ED TAYLOR

When Chester Clem was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1963, JFK was in the White House, no one on this side of the pond had even heard of the Beatles and there were a total of 18 lawyers in Vero Beach.  Today a Google search of Vero Beach attorneys yields results of 567 lawyers with city addresses.  Clem maintains his law practice within a stone’s throw of his initial office that he began with one of the local 18 attorneys, Robert Jackson, upon his admission to the Bar.

“I had never been to Vero Beach until Bob Jackson came up to the University and recruited me during my last year of law school in Gainesville,” Clem said.  “Bob showed me plans of the office he was building and offered me a job.  I was raised in Gainesville and ready to move to another area so I accepted Bob’s offer and we moved to Vero Beach.  While we were waiting for the office building to be completed, I worked my first six months as an attorney using the library of Judge D. C. Smith in the old courthouse as my base of operations.”

The building that housed the Jackson and Clem law firm back in the 1960s remains today as the office of attorney Eric Barkett and is located due west of the old courthouse.  Clem’s current office is to the immediate south of the site of his old firm.  Clem’s practice has remained in Vero Beach since he first hung his shingle almost 51 years ago.

“Today, there are attorneys who specialize in very technical areas of the law,” Clem said. “Back then, we took whatever legal business that happened to walk through the door.

The long time attorney is probably as well known as a local political leader as he is as a legal professional.  Shortly after moving to Vero Beach, Clem was elected Judge of the Small Claims Court for Indian River County in 1964.  He held that position for 6 years and continued his law practice, at times holding night court in Sebastian and Fellsmere.

“Often at least one of the litigants was angry at the conclusion of a case and tempers would flare,” stated the former judge.  “This was before I-95 was constructed and I must admit that some of the drives back to Vero were a little scary.”

In those days, Small Claims Court handled civil disputes involving damages $7,500 or less.  Today the figure is $15 thousand with the duties assumed by the two county court judges.  He also worked as an assistant state attorney for a couple of years during the time when being a state prosecutor was considered a part-time position.

“The elected state attorney was in Orlando and we were part of the 9^th Judicial Circuit,” Clem said.  “We were appointed cases to prosecute while continuing to maintain our private law practices so we would have to work in the criminal cases and try to avoid interference with our regular office procedures.”  Today, Vero Beach is part of the 19^th Judicial Circuit comprising Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee Counties.  All assistant state attorneys now work solely as prosecutors and are prohibited from practicing other areas of the law.  While in private practice, Clem also did some criminal defense work.

Clem was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1972 and re-elected in 1974.  He also served as president of the Vero Beach Jaycees as well as the local Kiwanis Club.  In 1977, Clem became the town attorney for Indian River Shores and continues to retain that position.

After serving in the Florida Legislature, Clem was selected as chairman of the state Republican Party and was “drafted” by key members of the party to run for governor in 1985.  When Clem entered the race, the only announced candidate for the Republican nomination was Tampa Mayor Bob Martinez, who was not embraced by the party leadership.  Several other candidates from Florida metropolitan areas later entered the race thinning the support gathered for Clem.  Martinez ultimately won the primary and the 1986 general election but was defeated by Democrat Lawton Chiles when he ran for re-election in 1990.

Clem once again entered the arena of statewide politics when Ander Crenshaw of Jacksonville asked him to be his running mate in 1994.  Future governor Jeb Bush won the Republican primary but ultimately lost to the self-proclaimed “he-coon” Lawton Chiles.  Bush went on to win the governor’s race in 1998 and was re-elected in 2002.

At 76, Clem claims that he has “retired” from politics but has no immediate plans to end his practice of the law.  He now operates a small one man firm with minimal staff.

“I enjoy my legal work and through the years I have met with hundreds of clients who continue to depend on me to this day,” he said.  “As long as I enjoy what I am doing, which I do, and am able to do it, I have no desire to leave the practice of the law.”

“I am my own boss and I set my own hours . . . and sometimes it is good just to get out of the house.”