Alan Wachs’ waterfront office may only be 15 miles from the
University of North Florida campus, but the award-winning attorney has come a
long way since the Constitutional Law class that decided his future.
Sitting in the downtown Jacksonville office that reflects his
outgoing personality, Wachs is surrounded by the things he loves — photos of
his three children (Rachel, Ben and Sam), artwork they have created, nautical
charts from boating trips he has taken around the world, an eclectic collection
of coffee mugs and exotic cigar boxes. He is a man on the move, but anchored to
a life he really began on the UNF campus.
A top Northeast Florida litigator, Wachs graduated magna cum
laude from the University in 1990 with a degree in political science. Wachs credits
many of the lessons learned at UNF as a foundation for his stellar law career.
“There were a couple of great decisions I made at UNF,” Wachs
said. “One was to take a statistics class that has genuinely helped my career
and the other was taking a law class taught by Harvey Schlesinger.”
Schlesinger is a former federal magistrate, and later became
District Judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of
Florida.
“Judge Schlesinger’s Constitutional Law class was one of the
reasons I decided to go to law school,” Wachs said. “So when it came time to be
sworn into the Florida Bar, I asked Judge Schlesinger if he would administer
the oath to me. And he did, twice — then and later when I was appointed to the
Florida Board of Bar Examiners.”
Wachs took
that class with one of his close friends at UNF, Chris Harris, who is now one of his law partners. “We
used to work on term papers together and now we write briefs together.”
Wachs is a partner at Volpe, Bajalia, Wickes, Rogerson &
Wachs, where he focuses on complex commercial litigation as well as insurance
and re-insurance litigation. He has received many awards and honors since
receiving his juris doctorate from the Florida State University College of Law
in 1993. Wachs is admitted to practice in the United States District Court in
the Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Florida and the United States
Court of Appeals 11th Circuit. He is also a member of the Florida Board of Bar
Examiners — a body of 12 appointed attorneys and three public members charged
with overseeing the administration of the bar examination and making
recommendations on the character and fitness of applicants to the Florida Bar.
He holds the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating
service, and has been selected by Super Lawyers magazine as one of the top 5
percent of lawyers in the state for each of the past four years. Florida Trend
magazine has also named him one of Florida’s Legal Elite for several years
running.
But before becoming one of the best of the best, Wachs made
lasting friendships on campus — many of which still thrive. He solidified many
of those friendships at the old Boathouse, a lakefront venue used to serve
campus entertainment and dining needs. Many students passed a great deal of
time at the social hub of campus, and Wachs was no exception.
“We spent a lot of time there,” he said. “It was a surreal
experience when I found myself in the new Boathouse with UNF President John
Delaney. I was originally there as an undergraduate student and that day, I was
a graduate and attorney representing the interests of the University. It was a
really neat experience and one that I am proud of. When I was attending UNF as
a student, I never thought I would be back one day to help defend its interests
in the courts and work with a man of President Delaney’s stature.”
Delaney said much the same about Wachs. “It is an honor to count
an attorney of Alan Wachs’ caliber among our most successful alumni. His career
and accomplishments speak volumes about the quality of our undergraduate
programs,” he said. “Students who choose to study at UNF can go anywhere and do
anything after graduation. Alan Wachs is one of the most respected and
sought-after litigators in the state of Florida. He is precisely who we talk
about when we talk about the difference our graduates make in our community.”
Wachs has come a long way since his days at UNF and he truly
enjoys what he does. “It is hard for me to imagine doing anything else. It is
great to have good clients and long-term relationships. But it is also great to
get to go to trial. I really enjoy that competitive aspect of my work — it is
not fun when you are told you’re wrong, but it is an awful lot of fun to be
told you are right.”
And Wachs gets it right an awful lot.
