by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Lauren and Michael Barker went to school together for six years and never knew it.
Both attended the University of Florida for their undergraduate degrees and both attended law schools across the street from one another in New Orleans. She went to Tulane University while he was down the street at Loyola University.
They actually met back in Gainesville during a Gators football game. Today, they are married as well as business partners in Barker & Barker, P.A. The firm provides legal services in construction law, commercial litigation, contract disputes, business and corporate law, estate and probate matters, as well as all areas of real estate law, including providing closing services and title insurance.
After law school, Michael went to work for a construction law firm — The Robertson Group in Gainesville — while Lauren finished her master’s in taxation at the University of Florida.
In 2001, they returned to Jacksonville where Michael opened his own real estate law firm. He handles commercial and residential real estate transactions, real estate related litigation and construction law.
“We represent residential and commercial developers and financial banking institutions,” he said.
When Lauren graduated with the master’s in taxation, she went to work for Brant Abraham, Reiter & McCormick, a large corporate law firm in the Bank of America tower.
But, that didn’t last long.
“She was there a year and had just gotten sick of working in a large corporate firm,” said Michael. “In 2002, she showed up on my doorstep and said ‘I hope you have a lot of work because I need a job.’
“I went to an arbitration of a securities fraud case in Orlando and was gone for five days. When I returned, she used her corporate law background to change the name from Michael J. Barker, P.A. to Barker & Barker, P.A. The letterhead and business cards were all changed and that was it.”
Lauren handles anything dealing with tax issues, corporate law or estate planning for their clients.
“I don’t really do the real estate like closings and things like that. But, a lot of his clients are developers, realtors or builders who also have issues with their corporations, so they kind of go hand-in-hand,” said Lauren. “If they buy property to develop something, they might have estate planning issues that come with building a business. They are very complementary and we try to take care of the client all around.”
In addition to changing the name of the firm, she also gave the office a women’s touch.
The office, located conveniently close to their home in the Avondale/Ortega area, is in an old house decorated with soothing greens and comfortable furniture.
“Our clientele seems to appreciate it,” said Michael. “It is a relaxed environment, but at the same time they know they are going to get the quality professional services that they need.”
The Barkers own the house and the house next door. The plan is to eventually knock both down and build a new office that fits the style of the neighborhood and provides a comfortable setting for their clients.
“Visiting a lawyer, especially in litigation, can be a stressful time,” said Lauren. “You are nervous already and can feel intimidated by all the mahogany and skyline view from the window. It’s beautiful, but we want our clients to feel comfortable. It’s kind of like they are friends of ours and we are trying to help. I think that is very important.”
In 2004, Paul Kelly joined the firm. He’s a state licensed general contractor and focuses primarily on construction law, but also does real estate law.
Having a small office allows Barker & Barker to give very personalized service to their clients.
“All of our clients know all of us here in the office,” said Lauren. “No one is going to answer the phone that they have not met or spoken with before. It’s a more personal relationship that they get from us. The advantage for us is not having to deal with the same bureaucracies that you would in a bigger firm.”
The Barkers would like to slowly expand the firm, but have no desire to get any bigger than five attorneys.
“We would look for someone who has had substantial exposure to the real estate industry from a developer’s standpoint so they understand both the transactional aspect of real estate and the construction law aspect of real estate well,” said Michael.
Being married doesn’t seem to affect their professional relationship.
“A lot of people ask, ‘How can you work with your wife?’” he said. “I can’t imagine working with anyone else that has your back more than the person you choose to spend your life with.”
Lauren feels the same.
“I think it is great,” she said. “Nobody really has your back as far as how everything goes with your business at end of the day like your family does. My parents worked together. His parents worked together and I think it has worked out so well for our family. It seemed kind of natural and comfortable for us.”
Lauren shared some advice that she received from Michael’s father.
“Leave things at the office at the office and don’t bring them home. That especially applies to a husband and wife who work together.”