GrayRobinson has opened a new Florida office in West Palm Beach office with three prominent litigators from Richman Greer.

The new GrayRobinson shareholders include a former Florida Bar president, a recent past president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, and a member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors.

Former Florida Bar president John George “Jay” White III will manage GrayRobinson's newest office—the firm's 14th in Florida. White, who became president of the Florida Bar in 2008, focuses his practice on commercial and complex business litigation, personal injury, wrongful death, professional malpractice litigation, class actions, and officer and director representation.

Leora Freire

White brings with him Leora Freire, immediate past president of FAWL, and Ronald Ponzoli, Jr., who sits on the Florida Bar of Governors. Freire counsels small business owners and Fortune 500 companies in complex matters, including commercial and business litigation, foreclosure matters, employment matters, product liability and personal injury litigation.

“The firm gives me a bigger platform and offers more services than my old firm. It gives me the opportunity to keep clients within the firm rather than refer them out because we don't do that type of work,” White said.

Richman Greer has two offices in South Florida.

Ron Ponzoli

Ponzoli represents clients in business and commercial litigation, religious institutions in church law matters, catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death actions, contract law, partnership disputes, complex tort litigation and clients in employment disputes.

The new GrayRobinson office opened this week at the Northbridge Centre, 515 North Flagler Drive. The firm's president and managing director, Mayanne Downs, said last year that the firm would likely expand in locations and headcount.

She told the Daily Business Review Thursday that when she came to GrayRobinson in 2012, she was surprised to learn that the firm didn't already have a West Palm Beach office. She said the legal market there is both sophisticated and competitive, and the firm needed to make sure it started out with the right mix of people.

Downs, a former Florida Bar president herself, has been friends with White for over two decades and the two served on the Judicial Qualifications Committee. They started discussing plans to bring White on board to open the new office in November.

In a statement, Downs praised the qualifications of the new hires. “Their robust experience and dedication to giving back to Florida's legal community directly aligns with our values as a firm and makes them the perfect candidates to open our West Palm Beach office,” he said.

White said the office already has hired a fourth lawyer, and two more are likely to be hired shortly. He said he hopes the office will have 15 to 20 lawyers within the next five years. The workload in the West Palm Beach legal market has been busy, he said, and he will be looking to bring on board a mix of younger lawyers and those with good books of business.