After a 35-year career as a trial lawyer, Bob Cole will follow a new legal path and open a practice focused on mediation.
Cole is the immediate past president of the Florida chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a partner at Boyd & Jenerette.
He will leave the firm this month to open a Jacksonville office for Upchurch Watson White & Max, a firm specializing in mediation.
“Joining Upchurch Watson White & Max is a natural next step in my legal career, and I am excited about focusing all my work on mediation. As a trial lawyer for more than 33 years in Jacksonville, I have been party to many mediations that have brought my clients successful settlements to their cases. I look forward to growing my mediation practice and our services in the new office here in Jacksonville,” said Cole.
The firm has served clients in Jacksonville previously, but this is its first office in the area. Based in Daytona Beach, Upchurch Watson has Florida offices in Miami and Maitland and an Alabama office in Birmingham.
At Boyd & Jenerette, Cole specialized in significant injury and wrongful death, medical malpractice, legal malpractice, design professional liability
cases and insurance coverage issues.
“His extensive litigation skills and knowledge of Florida law will greatly benefit our clients and help them reach successful resolutions,” said John Upchurch, president of Upchurch Watson.
After joining ABOTA in 1990, Cole was honored with the FLABOTA “Lawyer of the Year” award in 2008 and he was Jacksonville chapter president and FLABOTA president.
Before joining Boyd & Jenerette, Cole founded Cole, Stone, Stoudemire & Morgan with his partner William Stone in 1986. The firm merged with Boyd & Jenerette in 2009.
He also has been active in the community with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida board of directors; Jacksonville University, University Council member; Baptist Health Foundation Annual Support Committee; and the March of Dimes.
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