100 Years of Growth
Rogers Towers has been an integral part of the Jacksonville community for over a century. Though much has changed in our first 100 years, our commitment to serving clients and helping the local community remains the cornerstone of our future.
Rogers Towers' long-standing tradition in Florida dates back to the turn of the 20th century. The firm began as "Toomer and Reynolds" in 1905, just four years after the Great Fire of 1901, which devastated the city of Jacksonville. As the city rebuilt, one of the first buildings constructed was the seven-story Consolidated Building, considered to be a skyscraper at that time. Located on East Bay Street, the building was also the first home to the firm. By the early 1960s, after several decades of steady expansion, the firm was well on its way to becoming Jacksonville's largest law firm. In 1996, the firm added its St. Augustine office, opened its Ponte Vedra Beach office in 2005, and its Amelia Island office in 2007.
Moments In Time
Over the years, Rogers Towers' lawyers have been involved in many notable events and significant cases in Jacksonville and throughout Florida. Here are a few moments in time...
Roosevelt Hotel Fire
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On Saturday, December 28, 1963, the University of North Carolina defeated the Air Force Academy in the 19th Gator Bowl football game. Early the next morning, fire swept through the fully-booked Roosevelt Hotel in downtown Jacksonville. Twenty-two guests and firefighters lost their lives in the tragedy, the largest single-day loss of life in Jacksonville's history. Rogers Towers' lawyers played a significant role in the legal disputes that followed the destruction of the Roosevelt Hotel. On behalf of the firm's long-time client, USF&G, and other fire and casualty insurance companies, Rogers Towers defended claims and worked toward timely settlements for affected parties. |
Main Street Bridge
Shipping and commerce along the St. Johns River helped build Jacksonville. But as automobile and truck traffic increased in the early 20th century, the river was becoming a hindrance to development. By the 1930's, it was obvious that ferry services and the twenty-year-old Acosta Bridge were insufficient to handle the heavy daily traffic heading north and south across the St. Johns. In 1935, the City of Jacksonville and the U.S. Bureau of Roads turned to Rogers Towers to condemn the facilities of the Florida Ferry Company for construction of a new downtown bridge. With the help of Rogers Towers' lawyers, the "Main Street Bridge" opened to vehicular traffic on July 4, 1941. Our condemnation and construction lawyers continue to be leaders in the field with practices throughout Florida and the southern United States. |
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Key Biscayne
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Florida in the 1920's was caught up in a real estate boom of a sort never seen before. One Miami developer had a vision of building 15 private islands in Key Biscayne on tidal lands to be acquired from the State of Florida and the U.S. War Department. Lawyers at Rogers Towers represented Florida's Governor and his Cabinet (as Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund) in the years of litigation that arose from the controversial sale. The dredging barges were ordered back into port in 1928 when our lawyers were successful in obtaining a Florida Supreme Court ruling against the developer on grounds the lands were not eligible for private development. |
Bootleggers & Barristers
On March 21, 1942, revenue agents outside Ocala, Florida seized a 1940 Chevrolet with a load of bootlegged liquor in the trunk. The impounded vehicle became the subject of one of the first decisions in Florida regarding the power of the government to seize assets used in criminal enterprises. Lawyers from Rogers Towers argued that the automobile finance company was an innocent victim in the case and should not be deprived of its collateral. The Florida Supreme Court's four page decision left no question as to the rights of the finance company. (Finance company was given a full opportunity to establish that the criminal conduct occurred without its knowledge or consent.) The records does not, however, provide any clue as to the fate of the bootlegged alcohol. |
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