by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Paul Vance, the senior vice president of football operations and general counsel for the Jacksonville Jaguars, made his second appearance in front of the Jacksonville Bar Association Thursday. As a member of the team since its inception — and an employee of team owner Wayne Weaver long before that — it’s not surprising that Vance talked a little football.
The team was 6-3 at the time and heading into a make-or-break stretch of the schedule that included three of the next four games at home.
“We will get a good idea of what we have over the next few weeks,” said Vance, who is also of counsel for Foley & Lardner. “How we do at the end of the season depends on the depth we have now.”
While part of Vance’s job is to serve as the lead counsel for the Jaguars in negotiating everything from player salaries to sponsorships, he’s also in charge of assuring the team stays under the NFL-mandated salary cap. It’s an extremely complicated process that assures most of the league’s 32 teams have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs any given year. Vance didn’t get into the intricacies of the salary cap, but former Florida Bar and Jacksonville Bar Association President John DeVault assured the packed room at the Hyatt that Vance knew what he was doing.
“Paul Vance probably understands the salary cap rules better than anyone,” said DeVault, who introduced Vance.
When Vance and the team came to town officially for the 1995 season, he said Jacksonville hadn’t begun to reach its potential from a sports and entertainment standpoint.
“It’s hard to look at the entertainment industry 15 years ago and look at where it is today,” he said. “In 1994, there was no arena, new stadium, new baseball park or the Times-Union Center. The Ritz Theatre was a tumbled wreck and that has been redone.”
Vance talked about several other things including ticket sales and player behavior. It was DeVault, however, who pointed out the success of the entire Vance family. His wife Jane works for the Duval County school system and they have four children — one graduated from Dartmouth, one from Princeton and two from Harvard.
Also at the meeting, the following lawyers were sworn in to the Jacksonville Bar Association:
Ricardo Bedoya, J. Bennett Boggess, Adam Brandon, Laura Callahan, Paul Daragjati, Charles Davis, Jared Dolan, Jesse Dreicer, Katherine Floyd and Christina George.
Thomas Hoffman, Daniel Iracki, Jason Jordan, Eileen LaCivita, Jessica Lanifero, D. Grant Leggett, Jane Lester, Casandra Lim, Sheila Loizos, Betsy Lonsdale, James Mason, Jr., Jennifer Mayo, Maria Musolino and Todd Niemczyk.
Jacob Payne, Ivania Perez, Lucille Ponte, J. Matt Rabil, R. Casey Ratchford, Jade Renard, Robert Riva, Joshua Roberts, Catherine Rotchford, Elizabeth Rothenberg, Liana Rothstein, Ann Shorstein, Rick Sichta, Corrine Simon, Andrew Steif and Timothy Waller.