Williams Parker Welcomes Barry F. Spivey As Partner

Williams Parker, the longest-standing law firm in the Sarasota-Manatee area, is adding a deeply experienced new partner to its roster of attorneys. With over half a century at the bar, Florida native Barry Spivey was one of the initial class of board certified attorneys in wills, trusts, and estates in 1986.

Executive editor of the Stetson Law Review in law school, Spivey has practiced law in Sarasota since 1972. His practice has evolved from focusing exclusively on estate planning and administration to predominately focusing on estate and trust litigation. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and serves on its Fiduciary Litigation Committee. His litigation practice includes representation of personal representatives, trustees, and beneficiaries in will and trust contests, fiduciary surcharge and removal proceedings, guardianship litigation, the modification and termination of irrevocable trusts, and appellate proceedings, among others.

“I am excited about the breadth of support I will have at Williams Parker, which I do not have in my current role as a sole practitioner,” Spivey says of the move. “I am looking forward to being associated with a storied firm that has been here a very long time—the entire 52 years that I have practiced and more. It will afford me the ability to discuss and collaborate with other experienced attorneys. You always get a better product when you have more eyes on an issue.”

A former director of the Sarasota County Bar Association and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Spivey has served on and chaired numerous Florida Bar committees and has received many honors, including the William S. Belcher Lifetime Professionalism Award. Spivey received his high school, university, and law school education in Florida and served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He is married to Tami Foley Conetta, has a son and stepdaughter, and enjoys reading and cycling. 

“We are delighted for Barry to join Williams Parker,” says the firm’s president, Michael J. Wilson. “We have long admired his skills and experience as one of the area’s preeminent trust and estate litigators, along with his vast experience in trusts and estates law. With Barry’s addition, Williams Parker is the leading trust and estate litigation firm in Southwest Florida, and its unmatched trusts and estates practice continues to grow.”