Spotlight On: Richard Ramsey, Managing Partner, Wicker, Smith, O’Hara, McCoy & Ford PA
November 2024 — In an interview with Invest:, Richard Ramsey, managing partner at Wicker, Smith, O’Hara, McCoy & Ford PA, shared the growth of his team in Jacksonville, provided an overview of the legal landscape in Northeast Florida, and his priorities going forward. “We have no cap in mind when we talk about our growth. We will continue to expand and take on another floor in our Bank of America tower,” he said.
Have you seen your office grow as Jacksonville has expanded?
I opened the office in 2003, with just myself and a secretary. Now we have 50 to 60 employees, — 20 of which are lawyers. Our growth is in part a testament to the Jacksonville economy. We have been able to expand our firm because of the growth in our community, which—sadly, creates the condition for more lawsuits. We specialize in defending corporations and professionals who need counsel when they are sued. It is a sign of a thriving economic community that we are able to add so many lawyers and staff to our firm as a result of the new business coming into town.
What have been some of the main drivers of growth in your firm?
Medical and legal malpractice are some of the main reasons for our growth, as well as Fin-Tech. We have so many different hospitals and healthcare providers moving here. The Mayo Clinic and Baptist Health Systems are among the best in the country for attracting top-tier medical talent. Our firm specializes in defending physicians and other health care professionals in cases when they are accused of malpractice. Florida’s medical malpractice laws are challenging to navigate. About a dozen years ago, Florida healthcare providers were fleeing the state because our laws did not protect them enough from being sued. Our laws need to continually evolve to allow our physicians to continue to practice without the fear of lawsuits.
Shockingly, some of our clients tell me they actually encourage their children not to go into medicine — with concerns over the high cost of insurance, the long hours of labor, and shrinking reimbursement rates. That’s the picture of the landscape today, which is terrible for all of us from both an economic and health standpoint. Many specialties have bullseyes on their backs from patients, so young professionals are starting to think that healthcare is not worth the hard work, liability exposure, and limited compensation.
What are some of the workforce challenges facing the Jacksonville legal industry?
The legal market for jobs in Jacksonville is very tight. There are many open jobs but few people to fill them, which makes for little unemployment. Many firms are competing heavily for attorneys because talented attorneys and staff are hard to find. Because the market is so competitive, Jacksonville University’s Law School has become an excellent resource for hiring talent at my firm.
How do you see AI playing a larger role in your firm and the legal industry as a whole?
AI in law is incredibly awe-inspiring yet extremely frightening. I have seen lawyers submit briefs written by AI with inaccurate legal citations. It could and should be used for employment, budgeting, and hiring purposes. But as far as the actual practice of law, I hope that we don’t dip our toe into that pool. I think it’s too dangerous.
What are some concerns on the legislative front you’d like to see addressed at the state level?
There is a law called the Good Samaritan Act that’s not well-written. It applies to physicians and lay people alike. The law states that a citizen acting as a good samaritan — in a non-reckless fashion — cannot be sued even if he causes harm. The statute — as it is written for physicians — is unclear and the law is not applied as frequently as it should be for physicians. Another law that needs changing is already on the books but there is confusion as to whether it is constitutional. It caps certain damages for Medicaid patients. The purpose of the law is to encourage doctors to, in fact, treat those patients. Many doctors shy away from treating Medicaid patients due to the low reimbursement rates from the government. This law was designed to get those patients more and better access to health care. The Legislature needs to confirm that this law is valid and needs to be enforced.
The bottom line is we don’t want to chase doctors out of the state and we don’t want Medicaid patients to not receive care because of the low rate of reimbursement. As it stands, lawyers and judges are being forced to guess when the Good Samaritan Act applies. Likewise, it is unfair to Medicaid patients and to doctors that the law written to cap damages and make healthcare more available to these patients is not being enforced. The laws need to be re-written to help both physicians and patients.
How are you seeing developments in downtown Jacksonville take shape?
It is fantastic to see the city be so proactive with its sports developments. The city is working well with Jaguars’ ownership to come up with a program that guarantees a local professional sports team in the coming decades. A lot of people would not know Jacksonville as well if not for the Jaguars. It gives us a great national identity.
I’m up on the 27th floor of our downtown towers — I see cranes everywhere for new construction. It is beautiful to see. Everywhere I look in this town, I see new developments on both sides of the river. Jacksonville’s mayor, in particular, has been tremendous in pushing forward this great concept of revitalizing downtown to attract new businesses. This revitalization effort means we’re being able to compete with other comparable cities.
What are your priorities for the Jacksonville office going forward?
I want us to continue to grow and bring in new lawyers to our staff. We have no cap in mind when we talk about our growth. We will continue to expand and take on another floor in our Bank of America tower. We would also like to expand in our practice and enter other areas, like the commercial practice space. We have great young healthcare attorneys in this area, which is a niche that we definitely intend to exploit as well.
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