by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
When Reginald Luster says he knew at “a very early age” what he wanted to do with his life, he means an uncommonly early age.
“I can only tell you that, clearly by the time I was in first grade, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer,” in his current office at the Stein Mart building. “I think if you talk with my mother and with some of my aunts and uncles, they will tell you even before I began grade school, everyone in the family said he will be a lawyer.
“They all knew it. And they were all at my graduation.”
On Feb. 1, the firm of Luster & (Dexter) Davis will open in the Otis Elevator building at the corner of Liberty and Monroe streets.
Luster was so driven that he wanted to major in law as an undergraduate at Florida State University.
“My adviser said I couldn’t; I had to get a bachelor’s degree first,” he recalled.
Selecting an undergraduate major wasn’t difficult. He still vividly remembers the teacher who took what is supposed to be a dry subject and made it spring to life.
“It was my advanced world history teacher, Mr. Burden, at Ribault Senior High School,” Luster said. “He was a wonder.
“Every day, the students rushed to get to his class. When the bell rang, he’d begin lecturing, and we’d begin our debate. When the bell rang for us to go to our next class, no one wanted to leave.
“He really motivated all of us.”
Luster’s first job after graduation was with the firm of Mathews Osborne McNatt and Cobb, practicing insurance defense law. After he had been with the firm for six and a half years, a fellow partner made a bold prediction.
“I recall going to John McNatt Jr. in September 1994 to tell him I had accepted a job with the U.S. Attorney’s office,” Luster said. “He said congratulations . . . he expected me to continue to be successful in my practice . . . and encouraged me to stay active in the Jacksonville Bar.
“Then he said, ‘I believe, one day, and I look forward to it, you will become president of the Jacksonville Bar.’”
Luster will succeed the Bar’s outgoing president, Jim Moseley Jr., on July 1.
He stayed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office until October 2001, working in the civil rights division. His job was to defend the federal government in all civil actions filed against it and its agencies.
“In 2001, I reached that point in my legal career where I wanted to return to the private practice of law,” said Luster. “Having worked with the Department of Justice for nearly seven years, I had served my country.
“I really enjoyed it. It was a really rewarding experience. I learned more about how to practice law , particularly in federal court, than I had with my previous law firm. But I wanted to be my own boss.”
He joined Dexter Davis and Craig Gibbs with the understanding they would form a new law firm.
He specializes in personal injury, for plaintiff and defense; employment discrimination, plaintiff and defense; and plaintiff’s medical malpractice law. He also represents clients in suits against the federal government.
“It’s challenging because, in some cases, I will be litigating against my former colleagues,” he said. “That clearly tells me I have to dot my i’s and cross my t’s.”
Luster has already set two priorities for the Bar during his term as president.
The first is to increase membership from around 1,900 to 2,000 — the level that entitles chapters to a delegate, and voting rights, at the ABA national convention.
“There are more than 100 lawyers in Jacksonville who are not members of the JBA,” he said. “I want to convince them of the benefits of joining and how that would benefit all of us.”
The other priority will have a deeper impact on the future of the community.
“I believe that lawyers in this community can do a lot more to address some of our educational problems,” said Luster. “I would like to see lawyers take time out of their busy schedule and talk to these students in class, particularly those in high school and middle school.”
Though he envisions attorneys visiting schools that are doing well, most of the emphasis would be on schools that are having problems.
“They could assist teachers by emphasizing the role that education plays in a lawyer’s life,” said Luster. “They could show the young students the importance of education and how education will allow them to be productive citizens, to earn an honorable wage and overall get the greatest benefit from their high school education.
“If I could get every lawyer who’s a member of the Jacksonville Bar to promise me he or she will go to a school and speak to just one class, I’m willing to bet you it would make a great difference in the educational experience for these students.”