STEPHEN W. BUCKLEY

tephen W. Buckley joined the firm in 1969 and became a partner in 1971. He never intended to stay in Florida after his grandparents offered to pay for his college at the “new” Edison College (now Florida SouthWestern State College). He planned to get his education in Florida and move back to Hartford, Conn., where he grew up.

He transferred to the University of Florida for his undergraduate degree in journalism and then Florida State University for his law degree. “One of the kids in the class asked the assistant dean where he would go to practice law, and he said Fort Myers,” Buckley said. “I had ties in Fort Myers.”

He said he always knew he wanted to be a lawyer. His father and grandparents were in real estate. “I grew up with real estate law,” he said.

After graduating from law school in 1969, he moved to Florida and joined the firm, located in downtown Fort Myers in its present location at the corner of Main Street and Broadway.

He enjoys spending time vacationing at his home in Maine, but Buckley says he has no intention of retiring. “I enjoy what I’m doing,” he said. “I don’t play golf. I don’t play tennis. I don’t fish. I’ll just keep doing it while I can, and the clients want to work with me. My wife would have a long honey-do list if I did retire.”

He and his wife, Bonnie, who he met in Fort Myers at a roller-skating rink, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August 2019.