We are saddened to announce that our friend and colleague, Steve Prom, a shareholder in Akerman Senterfitt's Jacksonville office, passed away on May 26, 2013. Steve was a longtime member of the firm's Healthcare Practice Group. A trusted counselor for many prominent individuals and institutions within the healthcare industry, Steve's experience and knowledge of state and federal healthcare law was deep and broad. He was also a dedicated and generous benefactor of the greater Jacksonville community.
Steve earned his B.A. degree from the University of Florida, with High Honors, and his J.D. degree from the University of Florida College of Law, also with High Honors, and was his class Valedictorian. After he was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1980, Steve began his legal career working for several prominent firms before eventually opening his own practice. Steve joined Akerman as a partner in the Jacksonville office in 2000. Throughout his distinguished career, Steve practiced in the areas of corporate law, public finance, and the representation of nonprofit corporations, but he ultimately focused his considerable legal talents on healthcare law. Steve was one of the driving forces for the formation of The Florida Bar's Healthcare Law Section as well as healthcare law specialization. Steve was also a past member of the Board of Governors of the Young Lawyers Section of The Florida Bar.
"Steve was intuitive, inventive and intensely loyal in his representation of his clients," said John Macdonald, office managing shareholder of Akerman's Jacksonville office. "He also was a tireless advocate for many charitable causes throughout North Florida, particularly in the area of providing healthcare services to the poor. Steve loved life and was admired for his tremendous gifts as a lawyer, and his remarkable, unqualified optimism and good humor. He will be deeply missed."
Beyond the practice of law, Steve was perhaps best known for his love of the sea. An accomplished yachtsman, Steve had the soul of a true waterman. He relished the challenge of competitive sailing equally with the joy of reaching up and down the St. Johns River with friends.
The firm will honor Steve with a donation to the We Care Jacksonville, Stephen G. Prom Memorial Fund. Our contribution will help support We Care, a volunteer coalition of healthcare professionals and others dedicated to provide services to the uninsured, the homeless, and the medically underserved people of Jacksonville, a cause and a community for which Steve cared very deeply and worked passionately to support.