Page 11 - First Coast Vol 4 No 2

Barry Sinoff Award of Excellence Attorney Spotlight
Ashley Wells Cox
FBY NANCY KINNALLY
or Ashley Wells Cox of e Be- dell Firm, being the recipient of the Barry Sino Award of Excel- lence in Family Law is an honor not only professionally, but also person- ally.
Senior counsel in the rm’s fam- ily law division, Cox rst met Sino when she was going through her own divorce.
“I was immediately struck by his compassion and his ability,” Cox said. “Mr. Sino was gentle, yet rm, us- ing his knowledge and experience to obtain the best results possible for his clients, while always being sensi- tive to their needs and struggles. He made me feel secure, and that was his gi during a tough time. I will always remember him and work to model my own character and professionalism a er the example he set forth.”
A er Sino passed away in 2016, Cox hired Patricia Abraham, who had been his paralegal for nearly 30 years, bringing a critical part of his practice into her own.
When it comes to role models, Cox has had some of the best. Chief among
them are her parents, retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles T. Wells, and Linda Wells, a highly suc- cessful commercial litigator.
“ ey are my best and most long- standing mentors. ey both taught me that honesty and professional- ism are the most important qualities for any attorney,” Cox said. “ ey are both intelligent, compassionate, and hard-working. ey both worked very hard but always put our family rst and I have tried to emulate that with my own life and practice. If I could be half the parent, spouse and attorney that they both were and continue to be, then I am on the right track.”
And on the right track, she is. A magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, Cox graduated with honors from Northwestern University School of Law in 2002. She is married to Jer- emy Cox, and they have three school- age children: Madison, Leah and Fenn. In addition to managing a busy prac- tice, Cox is a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, school advisory chair for Atlan- tic Beach Elementary, and president of Friends of Atlantic Beach Elementary.
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With such an impressive legal pedi- gree, Cox may have seemed preor- dained to become a lawyer, but her rst job out of college was as a teacher in Chicago through the Inner City Teaching Corps.
“A er teaching, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in a eld in which I was providing some type of public service and helping people,” Cox said. “I was deciding between obtaining a masters’ degree in social work or attending law school. My dad kept saying that I could do anything with a law degree, so I ultimately de- cided to go to law school.”
In fact, Cox has led a varied legal career. A er practicing as a Skadden fellow at the Atlanta Legal Aid Soci- ety, serving as assistant state attorney in Jacksonville, and a decade practic- ing private criminal defense at e Bedell Firm, she took the helm of the rm’s family law practice in 2016.
“Family law is helping people in cri- sis – o en at one of the most di cult junctures in a person’s life,” Cox said. “I enjoy helping people through those tough days.”
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