Shyness as a child helped teach Fox Rothschild partner and Coral Gables Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli that he could find ways to turn a bad situation around.

Born to a prominent business family in pre-Castro Cuba, Valdes-Fauli spent his preteen summers in Massachusetts at sleepaway camps. He then alternated summer school in Cuba and boarding school in Lake Placid, New York, before returning to high school in Cuba. He said the time spent on his own in the U.S. when he wasn't yet comfortable with English made him feel socially isolated and develop into a bit of a loner.

Then, in what should have been his second last year of high school in Cuba, Fidel Castro's revolution closed private schools, and the family fled to Miami. Near the end, he hardly went to school and skipped final exams.

In the U.S., his father, who was a lawyer in Cuba, became a delivery man. His mother found a job at a toy store.

When he enrolled at Archbishop Curley High School with good grades from his first year of high school in Cuba, he was still shy but realized he had to improve his grades and lose his timidity or he wasn't going to get anywhere.

“I'm very good at turning bad situations around and realizing what I have to do in order to gain an audience in order to seek what I need to accomplish,” Valdes-Fauli said.

He came out of his shell and headed to Tulane University and then Harvard Law School. In 1968, Valdes-Fauli started working for Standard Oil Co., now Exxon Mobil. Within a few years, the company sent him to Venezuela as a senior tax attorney for Creole Petroleum. He had wanted to be a lawyer like his father since he was a child, but once in the job he found he preferred problem-solving.

Valdes-Fauli opened his first tax and banking law firm with his father as his paralegal and moved through a series of law firms. In time, Valdes-Fauli became involved in civic organizations and eventually someone suggested he run for office. He was a Coral Gables city commissioner from 1985 to 1989 when he lost a mayoral bid by a few votes. He then served as mayor from 1993 to 2001 when he lost again. The election losses were difficult.

“When 5,000 people tell you they don't like you, it's very, very hard,” said Valdes-Fauli, who was elected mayor last April. “It's very difficult to lose because you put your whole soul into it. You have to convince yourself that you are the solution, the best thing that could happen to the city, and it would be a tragedy and a disaster if you don't win. And then you lose.”

SPOTTING ISSUES

Losses push people to seek reasons why and wonder what they could have done differently, but he said that's destructive and a waste of time and emotion.

His work on the City Commission and its contributions to the city are a source of pride, from big projects like Merrick Park to smaller projects like planting palm trees in medians.

In a novel approach, the city is suing Florida Power & Light Co. over weekslong power outages after Hurricane Irma last fall. The suit alleges the public utility didn't upgrade equipment such as wooden poles, leaving the city more vulnerable to power loss and delaying power restoration after the storm.

“In law school they tell you the most important thing is to spot the issues, and you do learn to spot the important issues, the crux of problems, of situations, and deal with those versus extraneous things,” he said. “That's very valuable for my job as a mayor.”

He said his civic work has benefited from his lawyering skills and opened doors for his legal practice because people know of him when he calls. As part of that evolution, Valdes-Fauli is leaving Fox Rothschild this week for a solo practice.

Fox Rothschild Miami office managing partner Joseph DeMaria said having a firm lawyer in public office hasn't been a problem.

“When you have someone in your firm who is both a lawyer and a politician, you have to be both mature about it and flexible,” DeMaria said. “It can be a benefit to the firm and to the politician. If you handle it right, it's a non-issue.”

Valdes-Fauli's electoral losses could never prepare him for the suicide of his eldest son and namesake, a bank CEO who jumped from a hotel building in 2016. The loss was unspeakably difficult, Valdes-Fauli said.

He had been seriously considering another run for Coral Gables mayor before his son's death and knew he had to move on. He was proud of the work he had done for the city in his previous terms and knew he enjoyed the problem-solving aspect. He decided that December to run for office. The following April, he won the mayor's race.

“I had to get busy, and this is one of the many ways I had to occupy my mind, my spirit, my intellect,” Valdes-Fauli said. “You don't get over it, but life goes on, and you have to fill your life with some other things.”

RAUL VALDES-FAULI

Born: Havana, Cuba, 1943

Spouse: Francia Quijada

Children: Mariana, Michael, Daniella, Hilberto, Roberto

Education: Harvard University, J.D., 1968; Tulane University, B.A., 1965

Experience: Partner, Fox Rothschild, 2012-2018; Partner, Fowler Rodriguez Valdes-Fauli, 2005-2012; Partner, Steel Hector & Davis, 2000-2005; Partner, Gunster Yoakley Valdes-Fauli & Stewart, 1995-2000; Partner, Mahoney Hadlow Valdes-Fauli, 1982-1995; Mahoney Hadlow & Adams 1979-1982; Partner, Valdes-Fauli law firms, 1971-1979; Standard Oil Co., 1968-1970