Skelton, Willis, Bennett & Wallace, LLP

History

• 1885: Partner C.E. Spear is admitted to practice law. With a general civil practice, he soon attains Martindale-Hubbell’s A-V Rating.
• 1904: Partner Joe A. Pearce is admitted to practice law.
• 1913: Partner John I. Viney is admitted to practice law in the State of Florida.
• 1916: Partner Byron M. Skelton is admitted to practice law in the State of Ohio.  He received his legal education at Ohio Northern (LL.B.) and engaged in graduate legal work at Ohio State University.
• 1919: Spear & Viney form a Florida general partnership to practice law in St. Petersburg. The partnership commences a general civil practice before all state and federal courts, and specializes in commercial transactions, real estate, land title and probate matters.  The firm is soon approved as counsel for New York Title & Mortgage Co., and thereafter for other prominent title insurers and financial institutions.
• 1924: B.M. Skelton moves to St. Petersburg, Florida, from Akron, Ohio.  In 1925, he is admitted to the Florida Bar, and, by 1928, is a partner of the firm with Spear, Viney and Pearce.
• 1927: Susan E. Erwin becomes one of Florida’s first 150 lawyers by passing the bar examination administered by the State Board of Law Examiners.  By 1928, she is an associate of the firm then known as Spear, Viney, Skelton & Pearce.
• 1930: The firm commences representation of the Alexander National Bank in liquidation and otherwise survives challenges resulting from Florida’s Great Depression.
• 1933:  The Firm becomes the first tenant of the First Federal Building, then in construction, at the corner of Central Avenue and Fourth Street in St Petersburg, Florida. The First Federal Building later becomes the City of St. Petersberg’s  Municipal Services Building, and thereupon the Firm’s former offices come to accommodate the City’s planning department.
• 1934:  Viney becomes a circuit court judge and then special judicial master in and for Pinellas County, Florida.  Although he will determine criminal and civil matters of the most significant and complex nature, one of his most publicized cases involves more sensational fare. In 1937 he settles a dispute between the Hotel Ponce de Leon and its neighbor, the Chatterbox, whose rowdy customers were reportedly disturbing the hotel’s guests. Special deputies were hired to enforce Judge Viney’s ruling.
• 1948:  James “Pepper” Bennett is admitted to the Florida Bar and joins the firm. Raised in Clearwater, Florida, he attended St. Petersburg Junior College (A.A. 1938) and University of Florida (B.A. 1941 and J.D. 1948).  He becomes a founder of the Pinellas County Law Library, president of the St. Petersburg Bar Association (1965-66) and is distinguished as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
• 1951: Robert H. Willis is admitted to the Florida Bar.  Raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, he attended the University of Florida (B.S. in B.A. 1950 and J.D. 1951).  He was Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious University of Florida Law Review. After law school, he entered into a clerkship with Judge William Julius Barker, who was the only federal judge in Tampa and the chief judge for the Southern District of Florida.  In his legal career, Willis becomes president of the St. Petersburg Bar Association (1972-73), and is distinguished as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.  In the fifties, he was also president of the Young Democrats for the State of Florida.
• 1953:    Willis joins the Firm, which subsequently becomes known as Skelton & Willis.
• 1975:    Elected for three consecutive two-year terms, from 1975 to 1981, Willis becomes a member of the Florida Bar Board of Governors at an important time in its history. Willis helps lead the Florida Bar as it regulates advertising, which the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed under the First Amendment.
• 1976:    Partner J.P. Bennett joins the Firm, and the Firm relocates to its present location at 259 Third Street North, becoming known as Skelton, Willis & Bennett.
• 1979:    B.M. Skelton, one of the city’s oldest practicing attorneys, dies at age 88.
• 1979:    Peter Rudy Wallace, a St. Petersburg native and alumnus of St. Petersburg High School, becomes a member of the Florida Bar.  He was graduated from Harvard College (1976, Magna Cum Laude, Recipient of the Harvard National Scholarship) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1979, Cum Laude).  He clerked for Judge Paul H. Roney, on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.  After about another decade of Wallace’s service to the Florida judiciary, the Conference of Circuit Judges recognizes him for his dedication and leadership.  Wallace was elected to the Florida House of Representatives from a district in St. Petersburg in 1982 and served with distinction until 1996.  During his final two years in office he was Speaker of the House, the only person from Pinellas County ever to serve in that post.
• 1985:    Robert H. Willis, Jr. is admitted to the Florida Bar.  Born and raised in St. Petersburg, his education included Washington & Lee University (B.S. 1981, Summa Cum Laude, Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award Recipient), St. Andrews University, Fife, Scotland (1981-82 Rotary Foundation Educational Award) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1985, Cum Laude).  After law school, he clerks for the Honorable Ben F. Overton, Florida Supreme Court, and thereafter joins the Firm.
• 1991:    Willis, Jr., commences service on the Florida Bar Appellate Rules Committee, serving until 1994.
• 1995:    The Firm assumes special responsibility for planning the annual meeting of approximately 50,000 members of the Florida Bar. Partner Robert H. Willis, Jr., serves as vice-chair of the Florida Bar Annual Convention Committee.
• 2000    Wallace joins the Firm, which becomes a limited liability partnership known as Skelton, Willis, Bennett & Wallace, LLP.  In the early 20th century, Wallace’s grandfather, Merle Rudy, had practiced law with B.M. Skelton in Ohio.
• 2002:    Willis, Jr., is selected as the United States Reporter for Family & Estate Law Commission of AIJA, Association Internationale Des Jeunes Avocats.  For this international law society, he is asked to present numerous reports, including Off-Shore Family Fortunes (Edinburgh, 2003 Congres) and Get My Money, Get My Child: Evidence Management (Napoli, 2004 Congres).
• 2003:    Willis, Jr., is elected to the Board of Directors of the largest independently state chartered trust company in the State of Florida, Sabal Trust Company, and is appointed to serve as its general counsel.
• 2010:    The University of South Florida – St. Petersburg names the Peter Rudy Wallace Florida Center for Teachers for partner Wallace.

• More highlights from our scrapbook of firm history can be had in this PDF.

ROBERT H WILLIS, SR (1929 – 2008)

JAMES P. BENNETT (1918 – 2004)

BYRON M. SKELTON (1891 – 1979)