Marks Gray recently added four new attorneys and a new practice area to its growing business-focused practice. A local aviation law team joined the practice along with two additional attorneys from other area law firms. Marks Gray now includes 25 attorneys, and a total of 57 employees.
The Aviation Law team includes Partner Edward M. Booth, Jr. along with Associate Attorney Courtney M. Johnson, Paralegal Beth Lewis, and Legal Assistant Tia Pace. All four joined after recently practicing together at another Jacksonville law firm. Booth and his team join longtime Marks Gray attorneys also involved in aviation and aviation law. Attorney Giselle Carson is a current board member for the Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) and Attorney Jerry Weedon has decades of aviation litigation experience.
Andrew J. Bell also joined the firm recently and practice commercial and insurance defense litigation. Bell most recently practiced at the Jacksonville office of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer.
“We are particularly excited about making available the expanded areas of practice which Ed and his team bring to Marks Gray and our clients,” said Frederick Kent, III. “In addition to Mr. Booth’s expertise in aviation law, he has a depth of civil trial experience with an emphasis in the insurance defense field.”
The new aviation team members are some of the only legal professionals in this market to focus on aviation law. The team also defends against all manner of civil lawsuits.
Ed Booth, a native of Jacksonville and a second-generation North Florida attorney, has practiced law since 1982. He is also a 43-year licensed pilot who is Air Transport Rated. He has owned and operated a private airplane for 33 years, which is based at the Jacksonville International Airport (JIA). He was the first Florida attorney to be Board Certified in Aviation Law in 1996. In addition, Mr. Booth currently serves as attorney for the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport and has previously represented other regional airports in Northeast Florida and has served on the board of the JAA. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Jacksonville University (JU) teaching an aviation law course in the David College of Business School of Aviation.
Booth is a past chairman of both the Florida Bar Aviation Law Committee and the Florida Bar Aviation Law Certification Committee. He is the past president of the Lawyer Pilots Bar Association, a 60-year-old international organization of aviation attorneys, and is a frequent lecturer on aviation topics at national aviation conferences. Booth is a frequent news commentator and analyst on aviation matters facing our region.