Attorney Biography
Richard W. Hawthorne is a partner at Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow, where he focuses on real estate and banking law. He represents buyers and sellers in commercial and residential real estate transactions, landlords and tenants in commercial leasing and developers of multifamily housing and retail buildings. He also has significant experience representing buyers and sellers of debt obligations.
Mr. Hawthorne received a Bachelor of Science degree, with honors, in accounting from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor degree, with honors, from the University of Florida, where he was a member of the Florida Law Review and the Order of the Coif.
Mr. Hawthorne has been admitted to the Florida Bar. He previously worked for Arthur Anderson & Co. (Jacksonville, Florida) as a tax accountant, Foley & Lardner LLP (Jacksonville, Florida), first as an associate then as a partner, and as general counsel and project manager for Thomas-Pierce & Company (Tallahassee, Florida) before joining DMHD in 2009 as a partner.
Mr. Hawthorne is an AV Preeminent Peer Review rated attorney through Lexis Nexis/Martindale Hubbell. He has been named to Florida Trend's Legal Elite.
Currently, Mr. Hawthorne serves as the Vice-Chair on the Museum of Contemporary Arts Board of Trustees. He serves as a volunteer and member of the Board of Directors for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northeast Florida, Inc. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Jacksonville Bar Association.