LEGAL PROFILE
FEE LAW FIRM SPANS
CENTURY IN FORT PIERCE
28
LEGAL COMMUNITY
SPOTLIGHT
Hank Fee, center, is the fourth-generation in the Fee family to practice law in Fort Pierce at the firm founded by his great-grandfather, Fred Fee, in 1905.
Fee practices with his dad, Speedy Fee, left, and longtime Fee family friend Joe DeRoss in the historic Poppell House, which was built the same year the
law firm was founded.
Four generations of same family have
practiced at the county’s oldest law firm
BY CAMILLE S. YATES
PHOTOS BY ED DRONDOSKI
Frank H. Fee III, also known as “Speedy” because
of his rapid delivery at birth, sits at his desk in his
Fort Pierce law firm, surrounded by rich memorabilia
dating back to the late 1800s. The firm,
founded in 1905, is St. Lucie County’s oldest and
spans more than a century of lawyers from the same family.
“This firm started the year that St. Lucie County was created,”
says Speedy. Not many law firms in Florida can boast
that four generations of its members in the same lineage have
been admitted to the Florida Bar.
But Speedy, along with his son, Frank H. Fee IV, (Hank), is
proud to say that four generations of Fees have carried on the
family’s law practice. Speedy has practiced law for 43 years.
Also on board is longtime friend Joseph J. DeRoss Jr., who
started with the firm in 1977, practiced on his own, then returned
in 1997. “When I first came here, most of the attorneys
in town had worked for the Fee firm at one time or another,”
says DeRoss. Hank appreciates the knowledge that can be
gleaned from these two lawyers. “They provide a wealth of
experience to draw on,” he says.
“The firm’s reputation is material to all of us,” says Speedy.
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