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Firm Overview:
Personal & Professional Background |  | Since 1971, W. C. Gentry has successfully represented people who have been injured as a result of negligence, product defects and professional malpractice. He practiced with a large trial firm for fifteen years and then formed his own firm.
W. C. Gentry played a lead role and helped coordinate a team of lawyers who successfully represented the State Of Florida against the Tobacco Industry, culminating in a multi billion dollar settlement for the State Of Florida in 1998.
Since that time, the firm has been down sized and he has limited his practice to selected cases and public interest litigation. The firm primarily handles litigation by putting together a team of lawyers and coordinating resources in order to move cases as quickly as possible toward maximum recovery.
| | The following excerpt from an article in Florida Trend Magazine describes W. C. Gentry's approach to the practice of law:
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 utside the courtroom, Jacksonville attorney W. C. Gentry doesn't fit the image of the flashy, limelight seeking plaintiffs lawyer. Case in point: When he won a then-record $16-million jury verdict in a wrongful death suit against International Harvester in 1982, few people outside the plaintiffs bar heard about it --which is just the way Gentry likes it.
He refuses to have his picture taken in front of his riverfront home. “I don't own a yacht,” he says, promptly ending any talk of getting him to pose with something, anything, to represent the wealth he has amassed over a quarter of a century as a personal injury lawyer.
Fact is, he doesn't hesitate to forgo a big payout if he finds an issue that engages him. | In 1987, he took on Jacksonville's paper mills --pro bono -- as a favor to his former high school classmate and then-Mayor Tommy Hazouri, who had vowed to eliminate the city's odor problem. Two years later, the paper mills agreed to clean up their emissions. "We were squeezing the hell out of them," Gentry recalls. "It was a full-court press."
The win was especially sweet for Gentry, who grew up on Talleyrand Avenue down the street from one of the mills. He vividly remembers the noxious smell.
Gentry is renowned for meticulous preparation. He once learned to scuba dive in order to better represent the family of a man who died in an underwater accident. He's adept at filing appeals, something many trial attorneys pass off to specialists in appellate cases. |
| | Liesa Mitchell |  Liesa Mitchell joined the firm in 1996 when it was known as Gentry, Phillips and Hodak, P.A. She is certified as a paralegal and legal assistant by the American Institute for Paralegal Studies and possesses over 30 years experience as a legal secretary, legal assistant and office manager. Ms. Mitchell performs all office administration duties and assists W. C. Gentry in all legal and civic matters.
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| W. C. GENTRY | | | Birthplace: | Jacksonville, Florida
May 14, 1946 | | | Personal: | Married: Susan R. Gentry
Children: Jennifer, Stephanie and Allison | | | Education: | University of Florida College of Law, J.D.
1971, magna cum laude
University of Florida
1964 to 1967
Jacksonville University
1967 to 1968, B.A. | | | Employment: | Law Office of W. C. Gentry, P.A.
January 2000 to Present
Gentry, Phillips and Hodak, P.A.
August 1986 to 1999
Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans & Gentry
September 1971 to July 1986 | | | Certification: | Board Certified Civil Trial lawyer,
Florida Bar |
| Professional Associations: | | The Florida Bar | Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Evaluation
(2005 to 2007)
Florida Code and Rules of Evidence Committee
(2002 to Present)
Judicial Administration Selection and Tenure Committee (1998 to 2003; Chairman 2001 & 2002)
Florida Bar Special Committee on Regulation of Practice of Law (1996 to 1997)
Florida Rules of Civil Procedure Committee
(1987 to 1992; 1994 to 2001; Chairman 1995 & 1996)
Florida Bar Special Committee on Advertising
(1986 to 1998)
Board of Civil Trial Certification (1984 to 1986)
Judicial Nominating Committee, 4th Judicial Circuit
(1982 to 1984)
| Florida Justice Association
(f/k/a Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers) | Past President; Continuous Member, Board of Directors
Recipient of the Career Leadership Award (1994)
Recipient of the “Perry Nichols” Award (1999)
Presented by Chief Justice M. Harding for “Outstanding and Distinguished Service in the Pursuit of Justice”
| American Justice Association
(f/k/a Association of Trial Lawyers of America) | Sustaining Member (1975 to Present)
Board of Governors (1985 to 1991; 1993 to 1997)
Founding Board Member, Trial Lawyers Care (2001 to 2003)
Dedicated to providing pro bono legal services to the victims of 9/11
| Jacksonville Bar Association
American Bar Association
American Board of Trial Advocates - Diplomat
Chester Bedell Inn of Court - Master
Federal Judicial Nominating Commission (2006 to Present) |
| | Other Associations - |
- Martindale-Hubbell AV rated since 1976
- Woodward and White, The Best Lawyers in America (1st Edition 1987 to Present)
- Florida Guidebook, Law & Leading Attorneys (1st Edition 1996 to Present)
- Florida Trend Magazine, Florida's Top Trial Lawyers (1st Edition 1999 to Present)
- Town and Country Magazine, Guide to the Best Lawyers in America (May issue 1985)
- Special Counsel to the Mayor, City of Jacksonville (1987 to 1990)
- Special Assistant State Attorney, Fourth Judicial Circuit, State of Florida (1987 to 1990)
- Recipient of the Outstanding Service Award of the Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board (1988)
- Editor-in-Chief, Audio Journal (1990 to 1996)
- Ethics Commission, City of Jacksonville (1994 to 1997; Chairman 1996 &1997)
- Trial counsel to the State of Florida in litigation against the Tobacco Industry (1996 to 1998)
- Board of Trustees, University of Florida College of Law (1999; Chairman 2005 to 2007)
- Adjunct Professor, University of Florida College of Law (2000)
- Trial Counsel to the Florida Senate, DCD Constitutional Challenge (2004 to 2007)
- Federal Judicial Nominating Commission (2005 to Present)
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