Bryan Boysaw Sr.
Bryan Boysaw Sr. once had a secure job at the Palm Beach County Attorney’s Office, where he was well-liked and respected. But the regular paycheck didn’t soothe his yearnings to be an entrepreneur.
So the poker-playing Boysaw took a gamble. He quit his goodpaying government job to start his own law firm — with only a secretary to help him work on personal injury cases.
Fifteen years later, the Law Office of Bryan Boysaw and Associ- ates has won millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for injured clients. He’s also become a leading volunteer and contributor to the community.
“I have sweat equity in Palm Beach County,” said Boysaw, who returned to the county he grew up in after graduating from law school.
For his entrepreneurial success and community involvement, Boysaw, 48, won the Sun Sentinel’s 2014 Excalibur Award for Small Business Leader of the Year in Palm Beach County. The award was presented Thursday evening at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.
Since venturing out on his own, Boysaw has seen his staff grow to seven — and he expects he’ll hire two more attorneys and four more staffers. At the same time, Boysaw has become a go-to person when an urban school needs money for an event or educational project. Boysaw also has painstakingly renovated the former building of Joseph Wiley Jenkins, one of Palm Beach County’s first black pharmacists, in the historic Northwest District of downtown West Palm Beach.
“Everything he does, he does passionately,” said his boyhood friend, Frank Kendrick, a general contractor who oversaw the renovation.
Boysaw moved his law firm from a 1,000-square-foot office to 4,500 square feet in the former Jenkins building that also provided a rooming house for golf caddies on the second floor. Boysaw obtained Community Redevelopment financing that allowed him to create a recognized private sector anchor of the urban corridor.
Meanwhile, his law firm has grown even though he said he hasn’t advertised since his first year. “I believe that when you do excellent work, word gets out,” Boysaw said.
It wasn’t easy for a lawyer starting a practice just before the dotcom crash and a recession. Many law firms struggled during the recession, but “we are proud that we are still here and thriving,” he said.
His secretary, Deloris Johnson, said it helped that Boysaw is “really nice, down-to-earth and cares about his clients.”
His former boss, Palm Beach County Attorney Denise Nieman, still misses his ability to handle complicated cases.
“He’s just a high-energy, can-doit guy,” Nieman said. “He wanted to learn new things. He would just jump in without complaint. He’s a great role model.”
Boysaw attributes his strong work ethic to his family, starting with his grandparents, who worked into their 70s on a Virginia farm that he visited every summer. His mother and father, Mary and Joseph, also worked hard. His dad was a butcher during the day for Food Pantry, then ran his own construction business after hours.
But his family made time for him. His father accompanied him to look over Cornell College in tiny Mount Vernon, Iowa, where Boysaw was offered academic scholarships. He eventually played football at Cornell as a wide receiver.
His parents also were there to bolster him when Boysaw became disheartened that his dream of going to medical school might not happen. His mother suggested an undergraduate degree in business. Boysaw then took — and aced — a business class.
His father then urged him on to law school. “Son, people are always in trouble,” Boysaw remembered his dad saying.
Boysaw took the advice. After graduating from law school at the University of Iowa, he returned to Palm Beach County, where he was reunited with and married his childhood sweetheart, Traci, a teacher.
Their love of books and learning encouraged Boysaw to focus his charitable work on helping educate inner-city children in Riviera Beach and West Palm Beach, where he had gone to school.
“I love nice things, but because of my faith I realize that they are temporary so I don’t get attached to any of it,” he said. “As such, it’s always been easy for me to give of my time and money.”