by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
Derek Gruner senses that the city of Jacksonville is poised on a somewhat “bizarre precipice,” to be derided as Florida’s red-headed stepchild or extolled as a “first-tier” city.
As a member of this year’s Leadership Jacksonville class, he’s confident which notion is ready to take hold. He’s also eager to help it happen.
A strong military presence, access to a deep-water port, emerging cruise lines, proximity to developing nations in the Caribbean and development of transportation links with the rest of the country are but a few of the reasons why Gruner is convinced Jacksonville is ready to take its place as a leader.
“When I look at Jacksonville, I see the potential to make a difference,” he said. “I think to myself, on a more selfish note, wouldn’t it be great to be here at that time? That’s an exciting thing.”
Gruner is champing at the bit to do his part on behalf of the city. But he’s got one small job to tend to first. Passing The Florida Bar exam.
“The school, as a general proposition, makes the bar exam a priority,” said Gruner, who just graduated from Florida Coastal School of Law. “They don’t teach to the bar exam, but you hear about it from the first day of class.
“Some professors will tell us to consider their exams a treat because the bar’s exam’s going to be a lot heavier and harder and deeper than this.”
Gruner has been preparing for the July 27 and 28 exam in Tampa by putting in eight- to nine-hour days in an “intensive” eight-week review of everything he learned in law school.
He and his classmates have some high standards to live up to. With a 79.2 pass rate at the February exam, FCSL was topped only by the University of Florida with 88.8 percent.
The Illinois native majored in psychology at National-Louis University in Evanston. The small private school literally and figuratively stands in the shadow of Northwestern University, he said.
He took his undergraduate degree and went to work in mortgage finance, spending the last seven years in Atlanta.
“Law school was something I always wanted to do,” said Gruner. “I made myself a promise that, if I ever got to a point in life where I could afford a legal education, I would do so.
“I felt like, in law school, I was going to get an opportunity to develop what really appealed to me. I was going to be able to do something that’s more than just paying the bills.
“While finance was very lucrative, at the end of the day, all I was doing was paying bills. I needed something more.”
He narrowed his choices to three schools and went with FCSL after meeting then-Dean (later Chancellor) Donald Lively.
The school’s Center for Strategic Governance and International Initiatives and its executive director, Eric Smith, were also a draw. Gruner wound up serving as the center’s student executive director for the last 2 1/2 years.
In addition to exposing Gruner to a series of opportunities, Smith introduced him to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy at a Jacksonville Bar Association luncheon and worked him into a position as host of People and Politics, the school’s weekly television program.
“There weren’t any other law schools I was going to go where I would have met a U.S. Supreme Court justice and be on television,” Gruner said. “I’ve had members of Congress, mayors, attorneys general, a plethora of state and local elected officials on the program.
“I’ve gotten to interview these people on television and create relationships with them.”
Several of those relationships could come in handy for a member of Leadership Jacksonville, a nonprofit organization that develops youth and adult leaders to assume greater community responsibility.
“There were roughly 200 applicants this year,” said Gruner. “They interviewed about 100 and chose 50.
“Those who are selected are identified as having the potential to make some sort of contribution to Jacksonville and are then charged with the responsibility of being stewards of the community.”
Gruner has heard of job possibilities in Atlanta, Miami and Tampa but has no intention of going anyplace else.
“I’ve made Jacksonville home,” he said. “Now, with Leadership Jacksonville, it makes sense to stay here.
“Furthermore, Jacksonville and the people I’ve met here have gone out of their way to make this like home. Jacksonville in many respects is like a big small town. It’s got that urban piece to it, but it’s also got that small-town community piece.
“I haven’t experienced that anyplace else. If I’m looking to settle down and raise a family, Jacksonville seems like the place to do it.”