Raul Valdes-Fauli.

Coral Gables Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli is leaving Fox Rothschild to return to solo practice.

Valdes-Fauli, who has been practicing law since 1968 and has been a partner at Fox Rothschild since 2012, was re-elected mayor of Coral Gables last April. Valdes-Fauli said he will establish his own law office in Coral Gables, which will be more convenient for his work as mayor. He said he will wrap up his work at Fox Rothschild next week.

“I'm very busy with Coral Gables and I want to dedicate more time to my clients,” Valdes-Fauli said.

His clients include long-term small business clients, foreign clients and others needing wealth management advice, he said.

Valdes-Fauli started his career at Standard Oil Co., now Exxon Mobil, and then opened his first firm—a tax and banking law practice—in 1971. Over the next several years, the firm added and changed name partners. In 1979, Valdes-Fauli joined Mahoney Hadlow & Adams, where he eventually became a name partner. He joined Gunster Yoakley Valdes-Fauli & Stewart in 1995; Steel Hector & Davis in 2000; and Fowler Rodriguez Valdes-Fauli in 2005. In 2012, he joined Fox Rothschild.

He was a Coral Gables commissioner from 1985 to 1989, and lost the 1989 mayoral election by a few votes. The city elected him mayor from 1993 to 2001, when he lost to Donald Slesnick.

Valdes-Fauli said his civic work has benefited his legal practice because people know him when he calls, but his legal experience has also been of use to the city. At the same time, the civic work takes a toll on his time for his legal practice in downtown Miami.

“When you have someone in your firm who is both a lawyer and a politician you have to be both mature about it and flexible,” said Joseph DeMaria, managing partner of the Miami office of Fox Rothschild. “It can be a benefit to the firm and to the politician. If you handle it right, it's a nonissue. It was a pleasure having Raul work at the firm.”