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Mike Eidson<\/p>\n Mike Eidson<\/p>\n
\u201cWHEN THE WINDS of change blow,\u201d an old Chinese proverb notes, \u201csome people build walls and others build windmills.\u201d It\u2019s fair to say that Mike Eidson and Dean C. Colson are master constructors of both\u2014 in the best sense possible.<\/p>\n
On one hand, the pair are, respectively, Senior Partner and Managing Partner of the venerable Coral Gables law firm Colson Hicks Eidson, which has established itself in Miami and around the globe over the last half century-plus as the gold standard litigation law boutique. Along with partner and former U.S. Attorney Roberto Martinez, they manage the firm, which handles cases ranging from simple accidents to the most complicated automobile and tire defect cases, medical malpractice cases and complex commercial and white-collar cases. Eidson himself has tried more than 200 cases to a jury, and the firm has recovered billions of dollars for clients in individual, class actions, and mass tort cases.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Eidson and the firm have played an integral role in the revival of Coral Gables as a cultural hub: from purchasing, renovating, and bringing Books & Books into a historic property that would help spark the Aragon Avenue renaissance, to establishing the wholly unique world-class performance center Sanctuary of the Arts around the corner.<\/p>\n
And that dual legacy of the pursuit of justice and historic preservation is now set to reach toward a new horizon with the firm\u2019s recent move into the penthouse of the elegant South Tower of the Douglas Entrance Office Parc\u2014a spot in which chic, modern professional amenities and technology intertwine within the inspiring atmosphere of a classical Mediterranean oasis.<\/p>\n
The Parc Towers, after all, not only encompass the sole business parc in the bustling Gables, but also the Phineas Paist designed Douglas Entrance (aka La Puerta del Sol), which includes a stone and stucco 90-foot belfry and 40-foot curved arch. The Douglas Entrance was completed in 1924\u2014incidentally, the same year Colson\u2019s father, legendary local attorney, and firm co-founder, Bill Colson, was born in Miami, incidentally\u2014and added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1972.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was a child growing up here, this area was one of the centers of the whole community,\u201d Colson tells AQUA Pinecrest. And he knows of which he speaks: his Gables roots run deep. He attended Coral Gables High. Learned to swim at Venetian Pool. Played tennis at Salvador Park. Carved out a career and life here. \u201cIt\u2019s very exciting to us to have the opportunity not only to continue our work as a firm in this incredible new space but also to participate in the revival of one of the most beautiful sections of Coral Gables.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be one of the most vibrant little villages in Coral Gables,\u201d Eidson adds. \u201cAnd we\u2019re coming in on the ground floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
CITIZEN LAWYERS<\/p>\n
Eidson may not have been born in Miami, but he\u2019s an honorary native at this point. He arrived in Miami from Atlanta, Georgia in 1972. \u201cIt felt like I\u2019d taken a plane to a completely different world,\u201d Eidson says. \u201cI loved it.\u201d He was working with a lawyer named Bill Hicks and Colson\u2019s dad\u2014\u201ca real pioneer in both in the legal profession and in what he did for the community,\u201d he says. Dean Colson was then just finishing law school, but after working in a prominent large law firm and clerking at the Fifth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court, he joined the firm. The pair bonded over a dedication to clients and a kind of creative restlessness that would soon reveal itself\u2014a partnership that remains vital and fruitful more than 40 years on.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike and I are very different\u2026\u201d Colson explains on a recent tour of the new offices to show off not only the stunning views but also selections from the stunningly diverse collection of art that he and Eidson have both been privately acquiring for decades. \u201c\u2026Yet very compatible,\u201d Eidson finishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe respect each other,\u201d Colson continues, \u201cand let each other do our own thing outside of the firm.\u201d<\/p>\n
The results are undeniable.<\/p>\n
In the years since, Colson Hicks Eidson has handled a breathtaking array of cases: The firm represented the families of 51 of the 70 passengers killed in the 1996 crash of Aeroper\u00fa Flight 603. They tried a dozen claims from families of those killed in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attacks. (And in his role as an officer with the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Eidson worked with the U.S. Congress to underwrite a fund to fairly compensate the families as well as organized pro bono representation for over 3,000 of the families before a claims examiner who would place a fair value on the cases. Thanks to his efforts, almost all claims were resolved within a year\u2014a virtually unheard of pace.) The firm also represented the families of kids murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and victims of the Surfside condominium collapse.<\/p>\n
There is an emotional price to spending so much of one\u2019s professional life delving into small and large-scale tragedies, but the work is important.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypically, our clients want justice as much as they want compensation,\u201d Colson says. \u201cWe do our best to get them both. Nothing can bring a loved one back or reverse a traumatic injury\u2014they know that\u2014but there can be accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
PIONEERING SPIRIT<\/p>\n
Once upon a time the firm called 66 West Flagler home. Then they moved to the top office floor of the iconic Southeast Financial Center overlooking Biscayne Bay. \u201cThat was a really cool space,\u201d Eidson says. \u201cAs we grew, though, it didn\u2019t make as much sense to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in the day, the decision to move the firm to Coral Gables was not an easy one. There was a fear that the Gables did not have the same name cachet as Miami and that the high-profile national and international clients might not realize the two were really one and the same. But the high quality of life called and\u2014no less important\u2014an opportunity had arisen to purchase and restore a piece of historic property on Aragon Avenue in the heart of the Gables\u2019 picturesque downtown. Where others might zig, however, Eidson and Colson chose to zag.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat space is perfectly suited to a restaurant,\u201d Eidson says. \u201cBut restaurants come and go. We wanted something that would have more lasting cultural impact.\u201d At the suggestion of their architect at the time Raul Rodriguez, Miami Beach-native and future co-founder of the Miami Book Fair Mitchell Kaplan was tapped to establish the space as another location of his independent chain Books & Books. It has since come to be recognized\u2014correctly!\u2014as one of the best independent bookstores in the nation. \u201cWe could\u2019ve charged considerably more rent to a restaurant,\u201d Colson says. \u201cBut rent was not the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The knock-on effect? That whole block is a cultural hub. The Coral Gables Museum is next door to Books & Books. Across the street you have Coral Gables Art Cinema. \u201cIt was good for the city,\u201d Eidson says, \u201cbut also very good for our law firm because we got to work out of that amazing space.\u201d Around the corner there is Sanctuary of the Arts\u2014another of Eidson\u2019s passion projects, which saw three buildings once belonging to the First Church of Christ Scientist converted into world-class performance and training spaces.<\/p>\n
Of course, the firm\u2019s community service is not limited to historic preservation and cultural enrichment. Over the last two decades Colson is the only person to have chaired the State University System in Florida, the Board of Trustees of Florida International University, and the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the recession hit, the firm sold its stake on Aragon and moved to a property on Alhambra Circle where they were until the Douglas Entrance opportunity arose.<\/p>\n
Eidson and Colson spent the better part of a year working with legendary Gables architect Gigi Alvarez to design and build the space out to the firm\u2019s specifications. \u201cBoth she and her people are very creative,\u201d Eidson says. \u201cThey take the time to look at the space you\u2019re coming from, talk to you about what you want out of a new space, and then puts her own spin on it. In my opinion, Gigi is the Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo of commercial real estate design. She exceeded all expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The design includes three large state-of- the-art conference rooms in which the firm\u2019s 13 lawyers can conduct depositions, mediations, client meetings, and even mock<\/p>\n
trials. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of space for the lawyers to really do the things they need to do now,\u201d Eidson says. And the lawyers have a great synergy which only further strengthens the firm\u2019s ability to handle significant litigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout the years and each move, we\u2019ve gotten a better and better understanding of what we want, of what works best,\u201d Eidson says. \u201cSo, we refine each time and evolve, which is important, and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis feels like the top right now,\u201d Colson agrees. And soon the top of the building will bear the firm\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
A BRIGHT FUTURE <\/p>\n
\u201cColson Hicks Eidson is not changing what we do,\u201d Eidson says. And why would they? The firm\u2014one of the oldest in Miami\u2014has been on a steady, unceasing upward trajectory for over 50 years. It\u2019s stable of lawyers rivals any law firm in the world. And the world knows it. \u201cWe have a very, very highly skilled law firm that is not afraid to get on an airplane and take a case anywhere in the world,\u201d Eidson says.<\/p>\n
In something of a novelty in a post-COVID world, the lawyers of Colson Hicks Eidson not only love coming to the office, but they aren\u2019t job hopping or using the firm as a steppingstone. Again, why would they? They work out of a breathtaking office, have the privilege of consistently working on exceptional, high-profile case, and they make a real difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t take the corner offices in this move,\u201d Colson says. \u201cThe next generation of lawyers here is so talented, and we want them to know we recognize that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYep,\u201d Eidson says, \u201cthe future, is as bright as it has ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information, visit www.colson.com.<\/p>\n
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