by David Ball
Staff Writer
When Greg Radlinski walked out the doors of the Office of General Counsel for the last time on Friday, he had immediate plans to visit with family in west Florida. After that, he wasn’t really sure.
“I have nothing specific in mind,” said Radlinski. “I’m looking to travel. We got our passports in record time from the Department of State, only to find the dollar plunging against the Euro. So, it looks like it’ll be domestic travel.”
Radlinski has earned his respite after nearly 19 years with the Office of General Counsel focusing on environmental and land-use law. At 61 years old, Radlinski said there wasn’t anything particular pushing him to retire, but simply that the time had come.
“I decided to leave because it’s time to go,” he said. “I absolutely enjoyed being here, and I enjoyed the people tremendously. But there are a lot of things I want to do with the rest of my life.”
Radlinski said he would like to take a wine tour of California, ride a train across Canada and hopefully travel back to Europe, where he spent three and a half years as a lawyer in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps.
A career lawyer with JAG, Radlinski was ending his service in Naples, Italy when the Navy offered him an opportunity to study petroleum management and administration at the Navy’s petroleum reserves station in North Dakota.
“I figured I will go to school, learn how to administer petroleum contracts, and then get out and go work for an oil company and make obscene amounts of money,” he sad. “I was accepted to George Washington University to do their program, and wouldn’t you know it, the Navy transfers management of the oil reserves to the Department of the Interior.”
Still, Radlinski continued at George Washington into a new field that interested him — environmental law. “At the top of the page of courses, they put a scratch through where it said ‘petroleum managment’ and wrote in ‘environmental law,’” he said. “It was really the same program.”
But that decision defined the rest of his career, as shortly after completing the program and retiring from the Navy in 1989, a position opened up with the City of Jacksonville under then-General Counsel James Harrison in the land-use and environmental division.
Unlike many General Counsel attorneys, Radlinski never stepped foot inside a private law firm before taking the job. The public practice of law became all he knew, and he said it was more than enough to keep him busy.
“The work is varied and schizophrenic,” said Radlinski. “Sometimes I’m representing the City when the state or feds are after us for what they think is an environmental violation, and sometimes I’m representing the City going after what they feel is an environmental violation.”
Radlinski saw plenty of changes in his work environment too, as he worked under six different General Counsels including Harrison to 1991, Charles Arnold from 1992-94, John Delaney from 1994-95, interim General Counsel Tom Welch for six months in 1995, Fred Franklin from 1995-97 and then current General Counsel Rick Mullaney since 1997.
“Each General Counsel was different. Everybody has a different management style,” he said. “Fortunately, they were all gentlemen, and it was a pleasure to work for every one of them.”
Mullaney, who has spent the most time watching over Radlinski, said Radlinski’s tenure shows how attorneys view the office of General Counsel not as a stepping stone, but a place to spend a career.
“Greg has handled a lot of important cases like toxic tort litigation, incinerator ash issues, river issues,” said Mullaney. “He’s provided a lot of expertise through the years.”
Mullaney said one of Radlinski’s greatest contributions, and one that will last with many young Florida attorneys long after he leaves, is his administration of the office’s annual municipal law clinic.
“This year the clinic will be 10 years old, and I believe it’s one of the best municipal law clinics around,” said Mullaney. “Greg organized, supervised, mentored and gave assignments through the office. He’s run a really outstanding clinic.”
Mullaney said his office has provided more than $2 million worth of legal service to City clients from the second- and third-year law students gaining experience and college credit during the year-round clinics.
Assistant General Counsel Tom Beverly will be taking over the clinics, said Mullaney, who is planning to hire a new environmental lawyer and split up some of Radlinski’s additional duties among other attorneys in the environmental and land-use division.
One of those duties Radlinski said he will likely miss the most was his job as general counsel for the Jacksonville Waterways Commission. On Thursday, Radlinski attended his final commission meeting and introduced the board to their new attorney, Assistant General Counsel James McCain.
“That’s been a treat, serving the Waterways Commission,” said Radlinski. “That’s one of the things I’m going to miss the most about leaving the office – the people. The folks I’ve dealt with in the various departments and colleagues here in this office, I don’t think there’s a sinker in the bunch.”