Amy Vo has been a real estate attorney with Sheppard & Sheppard PA in St. Augustine since March 2006 and practices residential and commercial real estate law and business law.
“I do anything and everything associated with residential and commercial real estate and businesses. “I handle whatever needs to be done from contract to closing. I’m a transactional attorney,” she aaid. “When you are a transactional attorney, residential and commercial closings go hand in hand.
“I like the commercial closings better than the residential because they are more fun. There are more steps to it and more players involved. It’s also a lot more complicated.
“For the residential, I have processors who help me and they do a lot of the back and forth with the residential clients so I don’t get as much of the face time with them as I do with commercial.
“With commercial, I have to be involved from the very first step all the way through. I get to talk to more people and be more involved with it.”
COLLEGE
She has a bachelor’s degree in political science, with a minor in art history and a law degree from the University of Miami.
BACK TO JACKSONVILLE?
“I stayed in Miami for about a year after I graduated from law school. I never intended to leave Miami, but I talked to Holly (Sheppard of Sheppard & Sheppard P.A.) and it seemed like the right thing to do. I grew up with her little sister.”
WHY AN ATTORNEY?
“Ever since I was little, I either wanted to be a plastic surgeon or a lawyer and a Supreme Court justice.” She started college with the intention of becoming a doctor but the hospital scene and the demanding schedule didn’t agree with her.
HOW WAS LAW SCHOOL?
“It is a lot of reading. I guess I was expecting something different. They don’t really teach you what to do to be a lawyer and what it’s like to be a lawyer. You read a lot of books and cases and when you get out of law school that’s when you get your real education.”
HOW DID YOU GAIN EXPERIENCE?
Vo worked at Dittmar & Hauser, a medical malpractice defense firm in Miami, during college to get some practical experience before graduating. She also interned at the Miami Dade Police Legal Bureau while in college.
HOW DOES SHE LIKE REAL ESTATE LAW?
“I like that every day is different. You have different questions that you have to research and find out answers for. I learn something new every day.”
WHY CHOOSE THAT TYPE OF LAW?
It just happened, she said, but that she thinks it fits her well. “It’s perfect because my grandmother was a real estate investor and she developed several of the shopping centers in St. Augustine. It was just one of those things that kind of happens and fits.”
CLIENTS?
Realtors, For Sale by Owners, businesses, investors, contractors and local people in St. Augustine. “It’s great that St. Augustine is a small town. You get to know people and develop personal relationships with them.”
ISSUES FACING AGENTS?
“I see a lot of people who need to move coming in trying to sell their house for what they paid for it and they can’t, so they end up losing money.”
HOW IS YOUR BUSINESS DIFFERENT NOW THAN A YEAR OR SO AGO?
“I’ve seen an increase in evictions as far as landlord/tenant law. Those are never fun or happy. The residential closings have slowed down but we still have commercial business coming in. We can definitely see that the market has changed.”
FAVORITE THING ABOUT HER JOB?
“I love everyone I work with. I think that is one of the most important things. You want to enjoy going into work and if you work well with everybody then you are going to have a great job and a good time.”
BEST PROFESSIONAL ADVICE EVER RECEIVED?
“Enjoy what you do.”
KEY TO SUCCESS?
Vo said to work hard. “If you are going to do something, do it all the way or don’t do it at all.”
- by Michele Newbern Gillis