Service to Community Includes Unequaled Contributions to Major Moments
Marks Gray, one of Jacksonville’s oldest and most respected law firms, is celebrating 125 years of service to Northeast Florida’s businesses, residents and community. The firm is commemorating the anniversary with multiple community service and fundraising projects, all headed by volunteers from the firm’s staff and attorneys. The Mayor of Jacksonville proclaimed November 14 as Marks Gray 125th Anniversary Day in Jacksonville.
Tracing its origin to 1899 when attorney Richard P. Marks opened his office in Jacksonville, the firm has become Northeast Florida’s comprehensive business and corporate law firm. The firm has weathered times of war, economic peaks and valleys, as well as major changes in Jacksonville. It is also known as the law firm that saved and preserved the only Duval County real estate records that survived Jacksonville’s Great Fire in 1901.
During its 125 years of practice, Marks Gray has had six presidents of the Jacksonville Bar, two presidents of the Florida Bar and several attorneys who have gone on to be appointed or elected judges. The firm has grown to more than 50 employees and more than 20 attorneys. To commemorate its 125 years, its staff participated in more than 125 hours of community service in 2024, including working with Beaches Habitat for Humanity, volunteering at Feeding Northeast Florida and fundraisers with its Community Service Committee.
“We’re proud to celebrate our place in Jacksonville history,” said Frederick H. Kent, III, firm President and shareholder. “Our legacy of service and civic engagement is reinforced through our commitment to community, inspired by our founding members.” Those founders include James Rinaman, Jr., (1935-2024) who practiced at the firm for 56 years before retirement. Jim was influential in many events and cases that shaped Jacksonville, including the City’s consolidated government.
Other founding attorneys were instrumental in building Jacksonville’s early business community after the Industrial Revolution. They were:
Richard P. Marks (1876-1942), who was a United States Attorney and a founder of Florida Title and Trust Co., which stored the Duval County real estate records that survived the 1901 fire.
Sam Marks (1885-1973), who helped organize and served as general counsel for Winn-Dixie Enterprises. He was the executor of the estate of Charles E. Merrill, a founder of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., the successor to which is still a client of the firm; and
Harry Gray (1890-1975), who was a leading commercial and tort defense trial lawyer. He drafted Florida’s first Workers’ Compensation law in the 1930’s and was general counsel for the Florida Board of Architecture and the Florida Medical Association. He was president of the Jacksonville Bar in 1935 and the Association of Insurance Attorneys in 1963 and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.