Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A. history

F.E. Starnes joined the firm in 1931.

After graduating from Vanderbilt, Parker Holt joined the firm in 1936.

James Franklin, Jr., graduated from law school on Saturday night in August 1949 and started work at his father’s firm on Monday, becoming the firm’s sixth attorney.

With six lawyers and one secretary, the firm moved to the Lee County Bank Building in Fort Myers in January of 1951.

In 1961, the firm, then with nine attorneys, built a one-story office on Second Street.

The following was prepared by Jim and read in 1962 by his son, Jim Franklin, Jr., (by this time a partner in the firm himself). It illustrates the extent to which the two delved into each other’s personalities, goals, and aspirations before reaching their decision:

In January 1988, with 33 attorneys and 71 support staff, the firm broke ground on a five-story office at 1715 Monroe Street, adjacent to the Second Street building.Robert T. Shafer was the first attorney to leave the firm for the bench, becoming a circuit court judge.

In 1992, the office upgraded to the tech era, with computers linked to an in-office network which allowed for the electronic transfer of documents.

Henderson Franklin opened its Bonita Springs location outside the gates of Bonita Bay in 2003.

After 15 months, total renovation of 55,000 square feet of the firm’s downtown Fort Myers office space was completed in January 2009.

2010s Practice Growth January 2010, the firm launched its first blog on employment law.

The Legal Scoop on Southwest Florida Real Estate blog launched one year later in January of 2011.

The firm celebrated its 90th anniversary in October 2014 and continues to lead in the legal and business communities, and celebrated the life of James Franklin, Jr., who also turned 90 in 2014.

In 2015, the firm launched the Intellectual Property practice group.