A Fork in the Road

As he was graduating from college in 1979, Johnson Pope partner Frank Jakes was presented with a fork in the road.  He had been accepted into New York University’s prestigious School of Law, but he had also spent years in training as an actor at such schools as North Carolina School of the Arts, NYU’s Tisch School of Film and the University of Denver.

It was either a move to New York or LA to continue his pursuit of professional acting or a move to New York for the study of law.  The law won out and Frank has spent the past 30 years honing his skills as a trial lawyer specializing in Intellectual Property law.

But everyone has their art, and Frank’s was acting.  In 2011, he made the decision to return to professional acting and has since been performing on the stage and in film.  Currently, he is performing the role of Richard in Time Stands Still with the Cornerstone Theatre Company in Winter Park, and will also be tackling the role of George in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf in January.  Frank’s commitment to the arts does not end with performance; he currently serves as Vice President of the Board of Director’s of Stageworks Theater, the oldest professional theater in Tampa.