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36 Step Up For 2 Open Federal Judgeships

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 12, 2007

TAMPA - Being a federal judge is one of the most prestigious jobs in the law.

In the Middle District of Florida, with two openings to fill, 36 applicants are vying for a chance at what many in the legal community consider their dream job. The applicants include 20 judges, six from Tampa. Among them are federal magistrates, state trial court judges, a Florida appellate judge, a judge with U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Washington, D.C., and even an administrative law judge in Pennsylvania.

The remaining applicants include four Tampa private lawyers, a federal public defender, an assistant state attorney, one of Sen. Mel Martinez's former law partners and a lawyer with the Department of Justice in Washington.

"To be a judge is what many lawyers aspire to," Stetson Law School professor Robert Batey said, "and to be a judge in the federal system is considered, as I say, the pinnacle of one's career. Federal district judges are only two steps away from the United States Supreme Court."

The job has lifetime tenure, meaning a judge can be removed only through impeachment. In addition, according to Stetson law professor Michael Allen, the Constitution provides that salaries for federal judges - currently set at about $165,000 - may not be reduced.

By comparison, Florida circuit judges are paid $146,000 a year, while county court judges earn $137,000.

"The federal courts, compared to state courts, generally have much more in the way of resources," Allen said. "Federal courthouses, generally speaking, tend to be better maintained than state courthouses. Federal judges get to hire; in addition to a judicial assistant, they get to have two law clerks." They also have magistrate judges to help them.

Money Not The Issue

Batey said the salary is not what makes a federal judgeship appealing. Most private lawyers must take a marked cut in pay to become judges, he said.

One of the applicants, Tampa lawyer Christian C. Burden, said the appealing thing for him is the opportunity to think through issues in a more comprehensive way than he can as an attorney. "It's simply the reward that comes with evaluating the facts and the law and making them apply to one another," he said.

Burden said the mystique and authority of being a federal judge isn't what draws him. And he said not every lawyer wants to be a judge. "I don't think everybody is thinking of their career in terms of ultimately being a judge," he said. "It is a lot of work. It is an enormous commitment. One of the things you take away when you become a judge is collegiality." A judge can no longer talk to friends or partners about cases they are involved in.

Emily Peacock, elected last year to become a Hillsborough Circuit Court judge, said she applied for a federal post because, "It's a great opportunity for service."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer testified before Congress in April that federal judges' salaries are not keeping up with the private sector, leading many judges to leave the bench and return to law firms. Breyer worried the only people who would apply for federal judgeships would be either wealthy lawyers or "judicial professionals," those who are already judges in other courts.

Allen said a federal judgeship remains "a very prestigious job." He added, "Lawyers have sort of judge envy. You respect the judge. You are the king or queen in your courtroom."

The Middle District openings are the result of decisions of two judges - Susan Bucklew in Tampa and Patricia Fawsett in Orlando - to take what is called senior status next August.

Available to judges who meet longevity requirements, senior status allows them to decide how many and what kinds of cases they will hear, reducing their workload while continuing to collect their full salaries. Because judges receive their full salary on retirement, the service provided by a senior judge is considered essentially volunteer work, according to the federal judiciary Web site.

Applications for the two openings had to be postmarked by this past Friday. It's not clear where in the Middle District the judges will sit.

"The vacancies will be created in Orlando and Tampa, but there's no assurance the new judges will be assigned to those divisions," said Micky Grindstaff, chairman of the Florida Judicial Nominating Commission.

A Lot Of Real Estate

The district covers a wide swath of Florida, from the Georgia border in the northeast to south of Naples. There are five divisions: Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Ocala and Fort Myers.

After the openings are created, other judges within the district may choose to move, based on seniority, to the newly created spots. The new judges will be assigned to the newly opened positions.

Grindstaff said that after commission members select which applicants they will interview, the interviews will be conducted in public on Dec. 17 at Orlando International Airport in the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority boardroom.

The commission then will convene in secret and select six nominees whose names will be forwarded to Martinez and Sen. Bill Nelson, who will decide which names to forward to President Bush. Federal judges are nominated by the president and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

In addition to Peacock and Burden, these people have applied:

Douglas W. Abruzzo, an administrative law judge from Johnston, Pa.; Peter Adrien, circuit court judge from Miami; C. Jeffery Arnold, circuit court judge from Orange and Osceola counties; Thomas P. Barber, Hillsborough County judge; Herbert M. Berkowitz, a Tampa lawyer and former federal prosecutor; W. Douglas Berry, a Tampa lawyer; Raymond H. Carlson, assistant state attorney in Jacksonville; Shari Polster Chappell, a federal magistrate in Fort Myers; Roy B. Dalton Jr., an Orlando lawyer and former law partner of Martinez.

Also: Robert N. Davis, a judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and a former Stetson law professor; Andrew J. Doyle, lawyer with Justice Department in Washington in the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Gary Easom, an Atlanta lawyer; Douglas N. Frazier, a federal magistrate in Fort Myers who served as interim U.S. Attorney for the Middle District in 1993; Stuart J. Freeman, a St. Petersburg lawyer; Melvia B. Green, a state appellate judge in Miami; A. Fitzgerald Hall, a federal public defender in Tampa; Don T. Hall, a county court judge in Arcadia.

And: Charlene E. Honeywell, a Hillsborough Circuit Court judge; Kevin E. Hyde, a Jacksonville lawyer; Thomas F. Icard Jr., a Sarasota lawyer; Richard Johnston Jr., a Fort Myers lawyer; William F. Jung, a Tampa lawyer and former law clerk for the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist; Frederick J. Lauten, a circuit court judge in Orlando; Virgil L. Light, a Sarasota lawyer; Ramiro Manalich, a Collier County judge; Wilfredo Martinez, an Orange County judge; Monte C. Richardson, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Tampa and now a federal magistrate in Jacksonville.

In addition: Kevin S. Sanders, a Jacksonville lawyer; Mary S. Scriven, a federal magistrate in Tampa; Kevin W. Shaughnessy, an Orlando lawyer; R. Scott Shuker, an Orlando lawyer; Margaret O. Steinbeck, a Lee County Circuit Court judge; Steven Scott Stephens, Hillsborough Circuit judge; and Mark R. Wolfe, a Hillsborough Circuit judge.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause contributed to this report. Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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