Scott Schildberg [pronounced shield-berg] is a new lawyer with Pappas, Metcalf, Jenks & Miller.
WHEN DID HE JOIN THE FIRM?
Two months ago.
WHAT IS HIS AREA OF EXPERTISE?
“I practice administrative law and business law. Administrative law represents people before agencies dealing with permitting, land use and licensing. It’s a good niche, especially in Jacksonville.”
WHY SO?
“You more commonly find administrative law practitioners in Tallahassee. Since a lot of agencies are headquartered there, a lot of those lawyers are headquartered there as well.”
WHY FOCUS ON THIS AREA?
While he attended law school at the University of Florida, Schildberg enjoyed his administrative law classes the most. “When I started practicing, I was representing companies that were subject to a heavy degree of regulation, so I was helping them with their business practice as well as their administrative law issues.”
WHAT WILL HE BE DOING FOR THIS FIRM?
“A lot of what I’ll be doing here is assisting the partners’ clients in the environmental resource permitting area and helping to build up the administrative law practice.”
WHAT IS MOST CHALLENGING ?
“Often, what I do is look for the end result and work my way backwards. By that I mean I am looking for the order the judge will enter and then make sure I have covered every point factually and legally to get there.”
DOES HE HANDLE ANY TRIAL WORK?
“An administrative practice is administrative litigation a lot of the time. I do handle contracts, partnership agreements, the buying or selling of a business. That’s the business side of my practice. With the administrative side, I may go before an administrative law judge to present witnesses, exhibits, do proposed orders and follow through the administrative procedure. Some of the cases are in front of Circuit Court judges.”
WHERE DID HE EARN HIS BACHELOR’S DEGREE?
The University of Illinois is where he received his degree in accounting, but he hasn’t practiced as a certified public accountant for almost 20 years.
WHERE DID HE BALANCE THE BOOKS?
“I was a staff accountant with a marketing research firm after I came out of Illinois. They [Information Resources, Inc.] went public while I worked there so I got to see that aspect of a commercial transaction from the inside. That IPO [initial public offering] helped me in dealing with business transactions when I’m representing people, to give me a different scope.”
HOMETOWN
Chicago.
WHY GO TO LAW SCHOOL?
“In college, the possibility of going to law school was always in the background. It was a good opportunity to help people make decisions by giving them choices. It’s also very satisfying intellectually. Actually, right out of college, I had jury duty in a federal, criminal case and wound up serving as the foreman of the jury. That gave me a different perspective on how the process works. It was an interesting and enlightening experience that strengthened my desire to become an attorney.”
THE REST OF THE STORY
Schildberg began his legal career as a clerk with what is now Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans & Coxe. In 1986, he was hired as a lawyer at the now-defunct Martin, Ade law firm. “James Ade is one of the last of the Southern gentlemen lawyers. That firm broke up a couple of years ago, then Ade and I formed Ade & Schildberg. He is in a later phase of his career and is throttling down.”
WHY DID HE CHANGE FIRMS?
“I had always thought of the Pappas firm as the premier real estate development firm. My background, although I represented a variety of business interests, included representing a large number of clients that were utility companies. I have a great deal of knowledge in the water industry. I see water rights and other water-related topics as the key issue in Florida during this century. Water is going to be key in any development in the state, so I saw this as a good match.”
TO WHAT GROUPS DOES HE BELONG?
In addition to serving as treasurer of the Christian Legal Society, Schildberg is a member of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, Guardian Lutheran Church, the Jacksonville Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
WHERE DOES HE LIVE?
Clay County is home to Schildberg, his wife Brenda, their infant daughter Julia and their twin sons, Michael and Stephen.
HIS HOBBIES?
Short jaunts with the family to the mall, park or zoo make up the majority of his spare time. When he and his wife can get away as a couple, he prefers dinner and a show at the symphony. Big on ball games, Schildberg loves to cheer on the Florida Gators or Chicago Cubs.
HIS PET PEEVE?
“Dishonesty. I believe I am straightforward. I mean what I say and expect others to do the same.”
— by Monica Tsai