Legend around the Clark Partington law firm has it that one day in 1975 Bill Clark walked into the office of former schoolmate Don Partington and announced “I just told Joe Harrell we quit, let’s go look for offices.”
And with that impulsive move, Clark and Partington cut ties with the firm of Harrell, Wiltshire, Bozeman, Clark & Stone and formed a Pensacola law firm that to this day stands as one of Northwest Florida’s most respected.
On Oct. 10, the law firm announced that Bill Clark, 88, a founding member and the instigator of the now 50-year-old split, had passed away that morning.
Clark will be remembered for his sense of humor, his cringe worthy jokes, his fierce stance in defense of the freedom of speech and, of course, that day in 1975.
“I was stunned, but I guess he had his reasons,” Partington said when recalling his close friend and co-founder’s announcement. “The old firm was very gracious about it, but Bill had his own ideas about how we should run our law firm for our clients.”
The firm’s website to this day speaks of how, at its creation, Clark Partington was organized differently so that each partner would assume an ownership stake in the company and accept personal responsibility and accountability for delivery of service to each client. For Clark, a descendant of Thomas Jefferson, those values remained important.
“(The law firm) grew because of a bunch of good lawyers who were good friends, and who presented themselves to their clients as ethical people worthy of respect,” said Bruce Partington, Don’s son and a firm partner.
In an email announcing Clark’s death, Bruce Partington spoke of the days that followed the formation of the new legal team. As a young person, he was at the new office on South Tarragona for many weekends following the move.
“They opened the offices of Clark and Partington at 21 South Tarragona with Martha Clark as the bookkeeper (she was a mathematics major) and my mother as the receptionist,” Partington recalled. “On weekends the families converged on the office and the Clark girls were assigned the task of vacuuming and washing out the week’s coffee mugs while my brother Philip and I emptied trash cans and washed ashtrays.”
It was about a year later, Partington recalled, that Bob and Chris Hart “squeezed into the space” on Tarragona and the law firm became known as Clark, Partington, Hart & Hart.
“A local businessman reported that ‘overnight, it became the best law firm in Pensacola,'” the short narrative states in closing, “and the story goes on from there….”
The firm would grow again in the 1980’s with the addition of four more attorneys. Long since removed from the little office on Tarragona, Clark Partington today employs about 100 attorneys and staff and operates field offices in Tallahassee, Destin and Santa Rosa Beach.
Clark’s long and distinguished career allowed him to make a name for himself among Pensacola journalists. Much of his work was dedicated to defending the freedom of speech and First Amendment rights of reporters for the Pensacola News Journal as well as other local news media outlets.
His work with the Pensacola News Journal harkened back to the days when newsrooms rang with the pounding of typewriter keys and the steady hum of the AP wire machine.
“That was his passion,” Bruce Partington said. “The First Amendment and freedom of the press.”
In that era, Don Partington said, there were legal authorities, even judges, who weren’t shy about closing a hearing to the press if they thought the situation warranted doing so. Clark kept a pre-prepared memorandum of the law to present at such occasions.
“Once, I think it was at Federal Court, he slipped a memo under the door and made enough ruckus that someone came over and picked it up,” Don Partington said. “They eventually opened the door.”
Clark’s practice wasn’t solely devoted to Media Law, he took on cases over a wide spectrum of issues, the email said. That included anti-trust cases and railroad litigation.
And in the evenings he made the trek to the University of West Florida, where, for 11 years, he served as an adjunct professor teaching Media Law at the University of West Florida.
“If you want to honor Bill, honor the First Amendments, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press,” a news release announcing his passing said.
The Clark Partington website states that Clark graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1960 and obtained his law degree from the same school three years later.
He served on the Florida Bar’s Board of Governors and was the president of the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, for which he once convinced President Gerald Fort to speak.
He also served on the boards of numerous are civic and charitable institutions.
In the news release issued by the firm, Attorney Scott Remington reflected on Clark’s enduring spirit.
“Bill’s charm, wit and integrity were not just admirable qualities; they leached into the very fabric of the firm. When we walk the streets of our community or step into a courtroom, he is one of the primary reasons our reputation precedes us,” Remington said. “His example continues to set the bar by which we measure ourselves every day.”
Clark is survived by his beloved wife Martha, and daughters Mary Ellen, Ginny, and Peggy, along with their families. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Oct. 18 at First Presbyterian Church, Pensacola, followed by a catered lunch in the activities building.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola’s fiercest defender of 1st Amendment has died. Bill Clark won’t be forgotten
Reporting by Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
