C. Parkhill Mays, Jr. who founded one of the most important public finance law practices in Florida and had a leading role in public finance law for over 40 years, died at his home in Lakeland, Florida, on April 13 at age 89.
"He was truly one of the pioneers of bond practice in Florida," said Ed Vogel, a retired Holland & Knight partner.
"He formed the public finance group [at Holland & Knight] and grew that into a nationally recognized practice," said Rick Stephens, Holland & Knight partner.
Mays founded the group in 1976 and remained its leader in all states Holland & Knight practiced in until 2009. He continued to practice public finance law until he retired from H&K in 2019.
"He brought dedication and passion to bring something where there was nothing," said H&K Partner Michael Wiener.
When Mays started the public finance practice at H&K there were only two law firms in Florida doing that sort of work, Stephens said.
Before H&K got into public finance, New York City bond attorneys would frequently need to fly down to Florida to work on deals, Wiener added.
Mays started the practice by serving as bond counsel on the first industrial development bond issue in Florida, Vogel said.
Through cases in courts including the Florida Supreme Court, Mays validated housing bonds, the use of impact fees for bond revenue and gas-prepaid bonds, Stephens said.
Mays recruited lawyers from firms, many of them outside Florida, Stephens said.
Mays discussed how to structure new sorts of bond transactions with attorneys in Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, Stephens said.
Wiener said Mays was one of the most innovative bond attorneys in Florida. Mays wrote a great deal of Florida's bond-related legislation. Among other things, he helped create the Higher Educational Finance Authority and special districts to allow bond issuance.
Mays also started H&K's New York office, Wiener said.
"In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the relationship between the issuer (and, therefore, bond counsel) and the underwriter was somewhat more adversarial than it is today and [Mays] felt most comfortable in the role of bond counsel, and rarely, if ever, served as underwriter's counsel," Vogel said.
Wiener and Stephens said Mays' style was that of a Southern gentleman. While he was a hard negotiator with underwriters, he was calm and thoughtful in his responses, Wiener said.
Mays had a commanding knowledge of the law and used it to set how a deal should be structured, Wiener said.
Stephens said Mays was "very inclusive" and would bring in experts when needed. After he got to know his fellow staff at H&K he treated them like family.
"He earned the respect of an awful lot of lawyers around the country," Stephens said.
"He loved his work," said his son C. Parkhill Mays III. "He solved many complex finance projects, where you had to be creative."
Mays was born in Thomasville, Georgia, on Jan. 10, 1936. He earned his bachelor's degree from Washington and Lee University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida, both with honors.
Mays joined what was then Holland, Bevis, Smith & Kibler in 1964.
Along with public finance he worked in leveraged lease financings, Uniform Commercial Code and trusts and estates. He was a member of the H&K Management Committee and was the Practice Group Leader for Public Finance for many years.
