Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans & Coxe, P.A.

Roots in nineteenth-century Jacksonville

The firm, formally Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans & Coxe, P.A., traces its start to 1865 and describes itself as the oldest law firm in continuous existence in the State of Florida. That date puts its origins in the years just after the Civil War, when Jacksonville was a far smaller river town. The firm works in litigation, and its attorneys appear in both state and federal courts. The site notes that much of the caseload arrives as referrals from other law firms.

Referral work of that kind carries a plain meaning. When other lawyers send a matter to a firm, they are handing over cases they cannot take or prefer to place elsewhere, and that pattern usually rests on a long track of handled disputes. As a reviewer, I read the 1865 date and the referral note together as the two facts the firm leans on most.

The office is in the Bedell Building in downtown Jacksonville. The firm shares its name with the building it works from, which points to a settled and long-running presence in the city.

The range of matters the firm handles

The site lists ten practice areas. They are administrative proceedings, appellate litigation, civil litigation, corporate investigations, criminal defense, estates and trust litigation, family law, personal injury litigation, professional malpractice defense, and real estate and land use litigation. Those areas cover civil disputes, criminal cases and family matters within one office.

The firm says it keeps a size that lets it take on complicated civil, criminal and family law cases. In my opinion that framing matches the list, because each of those three tracks can turn on detailed records and long hearings. The four areas that map most directly to how a directory sorts work are civil litigation, criminal defense, family law, and real estate.

What these cases usually involve

Criminal defense that reaches white collar and federal matters often begins well before any charge, at the grand jury and investigation stage, where investigators gather documents and witness accounts. This is general background on how such matters proceed, not a claim about any single case the firm has handled. Corporate investigations follow a similar early rhythm, since a company may review its own conduct before an outside agency acts. Appellate litigation runs on written briefs and oral argument before a higher court, and it turns on the record already built in the trial below.

Civil litigation and personal injury cases move through pleadings, discovery, and often mediation before any trial date arrives. Professional malpractice defense puts the firm on the side of a professional answering a claim about their work, which calls for close reading of the standards in that field. Estates and trust litigation deals with disputes over wills, trusts and the handling of an estate, and it usually sits within the probate courts.

Family law in Florida runs through the circuit courts and frequently passes through mediation on the way. Matters there include divorce, child custody, child support, paternity, alimony and equitable distribution, which is the division of property and debts. Real estate and land use litigation can bring in local zoning boards and administrative hearings alongside the courtroom, and administrative proceedings more broadly play out in front of state agencies before they reach a judge.

How the team is built

Fourteen attorneys are listed on the site, along with two attorneys marked retired and four paralegals. Several of the named lawyers carry stated roles and credentials that fill out the picture. The site also names Lidija Barauskas, Sarah Byres, Taylor Collins, Brian T. Coughlin and James McCauley without listing individual practice areas for them, so a reader who wants that detail would ask the firm.

The criminal defense bench

O. David Barksdale is the managing partner. He earned a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1988 and a J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1992, and his work centers on criminal defense and criminal trials, including white collar crime and DUI and DWI cases. Henry M. Coxe III, a member of the firm, took a B.A. from the University of the South in 1969 and a J.D. from Washington and Lee University in 1972. His practice covers criminal defense, white collar crime, federal criminal matters, grand jury practice and vehicular homicide.

Allan F. Brooke II holds a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law. He handles white collar criminal defense, appellate matters, and civil and commercial litigation. The two long graduation dates on this side of the firm sit among the oldest on the roster.

Business and family practice

R. Troy Smith is a director at the firm. He earned a B.S. from Vanderbilt University in 1993 and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 1996, and his work spans litigation, intellectual property and technology, class action defense, product liability and toxic tort, and personal injury.

Ashley M. Myers is a member of the firm and works on the family side. She earned a B.S. from James Madison University in 1993 and a J.D. from Stetson University in 1995, and she is board certified in marital and family law by the Florida Bar. Her matters include divorce, child custody, child support, paternity, alimony and equitable distribution.

Two attorneys carry the business litigation load. R.H. Farnell II graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1994 and handles business litigation, personal injury defense and professional liability defense. Michael E. Lockamy finished the same law school in 2009 and handles business and civil litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants.

Credentials and recognition on the record

The law schools behind the named attorneys include the University of Florida Levin College of Law, Washington and Lee University, the University of Texas School of Law, Stetson University and Southern Methodist University. The 1969 and 1972 graduation dates on the criminal defense side sit next to a 2009 date on the business litigation side, so the roster mixes decades of experience with newer entrants. Vanderbilt University appears in three of the stated backgrounds.

The firm reports that its attorneys appear in several peer-review directories and rankings, among them Chambers USA, Florida Trend's Legal Elite and Super Lawyers. As a reviewer, I would read these as the firm's own reported recognition, worth checking against the current listing on each publication. Among the stated credentials, the board certification held by Ashley Myers in marital and family law by the Florida Bar is the one formal designation of that kind named on the site.