Small Law Firms

Florida Lawyer Dons Grim Reaper Cowl To Warn Beachgoers Of COVID-19 Threat

Finally! A Grim Reaper who's trying to save lives.

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Move over “Florida man” stories, because 2020 is shaping up to be the year of the “Florida lawyer.” That is if Florida attorney Daniel Uhlfelder has anything to do with it. Uhlfelder is the man you’ve probably heard of by now who achieved nationwide notoriety by dressing as the archetypal representation of Death itself in order to caution Florida beachgoers against the dangers of reopening pandemic-stricken beaches too soon.

When I heard of this story, I immediately sent Uhlfelder an email asking for an interview. He responded within just a few minutes (note the stellar attorney responsiveness if you’re a prospective client) and agreed to sit down with me for an interview (over the phone, from a very safe distance). What follows is our delightful conversation, lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

Jonathan Wolf (JW): Thanks for taking the time to talk today. How long have you been practicing law?

Daniel Uhlfelder (DU): Twenty plus years. I graduated in 1996.

JW: Any particular areas of expertise or types of law you’re most interested in practicing?

DU: It’s a general practice firm. I mostly do litigation, civil litigation, commercial litigation, real estate, some family law. Court stuff fits my personality.

JW: So, as you know, we’re here to talk about this practice of dressing up as the Grim Reaper to visit local beaches in Florida. You’re spreading the word about the fact that you think the beaches are reopening too soon. I totally get the impulse to do something to help people make the right choices in this pandemic, but what inspired you to spread your message by dressing up as the personification of death?

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DU: It goes back a little bit. For the past two years I’ve been involved in a hotly contested debate about keeping our beaches open to the public. Mike Huckabee is involved here in the panhandle on the other side of that debate, he and other powerful people have been trying to privatize their beaches.

JW: Like the Mike Huckabee?

DU: Yeah, that one. I went from 400 Twitter followers to tens of thousands after an exchange with him, and used the notoriety from that to start a PAC in February to help promote keeping the beaches public. Of course, that’s right when the pandemic struck.

So, I went to a paint store to get some masks, and they had a whole hazmat suit there that I bought when I saw it, not knowing how serious this all would get. It was actually a full body suit for painting, but looked like a hazmat suit.

Driving, I saw tons of people out on the beaches during Spring Break. There were two universes of people: people staying home to fight the pandemic, and people hitting the beaches. So, I wore the hazmat suit on the beach as a kind of commentary on this situation, which got a lot of attention.

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I also filed suit pro bono against the governor to try to close the beaches during the pandemic, but it’s this image of this lawyer on the beach in a paint suit that looked like a hazmat suit that really got things moving. Through a lot of work, we got the beaches mostly closed to reduce risk during the pandemic.

Then almost as soon as we got some of this success, they started talking about reopening the beaches again, too soon. The hazmat suit wasn’t doing enough, so the death suit was the next step.

JW: You told me about where you got the paint suit. Where’d you get the Grim Reaper getup? Is it homemade?

DU: I ordered one online from Walmart and it was way too hot, and looked cheesy, so I asked a friend of mine who makes clothes here to make me one. She suggested making one out of linen. Linen is much better for a Grim Reaper suit on the beach, if anyone wants to make their own.

JW: The reports of you storming the beaches of Florida dressed as Death itself have been widely reported on — CNN, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, those are just a few of the news outlets reporting on this, you were even talking with the ABA Journal when I first called — how are you dealing with this newfound notoriety?

DU: I’m pleased with it. It’s raised awareness of what’s going on in Florida. A big part of change is informing people of what’s going on, and I’ve informed a lot of people. I just want to be strategic about what I do with this increased level of interest now, so I can use it to promote the common good.

My parents always told me talk is cheap, what are you going to actually do? I’m really happy about the widespread interest in what I’m doing and in turning all this interest into action.

And since you’re a lawyer writing for a legal website, I’ll just say that my father was a lawyer, and lawyers in previous generations took on public interest issues, I saw that happening. But I’m not seeing that as much today. Being a lawyer isn’t just about making money, it’s about doing things to help people. I’m not on the same level as Louis Brandeis or Thurgood Marshall, but lawyers now are so afraid to do things that might offend people that they won’t take a risk to do the right thing.

JW: I agree with that.

DU: I would like to see some kids in law school taught how to be good citizens. Don’t know what they’re teaching in law school now, not how to draft an interrogatory. Should at least teach some public service.

JW: Personally, I love seeing lawyers with personality and some eccentric flare. But have you gotten any flack from people offended over this?

DU: I probably got three emails since we’ve been talking. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff people critical of me are saying. I’m Jewish, my grandfather escaped Nazi Germany, I had family who died in the Holocaust, and I’m getting some anti-Semitic crap. Also been getting some lawyer stuff, calling me an ambulance chaser, that kind of thing. My response is, what are they doing to help society?

JW: That’s awful to hear. I get a lot of hate mail myself. Just delete it. I always get more positive emails from readers than negative ones though, so I hope you’re also getting the message that there are plenty of people who support what you’ve doing.

DU: You can be a great lawyer and a great public citizen; they aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m doing this as a good citizen, even if some people aren’t thrilled with it. That’s what’s lacking in the legal profession.

Do you have any other questions for me?

JW: Just a couple, and these will hopefully be a little more lighthearted. You probably don’t know this about me, but I have a 12-inch tattoo of the Grim Reaper covering the side of my torso. Do I have to worry about any type of intellectual property issues if I show up shirtless at one of the beaches you’re touring?

DU: You need to send me a picture of that.

JW: Will do. Last but not least, I know you’re not doing any of this for business purposes, but I’ve noticed you have a nice law firm website. Would you like to plug that or anything else to my readers?

DU: Sure. The website explains what we do. If you have a legal situation in Florida, look us up. We’re in a small community, but I try to provide big-city type service. I deal with a lot of high-end properties and disputes. I take my practice really seriously. I’m always thinking like a lawyer, and you don’t have to tell me a lot of stuff for me to get the issue in an instinctive sort of way.

I love what I’m doing. I love practicing law, and by loving what you’re doing, I think you do a better job.

***

So, there you have it. My thanks to Mr. Uhlfelder for taking some time to chat with me on a lovely Saturday morning. To anyone who might be able to use his services, you can find his law firm website using the link in this sentence. Cool though it may be, I suspect he’ll change out of the linen Grim Reaper costume before your initial consultation.

Jonathan Wolf is a litigation associate at a midsize, full-service Minnesota firm. He also teaches as an adjunct writing professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, has written for a wide variety of publications, and makes it both his business and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless solely his own and should not be attributed to any organization with which he is affiliated. He wouldn’t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at jon_wolf@hotmail.com.

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