the project and has started by spreading the word that he’s collecting information on a group of former Jacksonville bankruptcy referees.
“And the bankruptcy bar is is taking up a measure to fund some research through either a college student or a law student,” said Brown.
Local attorney Jim Fischette, who practices with the firm of Fischette, Owen, Held & McBurney, was able to provide some insight into earlier days in bankruptcy court. He began his practice as a bankruptcy lawyer in the 1950s and went before Jacksonville referees Emmet Safay and Charles Merritt.
“They didn’t wear robes,” he said, “and back in those days, bankruptcy hearings were very informal.”
Fischette remembers going before Merritt, a referee from 1959 until 1975, and the interesting set-up of his office.
“He had two desks pushed up against each other,” said Fischette, “He’d sit at one and you’d sit at the other, and that was the hearing.”
Fischette also has some interesting documents that he obtained from Proctor.
The documents, court orders, reports and personal letters that date to 1898, provide insight into the early days of bankruptcy court in the Southern District of Florida, which Jacksonville was a part of until the Middle District was created.
“One of the more interesting documents is dated Oct. 6, 1902, and lists the number of petitions filed within the previous six months,” said Fischette. “In a six month period in 1902, there were only 19 petitions filed; today, in one month, there can be 1,000 filed.”
The JBBA is currently looking for information on the following Jacksonville Referees/Judges (listed with the years they served): Morgan F. Jones (1918-1939); Frank J. Heintz (1939-1943); John R. Adams (1943-1944); Emmet Safay (1944-1959) and Charles Merritt (1959-1975). To reach Jay Brown, call 798-3700 or e-mail him at [email protected].