by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Homer Humphries passed The Florida Bar exam in 1961 and over his 56-year career he’s prosecuted or defended just about every case imaginable. During his half-century career, Humphries has worked for the State Attorney’s Office, several law firms and even started his own.
In December, Humphries decided that being a partner in a firm (Humphries & Oberdier) wasn’t for him anymore. He sold his last few shares, took his name off the door and “retired” to his home in Sawgrass.
However, it’s not accurate to say Humphries has retired — at least not by the definition of the word. He’s still plenty busy overseeing the Vintage Lawyers group, working with Florida Community College at Jacksonville’s Cecil Commerce Center campus and even doing a little law on the side.
“I’ll do some stuff for my neighbors,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ll tell them to call someone or that I know a couple of good lawyers that can handle their case. I help some with things like divorces, reading contracts or real estate matters.”
He gets paid, too, but there’s no sense in filing any W-2s. Humphries and his neighbors have gone back in time to the days of bartering.
“I do the work pro bono for my neighbors,” he said. “Sometimes, they give me oranges or lemons or grapefruits off their trees. It’s not a bad deal at all.”
Humphries has also begun writing a book. While the non-fiction novel is still in its infancy, Humphries has plenty of experiences to relate. In addition to working as a lawyer in Jacksonville over the past 56 years, the Bolles School graduate also served on the first City Council after Consolidation and he’s an original member of the University of North Florida’s Foundation.
“I was the third president of Council after Consolidation and the third president of the UNF Foundation,” said Humphries, who went to the University of Virginia along with four other Bolles classmates for his undergraduate degree and Stetson Law School in St. Petersburg for his law degree.
Humphries is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and figures he’s tried thousands of cases over the years — more than enough to produce an interesting, entertaining book, in addition to covering what he calls “accurate vignettes” from his law career.
“I’ve done some pretty crazy and wild things. Some of them were pretty dangerous,” said Humphries. “The book will also be about Consolidation.”
Some of those dangerous things surely occurred during his stint in the Air Force from 1953-58. After leaving the service, Humphries joined the local Air National Guard, from which he eventually retired in 1989 as a Brig. Gen.
Humphries and his wife Dee have three kids (they are step-children to him) and they are scattered all over. One son is in Atlanta where he’s an artist. Their daughter is married and lives in Virginia Beach where her husband runs the Tournament Players Club for the PGA Tour. The other son is in the Army and he doesn’t tell them much more than that. They don’t see him often and when they do, he’s not permitted to talk about what he does, where and to whom.