Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, August 17, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 196 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
‘Justice is not justice if Making Chicago it’ s only there for the rich’a little Holland & Knight attorney leading state Bar foundation
sweeter
Midwest getting a taste of Sweet Pete’s
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Foundation
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By David Chapman Staff Writer
Donny MacKenzie, pro bono partner at Holland & Knight’s Jacksonville office, is 201516 president of The Florida Bar Foundation.
Photo by Max Marbut
Imagine a world where 85 percent of people who have to appear in family court with life-changing issues can’t afford to hire an attorney. That means they’re not represented when they go before the judge. Imagine a world where it’s not just people with low incomes who can’t afford representation. Imagine that only 17 percent of middleincome people can afford to pay for the services of an attorney when they have a legal matter, such as foreclosures that have swept across the country in recent years. It’s not fiction. It’s the reality for Florida residents — and The Florida Bar Foundation is dedicated to changing those statistics. “We think the justice system works best when it works for everyone,” said Donny MacKenzie, pro bono partner at Holland & Knight’s Jacksonville office and 2015-16 president of the foundation. “Justice is not justice if it’s only there for the rich,” he said. A member of the foundation’s board since 2007, MacKenzie, 52, developed his dedication to pro bono practice and equal access to justice while he was in law school at Florida State University. He performed his first pro bono work while still in law school and increased involvement when he joined Holland & Knight in 1992. He discovered a culture of pro bono service and became involved with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, of which he is a past president. “It has been a love affair ever since,” MacKenzie said. The foundation administers the Interest on Trust Accounts program — commonly referred to as IOTA — that uses the interest on Florida attorneys’ trust accounts to help support legal aid programs. MacKenzie said with interest rates remaining at all-time lows, even with $5 billion in trust account balances on any given day, the return on investment is small.
Marcus Lemonis spends most of his time in his Chicago-area offices. The host of “The Profit” also is an investor in Sweet Pete’s, the Downtown Jacksonville candy store. Although Lemonis has a house in Ponte Vedra, he wanted Sweet Pete’s a little closer to home. He’ll have that now with the candy store’s first expansion about 15 minutes Illinois office. Lemonis and Sweet Pete founders Pete and Allison Behringer announced Friday they had acquired The Jolly Good Fellows retail store in Lake Forest, Ill. “I got tired of paying the UPS charges (for candy),” Lemonis joked by phone Friday afternoon. Lemonis said having the storefront near his office allows him to see the candies and concepts created as the business begins its expansion efforts. The Jolly Good Fellows store has been a good business, but the concept will be changed to Sweet Pete’s familiar parlor and old-school candy shop motif. Regional expansion often occurs first, but Allison Behringer said they “went pretty far” with the Chicago-area idea. Lemonis said the deal came about in the past two-and-a-half weeks. “I move pretty fast,” he said. The location is across from a popular train stop with good foot traffic, Behringer said. She said she was “shocked” at how similar the business was to Sweet Pete’s. The store’s 10 employees will be retained. A Sweet Pete’s candy maker will relocate to Illinois. The Behringers will frequently travel back and forth as the business Sweet Pete’s
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‘Boogeyman’ targets Atlantic Coast Financial An activist investor once described as the “boogeyman” who strikes fear in bankers has taken an interest in Jacksonvillebased Atlantic Coast Financial Corp. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, PL Capital Group said funds affiliated with the firm have acquired a 6.4 percent stake in the parent company of Atlantic Coast Bank. According to the firm’s website, PL Capital specializes in buying stakes in “undervalued” banks that are “in need of a catalyst to unlock shareholder value.” The principals of the firm
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“engage in shareholder activism (when needed) including proxy contests, board representation, shareholder proposals, etc. to unlock shareholder value,” the website said. A 2013 story in Crain’s Chicago Business went a step further, describing PL Capital co-founder John Palmer as “the scariest exaccountant you’re ever going to see if you’re a banker.” Crain’s promoted the story on its Facebook page with the headline: “This boogeyman scares small banks.” PL Capital officials must have liked that headline because it’s
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posted with a link to the story on the front page of its website. Atlantic Coast Financial just went through a proxy battle with shareholders two years ago when a group led by former Chairman Jay Sidhu opposed a buyout agreement with a South Florida bank. Shareholders voted down the buyout and in the aftermath,
management of the company was overhauled. Atlantic Coast Financial brought in John Stephens as CEO in September 2013. Since the new management took over, the company has turned its fortunes around. Atlantic Coast Financial recorded its first profit in seven years in 2014. PL Capital acquired its shares in Atlantic Coast Financial at the end of July, according to its SEC filing. The filing says the firm “intends to discuss with the management of the company what their short and long term plans are to grow the franchise and improve profit-
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ability, and then monitor their progress at implementing those plans over time.” It also said PL Capital may buy more Atlantic Coast Financial shares but intends to keep its stake below 10 percent. According to Atlantic Coast Financial’s most recent proxy statement, seven investment firms own more shares than PL Capital, but all have less than 10 percent of the company’s stock. Stephens did not respond to two voice mail messages last week about PL Capital’s filing. PL Capital’s interest seems to Basch continued on Page A-7
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