by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The jobs of both a Jacksonville City Council member and an attorney demand long hours to properly serve their clients, but combining the two may inspire a campaign for more hours in the day.
Two members of the Jacksonville City Council are practicing attorneys.
• Former Council President Kevin Hyde, 45, is the Group 4 At-Large Council member and is vice chair of Foley & Lardner’s labor and employment practice.
• Dist. 6 Council member Jack Webb, 46, has returned to private practice with Harper Gerlach after more than eight years as director for labor and employee relations with CEVA Logistics.
Hyde and Webb recently took time out of both professions to give a glimpse of the juggling act that is their lives.
Jack Webb
Dist. 6 City Council member
Attorney with Harper Gerlach
How did you become a Florida resident?
Although I was born in New York, I guess I am a semi-native in that my father is a native Floridian who met my mother while on a summer sojourn to New York while a student at the University of Florida. Most of my summers were spent either in Miami with my uncle or in Archer, outside of Gainesville, where my family owned property. I ultimately came to Florida to get an MBA at at the University of Florida after I completed college in New York. My family had returned to Florida some years earlier. Most of my early life I seemed to have one foot in Florida and one foot in New York.
What made you go back and get your law degree?
My wife, Elizabeth, is an attorney as well. I met her while I was finishing my MBA and she was starting law school. After we got married, I saw what she did in the practice of law and was intrigued by it, so I went back to UF for law school. Moreover, the prospect of being married to a lawyer for the rest of my life was somewhat unnerving, so I decided to achieve some balance by returning to law school.
What are your memories of taking the Bar exam?
Aside from the hours of preparation, I remember distinctly receiving a telephone call from my wife at the conclusion of the second day of testing telling me that I needed to return to Jacksonville immediately as she had just received confirmation that she was expecting our second child, Eamon.
Why did you choose labor/employment law?
I’ve enjoyed labor and employment law in that, in my capacity either as a labor negotiator or an employment litigator, I am required to deal effectively with people with widely divergent demographic and educational backgrounds, from corporate CEOs, to National Labor Relations Board lawyers, to union leadership, to hourly warehouse workers or truck drivers. It is challenging and rewarding to relate to such a diverse cast of characters and deal effectively with them.
How do you balance your legal practice and your Council schedule?
Between committee work, constituent service for Mandarin, and City Council meetings, serving on the Council requires a good number of hours of work during the week that would otherwise be devoted to the practice of law. I balance them simply by making up those Council hours in the early morning and evenings. The good news is that I am a fairly high-energy individual. I’ve never been comfortable with a normal pace.
How do you fit time in with the family?
I do my best but I admit it is challenging. Over the past nine years, I served in an in-house counsel position for CEVA Logistics as their director of labor and employment relations. I’ve recently returned to private practice with the law firm of Harper Gerlach. I am hopeful that being in a regular law practice environment will cut down on my travel requirements and provide a more flexible existence. In addition, weekends are, for the most part, off limits, especially in the fall with the Gators and the Jaguars.
What’s the reward?
The reward of serving on City Council is the realization that many of the professional skills I’ve developed over the years, whether in school, while in the financial services industry, or in the practice of law, are directly transferable to the work of the Council as we deal with some very thorny issues.
What is the most difficult part of the balancing act?
Interacting with the media.
What do you do with free time?
I am trying to reintroduce myself to the long-ignored concept of yard work. I admit it has been challenging.
Kevin Hyde
Group 4 At-Large
City Council member
Attorney with Foley & Lardner
Why did you get into law?
I always liked the study of law.
Lawyers have a unique ability to make an impact in the field they are going into, be it practice or service to community.
I grew up in the small town of Trenton, Fla., and there was one lawyer in the town, William Clifton. He was a respected man in the community who had the ability to help people. If someone needed a will or a contract they needed work on, he was there.
He had a real impact in the community and people thought highly of him.
What are your memories of taking the Bar exam?
I’ve taken both Florida and Virginia Bar exams.
In Florida they only allow people taking the test to bring in a clear plastic bag with pencils and test materials in it.
While you are taking the exam, they would come around and tap you on the shoulder and check your nameplate to your ID to make sure you were supposed to be in there — basically, treating us like criminals while we were taking the bar.
I remember walking out talking to guy I had gone to school with and we were talking about an essay question and we had such diametrically opposite answers that we knew one of us was wrong.
Why did you choose labor/employment law?
I clerked in those areas and enjoyed it.
Everyone has a job or is related to someone who has a job.
A job is one of the most important things in someone’s life and I like working in an area that is so important to people’s lives.
How does your background help you serve as a City Council member?
In law you have to assimilate massive amounts of info and look at issues from all sides. The same can be said for being a City Council member.
How do you balance your legal practice and your Council schedule?
It’s hard. I’m in my sixth year and, I guess, I just learned to do it. You work more.
Technology has helped a lot. BlackBerrys and laptops allow you to work from anywhere. I spend more hours doing both jobs.
I’m lucky to have understanding clients that respect public service and my partners have been very supportive and helpful.
How do you fit time in with the family?
They are very understanding, particularly when I was president of the Council.
When we carve out time for family, we make sure we don’t schedule things. I’ve missed a lot of family events because of Council responsibilities and a demanding law practice that requires me to travel a lot.
What’s the reward?
The chance to be at the table to affect decisions in areas that you are most interested in. If there is a particular area or interest you want to make a change in, you can directly affect that.
What is the most difficult part of the balancing act?
Making sure you are doing both well.
Devoting time to prepare for issues that you are going to be voting on and making sure you are giving enough time that your clients demand and deserve.
What do you do with free time?
My wife, Kathi, and I go to a lot of movies. I also take a long run in the morning.
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