"I have but one lamp by which my feet are
guided and that is the lamp of experience.
I know no way of judging the future but by the past."
Patrick Henry
A Small Town Law Firm...
1925 - John Kenneth Williamson, founder of
the Firm, opens his law office in the Harvey Building in West Palm
Beach.
1942 - Williamson moves his office to Palm Beach and becomes the
first lawyer to have his office in the Town of Palm Beach. Joseph
F. Gunster joins the Firm.
1948 - David S. "Bud" Yoakley joins the Firm.
1951 - Marshall Criser joins the Firm.
1955 - A. Obie Stewart joins the Firm.
1959 - George Hersey joins the Firm.
The Seventies: A Move To Full Service...
1970-75 -The Firm grows from 10 to 15 lawyers
making it the largest law firm in Palm Beach County.
1979 - George Hersey leaves the Firm to become a Judge at the 4th
District Court of Appeal.
The Eighties: The Move, Rapid Growth And Rise...
1980 - The Firm opens an office in Stuart.
1984 - Marshall Criser leaves the Firm to become the President of
the University of Florida.
1985 - The Firm relocates its office to Phillips Point in West Palm
Beach, leasing 50,000 square feet of space. The Firm now has 55
lawyers.
1987 - The West Palm Beach office expands, leasing an additional
16,000 square feet of space at Phillips Point.
1989 - The Firm name becomes Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart.
The Nineties: A South Florida Leader...
1990 - Six lawyers from McCune Hiassen join
the Firm and assist in opening a Fort Lauderdale office.
1995 - Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart combines its practices with
the Miami Firm of Valdes-Fauli, Bischoff, Kriss & Mandler.
1995 - The Firm opens a Vero Beach office and re-opens a Palm Beach
office at 151 Royal Palm Way.
1996 - The Firm has 115 attorneys practicing throughout Florida.
A New Millennium...
2004 - Gunster celebrates its 80th anniversary at the historic Harriet Himmel Theater in downtown West Palm Beach.
Today 130 attorneys practice in seven offices
throughout Florida.
