2 min read August 2022 — Marks Gray, P.A. is a business law firm located in Jacksonville and has been serving Northeast Florida for more than 120 years. Invest: spoke with Fred Kent, the firm’s president and shareholder, about its activity, the role of technology in the firm and his near-term outlook.
What has been keeping the firm busy this year?
With all the influx of businesses and people, there has been a lot of real estate and leasing work for new companies. We have had some interest in intellectual property matters and corporate law has been in demand. We have also been handling immigration issues for incoming professionals from other countries with their accompanying families. We continue to broaden our areas of practice. We have expanded to be able to provide representation for patent and aviation law as well. We have seen our business branch out and business has come from many sectors of the economy.
How are you approaching recruitment and retention?
We always have our eyes looking for good people with a focus on diversity. We don’t typically have the need to hire constantly like the big firms do but it has felt like we are constantly looking, interviewing, and hiring these days. I’m not always certain who is interviewing who. It is one thing for us to want them, but they also need to want you.
If there is a downturn or slowdown, what kinds of services would be at the forefront of the firm at that time?
The last time this happened in 2007 and 2008, the insurance defense-type work really picked up. Accidents and personal injury matters usually stay the same. Real estate and banking slows down. Bankruptcy and creditor’s rights issues begin increasing in a down economy. I hope we are not headed down that road. Things seem to be easing despite the situation. Mortgage rates and gas prices seem to have gone down a bit. I am not sure if that is a trend or a little blip. We will wait and see.
What are some of the ways that the firm has maintained an evergreen approach to its practice?
We have maintained a good culture and many of our people stay around for a long time. In spite of our relatively small size, we tell our potential clients that we are world headquarters for everything. If we think that we can confidently and effectively handle a matter, even if it is new, we will try to do it. We are flexible and react quickly to what the client wants.
What are some of the things that you are doing differently?
The work from home flexibility is definitely something different. I like the ability to have the option to more effectively work from home but I prefer being at the office. I think it’s now important that we establish some work-from-home programs and rules for the long term. We want to make sure that people are working effectively from home and that the rules treat everyone fairly.
What is your vision for how the legal sector could look in the next five to 10 years as it relates to the role that technology is playing?
I think it is going to get better. Most attorneys are good at efficiently embracing technology. It is important that cybersecurity doesn’t get out of hand and is maintained. We are worried about privacy issues and hacking. The security aspect to the technology needs to be developed.
How do you expect the sector to look overall?
I think the legal sector is really healthy. Florida has the kind of attractive characteristics that Atlanta and Charlotte had years ago. A lot of manufacturing is coming in. I believe Jacksonville is going to have a big role in the next three to five years in some new important industries such as the space program. Jacksonville is such a great place to live. People are going to naturally come here. I think it’s an exciting time to live and work in Jacksonville.
What plans exist for the firm to expand its service offerings?
We have expanded our offerings over the past seven to ten years by adding immigration, intellectual property, aviation and surrogacy. And we want to continue to expand our areas of practice. We want to keep the firm growing and keep our clients happy. I think a lot of firms like ours are going to go into firm retreat mode soon with all the new things happening. We believe it’s time to reset and then look ahead and start getting our house in order.
What is your overall outlook for the firm?
I am pretty positive about where things are going. We have to continue to plan and look ahead and we will keep doing that. To some extent the bigger worries that seem to be at the forefront these days are such things as the unstable economy and even the larger geopolitical environment. But those matters are not within our control. You can’t really plan for that as a law firm. We will continue to focus on what we can control and looking at the state of things now in Jacksonville and Florida on a larger scale, I feel comfortable where we are right now and excited about where we are headed.
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