About Us
At The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson in St. Petersburg, our commitment goes beyond legal expertise; we are devoted to actively contributing to our community’s well-being. Our dedicated team ensures proactive assistance, safeguarding assets and fostering long-term success for our valued clients.
About The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, P.A.
The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, P.A. is a full-service St. Petersburg law firm representing businesses, owners, investors, commercial-property interests, professionals, veterans, families, and individuals throughout the Tampa Bay area. We help clients address serious disputes, important transactions, unexpected legal problems, and the long-term planning needed to protect what they are building.
Some clients come to us knowing exactly what legal service they need. Others know that something is wrong, valuable interests are at risk, or an important decision must be made—but they do not know which area of law applies. In either situation, our role is to identify the legal issues, explain the available options, and help the client determine a practical path forward.
Your First Counsel™
If you know what legal service you need, we can help. If you do not know where your problem fits, start with us.
Legal problems rarely remain confined to one category. A business dispute may also involve contracts, commercial property, ownership rights, employment relationships, personal guarantees, or estate-planning concerns. An injury may create insurance, employment, disability, financial, and family issues. The death or incapacity of an owner may affect probate, business succession, real estate, and ongoing operations.
Our First Counsel™ approach means that clients do not have to diagnose their own legal problems before contacting an attorney. We look at the broader situation, identify overlapping concerns, determine which matters our firm can handle, and help coordinate appropriate legal assistance when another professional or outside counsel is needed.
This is not a separate practice area. It is how we approach the attorney-client relationship.
Serious Civil and Business Litigation
When a lawsuit or substantial dispute threatens a business, property, investment, professional interest, or financial position, the response should be based on more than a strongly worded letter. It should be supported by an informed litigation strategy.
Our firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in civil and business disputes. Depending on the matter, our work may include pre-suit investigation, demand letters, cease-and-desist communications, settlement negotiations, mediation, injunctions, emergency relief, discovery, depositions, motion practice, trial, appeal, and post-judgment enforcement.
We seek sensible resolutions when settlement serves the client’s interests. At the same time, meaningful settlement leverage frequently depends on being prepared to litigate the case through the next stage. Most civil and business litigation matters are handled on an hourly basis and require an advance retainer.
Legal Counsel for Businesses at Every Stage
Businesses need legal counsel before, during, and after a dispute. We assist with business formation, contracts, ownership arrangements, purchases and sales, commercial transactions, operational concerns, commercial real estate, risk management, and litigation.
For businesses that need an ongoing legal relationship but do not require a full-time in-house attorney, our Fractional General Counsel service provides proactive and continuing legal support. This allows an attorney to become familiar with the company, its leadership, its agreements, its risk tolerance, and its long-term objectives before a crisis develops.
The goal is not to eliminate every business risk. It is to help the client understand the risk, make informed decisions, document important relationships, and respond effectively when a conflict arises.
Explore Our Business Law Services
https://www.getyourlegalaction.com/business-law/
Learn About Fractional General Counsel
https://www.getyourlegalaction.com/the-benefits-of-fractional-general-counsel/
The Legal Ladder: From Crisis to Legacy
We believe the law is not merely a shield used when something goes wrong. It can also be a ladder—a practical tool for moving from crisis toward stability, growth, and legacy.
Crisis
A lawsuit, accident, arrest, threatened eviction, business conflict, government notice, family emergency, or unexpected death can place important rights in immediate danger. At this stage, the priorities are identifying deadlines, preserving evidence, preventing avoidable harm, and understanding what must happen next.
Stabilization
Once the immediate threat is addressed, legal work may still be needed to protect the client’s position. This can include finalizing agreements, pursuing compensation, administering an estate, protecting property, obtaining disability benefits, establishing enforceable rights, or resolving the issues that could otherwise create another crisis.
Growth
The law can be used proactively to support a business, investment, property acquisition, professional relationship, or major life decision. Contracts, operating agreements, commercial leases, ownership structures, policies, and ongoing legal counsel can create the framework needed for responsible growth.
Legacy
Long-term planning helps preserve what a person, family, or business has built. Estate planning, probate planning, business succession, ownership transitions, and related legal structures can reduce uncertainty and help carry a client’s intentions forward.
A client may be on more than one rung at the same time. Our role is to understand where the client is, address the immediate need, and identify legal steps that may place the client in a stronger position than where the client began.
Help Through Major Life Events
Our full-service model also allows us to assist clients through injuries, disability claims, estate administration, family transitions, criminal accusations, and other significant events.
In personal injury matters, our philosophy is Healing First. Justice Always. Appropriate medical treatment and recovery come first. We then work to preserve evidence, protect the client’s claim, pursue fair compensation, and prepare for litigation when necessary.
We also maintain a longstanding commitment to veterans seeking disability benefits and to individuals navigating Social Security Disability claims. Estate-planning and probate services help clients prepare for incapacity, administer a loved one’s estate, and protect families from unnecessary uncertainty.
Personal Injury — Healing First. Justice Always.
https://www.getyourlegalaction.com/personal-injury/
Estate Planning and Probate
https://www.getyourlegalaction.com/estate-planning-and-probate/
Veterans Disability
https://www.getyourlegalaction.com/veterans-disability/
A Team-Based Approach to Legal Problems
Legal representation involves more than the attorney who appears in court or signs a document. Effective representation also depends on investigation, preparation, organization, communication, document management, scheduling, and consistent follow-through.
Our attorneys and legal professionals work as a team. When a matter touches more than one area of law, we can bring different perspectives to the problem, identify related issues, and coordinate the work required to move the matter forward.
We want clients to understand what is happening, what decisions must be made, and what the next stage is likely to require. Although no attorney can promise a particular outcome, clients should receive practical advice, a reasoned strategy, and a clear understanding of the work being performed.
Meet Our Team
The firm is led by Douglas G. Jackson, its founder, president, managing attorney, and team lead. The firm’s attorneys and legal professionals bring different backgrounds and responsibilities to a shared mission: helping clients understand and use the law to protect their rights, address serious problems, and build stronger futures.
Rooted in the St. Petersburg Community
Our mission is to embody the spirit of law, governance, and justice by advocating for good, building relationships, and developing community.
That mission extends beyond individual legal matters. Members of our firm participate in local business, legal, civic, and neighborhood organizations. The firm also hosts educational and community programs intended to build relationships, strengthen businesses, improve legal understanding, and contribute to the community we serve.
Our involvement includes business-education programs, community events, and recurring service projects such as local beach cleanups. These activities reflect our belief that a law firm should not merely operate within a community. It should help develop it.
View Our Community Events
https://www.getyourlegalaction.com/events/
Start with a Conflict Check
Before discussing the substance of a potential matter, we generally need the names of the people, businesses, and organizations involved so that we can check for potential conflicts of interest.
When contacting the firm, please provide:
- Your full name and contact information;
- The names of the opposing parties or other involved persons and businesses;
- A general description of the legal problem;
- Any known court dates, response deadlines, or urgent circumstances; and
- The type of assistance you are seeking, if known.
Please do not send confidential documents, detailed legal strategy, or sensitive information before the firm confirms that it can consider the matter. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship, and representation begins only after the firm and client enter into a written agreement.
Fee arrangements depend on the nature and complexity of the matter. Most civil and business litigation matters are billed hourly and require an advance retainer. Other types of matters may use different fee arrangements when appropriate.
Call 1-800-704-6045 or use our contact form to begin the intake and conflict-check process.
Our History: A Law Firm Built to Address the Whole Problem
Our History: A Law Firm Built to Address the Whole Problem
The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, P.A. was established in August 2017. At the time, Douglas G. Jackson was completing his work at Bosley & Bratch, now known as Helping Veterans Group, where he was responsible for the representation of more than 400 clients. His final day with that firm was October 28, 2017, after which he began operating The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, P.A. on a full-time basis.
The new firm was founded in response to a problem Douglas had repeatedly observed while representing veterans in disability and Social Security matters. Many clients faced legal problems beyond the limited scope of the services his former firm was authorized to provide. Those problems often involved housing, family, estate, business, financial, or other civil legal concerns. Because many clients did not know another attorney—or did not know what kind of attorney they needed—they sometimes allowed problems with legitimate legal remedies to go unresolved.
That experience shaped the firm’s purpose from the beginning. Douglas believed that law does not exist in a vacuum and that clients should not be expected to divide their lives into isolated practice areas before asking for help. He envisioned a general-practice law firm that could look at the client’s broader circumstances, identify overlapping legal issues, solve the matters within the firm’s capabilities, and help coordinate additional resources when necessary.
The firm began with a virtual office at 4437 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg through Hancock Law. Douglas was the firm’s only employee and initially handled every aspect of the practice, including legal work, intake, administration, technology, billing, and client communication. Veterans Disability was the firm’s largest practice area, but the firm was organized as a general practice from the outset.
The early years required patience and persistence. Veterans Disability matters can take a considerable amount of time to resolve, making revenue and cash flow difficult to predict. During the firm’s first year, Douglas supplemented the practice by appearing at Social Security Disability hearings for other attorneys, relied on financing, and gradually invested in professional services and technology that allowed the firm to grow.
In 2019, Stacey Bechtel, who had previously worked with Douglas at Bosley & Bratch, joined the firm as its first paralegal and later became its Case Manager. Her arrival marked an important stage in the firm’s development. Michael Durkin became the firm’s second non-founder employee in 2020. Later that year, Luz Bastos, who had worked with the firm as a law clerk while attending Stetson University College of Law, became the firm’s first additional attorney after passing the bar.
The firm initially grew almost entirely through referrals, particularly from veterans who trusted the firm and recommended it to others. Over time, it expanded its use of technology and social media and became increasingly involved in the St. Petersburg business, legal, and civic community. That community involvement accelerated beginning in 2022 and became a defining part of the firm’s identity by approximately 2024.
Civil litigation became a more substantial part of the practice during 2022 and 2023. The firm had always handled a range of general civil matters, but its litigation practice increasingly developed to serve businesses, owners, investors, professionals, property interests, and individuals facing serious disputes. Personal injury had also been part of the firm’s work to some extent from the beginning, and the firm began a more deliberate expansion of that practice, adopting the philosophy Healing First. Justice Always. in 2025.
The firm’s mission existed in substance from its founding, although it was formally placed into writing around 2023:
To embody the spirit of law, governance, and justice by advocating for good, building relationships, and developing community.
Today, The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, P.A. continues to grow as a community law firm built on the principle that legal problems are interconnected. Its work is guided by the same central idea that inspired its founding: clients deserve a trusted first call, a careful examination of the whole problem, and a legal strategy intended to place them in a stronger position than where they began.
Link text: Read the Full History of Our Firm
Set Up Your Consultation with A Member of The Firm
Versatility, compassion and knowledge are what you get when you work with The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson in St. Petersburg, Florida. When you need legal direction call at 1-800-704-6045 a case evaluation.
Douglas G. Jackson
Lead Attorney
Founder / President / Managing Attorney
Joseph C. Pultrone
Attorney
Mark St. Louis
Attorney
Rooted in the St. Petersburg Community
Our mission is to embody the spirit of law, governance, and justice by advocating for good, building relationships, and developing community.
That mission extends beyond individual legal matters. Members of our firm participate in local business, legal, civic, and neighborhood organizations. The firm also hosts educational and community programs intended to build relationships, strengthen businesses, improve legal understanding, and contribute to the community we serve.
Our involvement includes business-education programs, community events, and recurring service projects such as local beach cleanups. These activities reflect our belief that a law firm should not merely operate within a community. It should help develop it.
View Our Community Events
https://www.getyourlegalaction.com/events/
Start with a Conflict Check
Before discussing the substance of a potential matter, we generally need the names of the people, businesses, and organizations involved so that we can check for potential conflicts of interest.
When contacting the firm, please provide:
- Your full name and contact information;
- The names of the opposing parties or other involved persons and businesses;
- A general description of the legal problem;
- Any known court dates, response deadlines, or urgent circumstances; and
- The type of assistance you are seeking, if known.
Please do not send confidential documents, detailed legal strategy, or sensitive information before the firm confirms that it can consider the matter. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship, and representation begins only after the firm and client enter into a written agreement.
Fee arrangements depend on the nature and complexity of the matter. Most civil and business litigation matters are billed hourly and require an advance retainer. Other types of matters may use different fee arrangements when appropriate.
Call 1-800-704-6045 or use our contact form to begin the intake and conflict-check process.
Our History: A Law Firm Built to Address the Whole Problem
The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, P.A. was established in August 2017. At the time, Douglas G. Jackson was completing his work at Bosley & Bratch, now known as Helping Veterans Group, where he was responsible for the representation of more than 400 clients. His final day with that firm was October 28, 2017, after which he began operating The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, P.A. on a full-time basis.
The new firm was founded in response to a problem Douglas had repeatedly observed while representing veterans in disability and Social Security matters. Many clients faced legal problems beyond the limited scope of the services his former firm was authorized to provide. Those problems often involved housing, family, estate, business, financial, or other civil legal concerns. Because many clients did not know another attorney—or did not know what kind of attorney they needed—they sometimes allowed problems with legitimate legal remedies to go unresolved.
That experience shaped the firm’s purpose from the beginning. Douglas believed that law does not exist in a vacuum and that clients should not be expected to divide their lives into isolated practice areas before asking for help. He envisioned a general-practice law firm that could look at the client’s broader circumstances, identify overlapping legal issues, solve the matters within the firm’s capabilities, and help coordinate additional resources when necessary.
The firm began with a virtual office at 4437 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg through Hancock Law. Douglas was the firm’s only employee and initially handled every aspect of the practice, including legal work, intake, administration, technology, billing, and client communication. Veterans Disability was the firm’s largest practice area, but the firm was organized as a general practice from the outset.
The early years required patience and persistence. Veterans Disability matters can take a considerable amount of time to resolve, making revenue and cash flow difficult to predict. During the firm’s first year, Douglas supplemented the practice by appearing at Social Security Disability hearings for other attorneys, relied on financing, and gradually invested in professional services and technology that allowed the firm to grow.
In 2019, Stacey Bechtel, who had previously worked with Douglas at Bosley & Bratch, joined the firm as its first paralegal and later became its Case Manager. Her arrival marked an important stage in the firm’s development. Michael Durkin became the firm’s second non-founder employee in 2020. Later that year, Luz Bastos, who had worked with the firm as a law clerk while attending Stetson University College of Law, became the firm’s first additional attorney after passing the bar.
The firm initially grew almost entirely through referrals, particularly from veterans who trusted the firm and recommended it to others. Over time, it expanded its use of technology and social media and became increasingly involved in the St. Petersburg business, legal, and civic community. That community involvement accelerated beginning in 2022 and became a defining part of the firm’s identity by approximately 2024.
Civil litigation became a more substantial part of the practice during 2022 and 2023. The firm had always handled a range of general civil matters, but its litigation practice increasingly developed to serve businesses, owners, investors, professionals, property interests, and individuals facing serious disputes. Personal injury had also been part of the firm’s work to some extent from the beginning, and the firm began a more deliberate expansion of that practice, adopting the philosophy Healing First. Justice Always. in 2025.
The firm’s mission existed in substance from its founding, although it was formally placed into writing around 2023:
To embody the spirit of law, governance, and justice by advocating for good, building relationships, and developing community.
Today, The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson, P.A. continues to grow as a community law firm built on the principle that legal problems are interconnected. Its work is guided by the same central idea that inspired its founding: clients deserve a trusted first call, a careful examination of the whole problem, and a legal strategy intended to place them in a stronger position than where they began.
Link text: Read the Full History of Our Firm
Start with Our Intake and Conflict-Check Process
Versatility, compassion and knowledge are what you get when you work with The Law Firm of Douglas G. Jackson in St. Petersburg, Florida. When you need legal direction, call 1-800-704-6045 or complete the form below to begin the intake and conflict-check process.
