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Since its founding in 1925, Williams Parker has helped guide the growth and prosperity of Sarasota’s skyline and neighborhoods, its banks, schools, public hospital, thriving airport, and many of the enduring and iconic institutions and organizations responsible for much of the area’s good fortune and character.
Through the years, the law firm has developed national-caliber capabilities, expanding strategically to meet the diverse and complex needs of its clients. In response to Southwest Florida’s growing commercial real estate market, the firm most recently added construction law and litigation attorney Douglas E. Walker, a 30- year industry veteran. Walker will work with clients in the construction, development, and public contracting industries on contract negotiations and settlements, regulatory compliance and investigations, risk management, and dispute avoidance and resolution.
Asked about the firm’s growth amid an unprecedented year, Ric Gregoria, president of Williams Parker— which focuses primarily in the areas of trusts and estates, corporate, tax, employment, real estate, and litigation—described continuity and growth among Sarasota’s business community, the firm being no exception.
“We have especially noted a continuous uprise in construction and development, as more and more people relocate their families and their businesses to the area to take advantage of Florida’s warm weather and favorable tax climate,” said Gregoria. “Doug’s experience is a natural complement to our sophisticated commercial real estate and land use practices, and we are excited to have him on our team,” Gregoria added.
Williams Parker has been interwoven with Sarasota’s development for nearly a century. During the Great Depression, the law firm was instrumental in helping to land the much-needed Works Progress Administration Municipal Auditorium project. After World War II and the Korean War, the firm partnered with some of the area’s most prominent real estate titans to convert Florida’s raw, seemingly uninhabitable land into some of the most coveted real estate in the world. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the firm assisted in the thoughtful planning and development of Bird, Lido, and Longboat Keys.
Today, the firm is nearing its centennial and has grown to include nearly 50 attorneys and 65 staff members. Over 70 percent of its attorneys have at least one advanced degree in accounting, business, or medicine, or are board certified by The Florida Bar as specialists in their area of practice.
Douglas E. Walker can be reached at (941) 552-5545 or dwalker@ williamsparker.com