by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
Retirement just isn’t in the cards for Bill Birchfield.
It isn’t out on a fishing boat, either, or under a banyan tree, marking time in the shade.
“Once a year, I go fishing with the same group I’ve fished with for the last 25 years; that’s the extent of my fishing,” said Birchfield, sitting in a conference room at Lewis, Longman & Walker.
“I don’t play golf,” he added with a grin. “I don’t have the figure for tennis. And I like what I do. I get up every morning, put on my tie and go to work.”
Instead of slowing down, Birchfield is starting another chapter in a long and distinguished career as he and Bruce Humphrey, also at Lewis, Longman, prepare to open their own firm.
“We’re doing it for several reasons,” said Birchfield. “One, we’ll be closer to town. That means less commute for me.
“Unfortunately, that means more for Bruce.”
Birchfield lives in Riverside; Humphrey in St. Johns County near the World Golf Village.
On Sept. 1, they will move to a temporary office at 841 Prudential Drive, Suite 1400.
The goal is to complete their move and be open for business the same day.
“The computer systems and data files are such that, if you have a phone line, fax machine, copier and computer, you can continue to get your work done,” said Humphrey.
Their permanent office at 1031 LaSalle St. will open Jan. 1.
That additional move is by necessity, not choice.
“We bought the LaSalle Street property but we can’t get into it until January,” said Birchfield. “Once you make the decision to leave, it’s like what Ben Franklin said about visitors and fish (Editor’s note: “Both start to smell after three days.”)
“We felt that any inconvenience would be ours.”
Though packing and moving is not high on his list of favorite tasks, Humphrey downplayed the pending hassles.
“It’s amazing how portable offices are today,” he said. “No move is fun, but this should be relatively simple.”
Running their own firm, Birchfield said, “will give us a chance to emphasize the things we think we do best and reduce the opportunity for conflict with clients of the firm.”
As they do now, the two men will focus on issues involving eminent domain, condemnation and land use.
Birchfield has been of counsel with Lewis, Longman since October 2001, coming over from McGuire Woods. While there, he represented governments and private landowners in eminent domain actions, helped landowners with land use issues and mediated commercial cases.
In 1974, he formed the law firm of Martin, Ade, Birchfield & Johnson, which became Martin, Ade, Birchfield & Mickler in 1988. His governmental and land use practice emphasized eminent domain, zoning and growth management, and permitting, including developments with regional impact.
Birchfield was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1970 and served two terms.
After leaving the legislature, he was appointed to the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, where he served eight years (two as chairman) and the Jacksonville Port Authority, where he served for four years (one as chairman).
He served as a member of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission in 1977-78.
Humphrey, a senior associate at Lewis, Longman, had been a partner at Brigham Moore where he represented private property owners in all phases of condemnation practice, from pre-litigation negotiation to post-trial appeals. He also represented property owners in redevelopment areas, orders of taking and inverse condemnation cases.
He received a bachelor’s degree in real estate from Florida State University in 1986. After graduation, he appraised commercial real estate for Clayton, Roper and Marshall Inc. in Orlando.
“Bruce’s background brings a unique but valuable tool to the kind of practice we do,” Birchfield said. “The bottom line of eminent domain work is money, how the property is valued.”
Humphrey’s tasks at Clayton, Roper were to analyze and appraise a wide variety of properties, such as golf courses, apartment complexes, shopping centers, hotels and office buildings throughout Florida and the eastern United States.
Humphrey received his JD from Stetson University College of Law in 1998.
His clients range from multi-national corporations to single-family homeowners. He also works with large landowners, restaurants, retail stores and planned unit developments.
Whether the client is large or small, “What I have learned is you represent everybody that needs help and needs representation,” Humphrey said. “To some folks, that $4,000 or $5,000 in compensation may be the same as $300,000 or $400,000 to a large corporation.
“Our heart is in helping property owners receive full compensation. You have larger and smaller cases. And you hope to have enough of each to keep going.”
The new phone number at Birchfield & Humphrey is
398-7725.