by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
The building that houses the downtown law firm is old enough to have an easement out back for pickups and deliveries by wagon.
That detail was just a part of doing business back when the sign out front read “Raymond D. Knight . . . Glassware & Crockery.”
There’s a new sign on the front door these days, that of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin, a Philadelphia-based defense litigation firm that now has offices in four Florida cities.
Effective July 1, the firm acquired the former staff of Obringer, DeCandio & Oosting, itself a defense litigation firm that had been in business since 1985.
“They made us a very favorable business proposal to join their firm,” said Michael Obringer, managing shareholder of the office at 12 E. Bay St. “We do the same type of work, and we have several of the same clients.”
The Jacksonville office is the fourth one in the state for Marshall, Dennehey, which also has locations throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Ohio. An office in Tampa was the first to open, followed by Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
“We certainly brought to them an established presence in Jacksonville,” said Susan Oosting, one of four local shareholders. “Of course, they provided multistate resources. So it was a very mutually beneficial arrangement.”
Obringer’s practice is concentrated in professional liability and products liability litigation. He worked as an assistant state attorney, special assistant state attorney and as a special assistant U.S. attorney before joining Mathews, Osborne and Ehrlich in 1984.
Raymond Ehrlich was a Florida Supreme Court justice (1981-91), serving as chief justice from 1988 to 1990.
Oosting concentrates her practice in insurance law, personal injury, corporate law and appellate advocacy.
The other local shareholders are Michael DeCandio and Tom Roberts.
DeCandio, a certified court mediator and former assistant state attorney, focuses on construction/architects and engineers litigation as well as major personal injury litigation.
Law is a second career for Roberts, who had worked as an engineer. His concentration is in construction law litigation, public contract law litigation, and architects/engineers and builder liability.
Two associates also work in the Jacksonville office — Laura L. Starrett and Julio C. Salvador.
It was “flattering,” Obringer said, to know that their firm was being eyed by Marshall, Dennehey.
“We were involved in several cases where they represented another party, so we got to know each other that way,” he said. “Their next target for growth was Jacksonville because there’s so much litigation in this state.”
The “courtship” that led to a final agreement lasted about a year, he added.
“There really is a lot that goes into it,” said Oosting. “You have to look at the clients, be sure you don’t have a lot of conflicts and that it’s well-coordinated.
“It’s not like putting two other businesses together, even though our practices are very similar. There was a lot of due diligence.”
In 1995, Obringer, DeCandio and Oosting bought and began renovating the three-story building, which dates to 1902. Until then, they had taken up the 14th floor of the former First Union building. Before that, they were in the original American Heritage Life building, now 11 E.
Most people don’t realize that their offices and the adjoining Dyal-Upchurch building are actually separate structures, Oosting said.
“When we bought this building, it was divided up into little offices,” she said. “In the entry, they had an atrium garden” with a utility stairway to the left side of the foyer.
The open stairwell now leads to upstairs offices and ends at a skylight.
Designers preserved as much of the original brick and other elements as possible during restoration.
“This is a fabulous building,” said Obringer. “And, because it’s a historic building, there’s only so much you can do to it. We’ve been very happy with it.”
The ongoing restoration of old buildings and the overall improvements downtown have brightened the area considerably since Obringer began working in the neighborhood 20 years ago.
“It was dying then,” he said. “There was nobody downtown after 5 o’clock. So this is certainly a good thing for Jacksonville.”
Oosting, too, appreciates the new surroundings as well as her new firm.
“We’re just glad to be here (as part of Marshall, Dennehey),” she said. “It is really going to enable us to serve our clients better and establish more relationships nationwide.
“It’s an exciting thing for us.”