by Joel Addington
Contributing Writer
The Boy Scouts of America honored George Gabel with a framed sketch of himself. The American College of Trial lawyers gave him a plaque after naming him one of only 20 college fellows in Jacksonville. The king of Norway signed a document declaring Gabel an honorary consul to that nation.
And while these and many other tokens of recognition are in Gabel’s office on the 39th floor of the Bank of America building, the Holland & Knight attorney does not display them.
“I’m not one to put them up on the wall,” said Gabel, 67, who has practiced law for maritime and media clients for more than 40 years.
Rather, the aforementioned accolades sit tucked behind a couch or stacked in a cabinet drawer next to his desk.
Gabel, a Jacksonville native, has a long history in the area and is known in many circles. The Riverside resident has attended Riverside Presbyterian Church his entire life and graduated from Lee High School. He’s a member and former president of the Rotary Club and on the National Advisory Board of Tulane University.
After graduating from law school at the University of Florida in 1964, Gabel rose to the rank of captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, serving two years at an intelligence command in San Francisco.
He left the service two years later to start his own maritime law practice in Jacksonville, which lasted 25 years before merging with Holland & Knight, a firm of 1,250 attorneys worldwide.
“I can remember being a sophomore in college and hearing this president of the bar association talk about how we can all live together in society because of the rule of law,” said Gabel of why he chose the legal profession. “But between nations, he said it’s the law of the jungle. That inspired me and is probably why I got into international and maritime law.”
Such matters continue to interest Gabel to this day. He recently published a paper on modern-day piracy. He said piracy is still very prevalent in a place between Malaysia and Singapore called the Straits of Malaka.
“The other bad area is Somalia,” he said. “It (piracy) is a real problem. One ship with millions of gallons of oil is like a fortune to these poorpeople.”
Two paintings, both of ships, hang at each end of Gabel’s office and demonstrate his affinity for the high seas.
“One of the great things about my practice was I got to travel around the world,” said Gabel. He’s been to London a number of times, as well as Asia. But his favorite place, he said, is Norway.
Gabel is also an active member of The Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce International Business Coalition. He accompanied Mayor John Peyton and Port Authority officials to Asia recently where he witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the City and Korean shipping company Hanjin.
“When we got to Seoul it was great; a wonderfully exciting event,” he said. Gabel even had business cards printed in Korean, Chinese and Japanese for the trip.
Today Gabel serves as an executive partner in Holland & Knight’s Jacksonville office and said he, “facilitates lawyers to work together for clients in the most efficient and effective way.”
Outside of work, he enjoys playing bridge with his wife and traveling with his two daughters, their husbands and four grandchildren.
“We’ve been going to the North Carolina mountains for 45 years,” said Gabel of the annual Thanksgiving trips to a cabin in Cashiers, N.C. “When they (his two daughters) got married, the boys (husbands) were nice enough to go along with the tradition.”
Pointing to a picture taken of his family in the mountains, Gabel said, “I love these white pine trees. They don’t grow down here.”
Other trips have included Disney cruises and last year’s vacation to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore. Next year will be Alaska.
“We all enjoy traveling together,” he said.