Florida Third District Court of Appeal

The Florida Third District Court of Appeal is headquartered in Miami, Florida. Its ten judges have jurisdiction over cases arising from Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties.

History[]

The Third District Court of Appeal (DCA) was one of the first three DCAs created by the Florida legislature in 1957. Court was first held in a room of the University of Miami School of Law. Then, from 1960 to 1976, court sessions took place at the State Office Building. It wasn't until 1976 that the court finally had its own facility to conduct its business. This courthouse was dedicated by Governor Reubin Askew in the fall of 1976. In 1990 an addition was added to keep pace with the court's continued growth. The courthouse has won the recognition of the American Institute of Architects (South Florida Chapter) and in 1981 Governor Bob Graham gave the court the .

The court's original three judges (Charles A. Carroll, Mallory H. Horton and Tillman Pearson) have increased to ten as of 2010.

Chief Judges[]

Judges who have served as Chief Judge of the Third DCA include:^[1]

, Current Chief Judge since July 1, 2021
, January 10, 2019 to June 30, 2021
Barbara Lagoa, January 1, 2019 to January 8, 2019
, July 1, 2017 to December 30, 2018
, July 9, 2015 to June 30, 2017
, July 1, 2013 to July 8, 2015
, July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013
Juan Ramirez, Jr., July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2011
David M. Gersten, July 1, 2007 until June 30, 2009
, July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2007
Alan R. Schwartz, 1983 to 2004
, 1980 to 1983
, 1978 to 1980
, 1965 to 1967 and 1977
, 1963 to 1965 and 1967 to 1976
, 1961 to 1963
, 1959 to 1961
, 1957 to 1959

Active Judges[]

Judges serving on the Third DCA as of July 1, 2017 include:^[2]

Name	Tenure	Appointing Governor
- Chief Judge	2010–	Charlie Crist
	2007–	Charlie Crist
	2011–	Rick Scott
	2012–	Rick Scott
	2013–	Rick Scott
	2017–	Rick Scott
	2018–	Rick Scott
	2018–	Rick Scott
	2019–	Ron DeSantis
	2019–	Ron DeSantis

Retired Judges[]

Judges who have served on the Third DCA include:

Name	Tenure	Comments
	(1957–1974)
	(1957–1965)
	(1957–1980)
	(1961–1996)
	(1961–1988)
	(1965–1972)
	(1972–1980)
	(1974–1978)
	(1977–1996 )
James W. Kehoe	(1977–1979)
Alan R. Schwartz	(1978–2004)
	(1979–1999)
	(1980–1996)
	(1980–1989)
Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr.	(1980–1993)
	(1981–2003)
David L. Levy	(1989–2006)
	(1990–2005)
	(1994–2008)
	(1996–2007)
Robert L. Shevin	(1996–2005)
	(1997–2002)
	(1988–2010)
David M. Gersten	(1989–2011)
	(2003–2017)
	(2003–2017)
	(2005–2018)
	(2005–2018)

The Florida Third District Court of Appeal Nominating Commission[]

, Chair (2011)
(2014)
(2014)
(2014)
(2011)
(2011)
Nilda Pedrosa (2012)
(2012)
(2012)

Notable cases[]

In re Gill (2010) (Cope, J.) Text of the Court of Appeal decision Archived 2010-10-10 at the Wayback Machine:^[3] This ruling struck down the Florida’s statutory ban on gay and lesbian people adopting children in the state.
(2003) (Gersten, J.) Text of the Court of Appeal decision: This ruling was overturned in 2006 by the Florida Supreme Court [1] which ordered decertification of a class action lawsuit against big tobacco companies that effectively reversed the largest punitive damage jury award, $145 billion, in U.S. history.

External links[]

References[]

[1] Judges who have served on the court – Official FL Third DCA Webpage

[2] Active Judges – Official FL Third DCA Webpage

[3] ABA Journal Article

[1]

[2]

[3]