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Orlando, Fla. – The Honorable Justice Harry Lee Anstead of the Florida Supreme Court will serve as the inaugural Distinguished Jurist in Residence at Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law, 201 Beggs Avenue, on Thursday, November 13, 2008. A general lecture to FAMU College of Law students will take place at 10:30 a.m. in Room 379. The event is open to the public.
“The Distinguished Jurist in Residence is designed to bring leading members of the judiciary to campus to share their experiences and discuss compelling legal issues,” said LeRoy Pernell, dean of the FAMU College of Law. “We are fortunate to have someone of Justice Anstead’s stature to kick-off what will certainly be the first of many such programs.”
Justice Anstead worked his way through both undergraduate and law school at the University of Florida and he later was the first sitting judge in the United States to earn an academic degree in the judicial process when he was awarded a master of laws degree at the University of Virginia.
Justice Anstead was a trial and appellate lawyer in South Florida until 1977 when he became a judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, where he served as Chief Judge. Governor Lawton Chiles appointed him to the Florida Supreme Court on August 29, 1994. While on the Court, he initiated a comprehensive statewide program to improve professionalism among judges, lawyers, and law schools in the state. The initiative included the creation of a Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and a permanent Center for Professionalism at the Florida Bar.
On July 1, 2002, he became Florida’s 50th Chief Justice. The major priority of his administration as Chief Justice was to maintain the excellence of Florida’s trial courts during time of transition and improve the lives of children who were affected by the courts.
In addition to the lecture, Justice Anstead will hold a private lecture to FAMU College of Law faculty members at 2:30 p.m. in the faculty lounge.
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