Feature - Judge Ross M. Goodman: A Journey Through the Law

A Journey Through the Law

An Interview with Judge ross Goodman

by Charlie Penrod

Judge Ross Goodman is retiring after a storied career in the law. He enrolled at Vassar College in 1979, graduated from the University of Florida Law School in 1985 and began practicing law shortly thereafter. In 2006, he was elected Circuit Judge in the First Judicial Circuit and has served in that capacity through 2021.

I met Judge Goodman in my role as a professor in the legal studies program at the University of West Florida. Judge Goodman has taught several courses in the program and is universally respected and beloved by students and peers alike. Judge Goodman actively mentored me as I began my career here, and he showed me the same compassion and warmth he brings inside and outside the courtroom.

Judge Goodman was kind enough to allow me to interview him for this article to celebrate his career.

Q: Talk a little about your childhood and upbringing. Did you always want to have a career in the law, and if so, who motivated you to do so?

RG: I was born and raised in Miami and have three brothers. Our family emphasized four things: family, religion, scouting and education. With three brothers, and all the competitiveness that entailed, sports were also very big. I wanted to be different things at different times. I never really settled on any one thing. When I left for college, I thought I would become a writer.

Q: What was your first job and how did that prepare you for the rest of your career?

RG: At Vassar, I was in student government and met a college trustee who had a law firm in Washington, D.C. He recruited me to come to his firm as a paralegal. Since my major was philosophy, I was not qualified for any particular job, so this sounded like a good opportunity. I moved there and ended up working at the firm for three years. All the lawyers were former DoJ or former Supreme Court Law Clerks. It was intimidating at first, but many of the lawyers were extraordinarily kind to me and supportive of me. They were also very patient in teaching me my job. I learned an awful lot.

Back then, you didn’t need to be a lawyer to represent someone in an administrative matter, so the firm assigned me a case from an old client who had trouble selling a four-unit apartment complex. I was able to get the matter resolved and discovered that I really enjoyed the feeling of using work to help people. From there, I was hooked on the law.

Q: What did you love about practicing law?

RG: Simple answer: I loved winning. I hated losing. To be more precise, I love the intellectual challenge, the constant learning, and the great feeling from achieving a good outcome for the client. Here’s a story: I settled a case I had been working on for years. On my way home, I called my wife to tell her the good news. I told her that I had helped make the world a little bit better for my clients that day. My wife’s phone was on speaker. I got home and saw my wife’s van coming down the driveway. When it stopped, my son, then eight or nine years old, leapt out of the van, ran up to me, wrapped himself around my legs and said, “I heard you made the world a little better today!” It’s moments like that which make me love being a lawyer!

Q: How have you seen the practice of law evolve over the years?

RG: I firmly believe the level of professionalism has risen, and the sense of collegiality has gained ground. Certainly, the law requires contests, battles and challenges. This can be done with a sense of purpose to serving the ends of justice or with a cut-throat attitude of winning at all costs. I believe I am seeing more of the former and less of the latter.

Q: How has the rise of technology in the practice of law impacted the way in which cases are resolved?

RG: The basics are still the same. The methods may have changed. The speed at which lawyers operate has accelerated. Still, the facts and the law drive decision-making. The three rules of success still hold: “preparation, preparation and preparation.” The only difference is the tools are much handier and more accessible.

When I started, “cutting and pasting” was literally what you did to move things around in a draft. The most advanced “word processors” had one line of text on the screen at the time. Storage was on magnetic cards. Travel required a race to the pay phones when one got off a plane. The practice was much slower and more timeconsuming. Lawyers still work long hours, but their productivity has increased exponentially.

On the other hand, a lawyer used to have to constantly stay abreast of the law. Now, a lawyer needs to also be an expert in technology and has to constantly learn new technologies.

Q: What inspired you to become a judge?

RG: After law school, I clerked for Judge Hodges in Tampa. Not only did I read briefs and draft opinions, but I got to see how a judge’s mind works; how difficult it was to be a judge but also how inspiring. Judge Hodges truly taught me a love for the law. Ever since then, I had wanted to be a judge.

Q: What is one thing that you wish you would have known on your first day on the bench?

RG: I wish I had known how to pause, take a breath, think and then form an answer in my mind before ruling. As a young judge, I thought everyone expected me to know all the answers and to immediately respond to requests, objections and motions. This led to a great deal of anxiety and second-guessing myself. Over time, I learned the tremendous value of taking a breath and taking a moment before ruling.

Q: As a judge, you obviously have handled many cases throughout your career. What is the most rewarding part of judging?

RG: When the lawyers are prepared, when the arguments are well stated and when there is a clear conflict in the law and/or the facts, that is when being a judge is most challenging—and most enjoyable. It is the most demanding of situations and it calls upon all your attention to details and your parsing of the law. It is truly a challenge. I like challenges.

On the other hand, being a juvenile judge and successfully reunifying a family, or successfully getting abused kids adopted into a better home, is one of the best moments one can have as a judge.

Q: What qualities sets successful lawyers apart from others?

RG: Among the qualities of a good lawyer are:

• Knowledge of the facts of the case

• Knowledge of the law of the case

• Preparation

• Intellectual honesty

• Being an Abraham Lincoln lawyer: Concede everything that is not essential to your argument. Fight strenuously for those few remaining issues you contest.

• Care about your client; truly care

• KISS principle: Keep It Short and Simple

• Treat EVERYONE you meet with kindness and respect— especially adverse lawyers, adverse parties and adverse witnesses

Q: What is your proudest moment as a judge?

RG: I know this is going to sound corny, or self-serving, but one thing a judge does not feel is pride. A sense of accomplishment? Yes. But, as a public servant, and especially as a judge, what one needs is humility, not pride.

Q: What is the hardest part of being a judge?

RG: The hardest part of being a judge is the tough decisions—the ones you replay in your head over and over again, wondering if you made the right call. I handle it with “mindfulness,” which I was taught in various judicial education courses. The hardest moment is when I discovered that a child I had placed in foster care died. There is no way to deal with something like that, and it will haunt me forever.

Q: Do you have an overarching guiding principle to judging that steered your judicial career throughout your time on the bench?

RG: No matter how compelling an argument is, I always wait until the last argument is made. Listen to the end. I have heard one side’s argument and thought, “that makes sense.” Then I hear the argument on the other side and thought, “that makes sense, too!” It is important because it keeps you from making mistakes.

Q: Ethics and professionalism are topics you have written extensively about. How would you rate the overall professionalism of the Northwest Florida bar?

RG: From what I hear from other judges from other parts of the State, and what I read about other parts of the country, Northwest Florida is blessed with a high degree of overall professionalism. Many people, lawyers, judges and laypersons have worked at keeping professionalism at the front of the brain, and it seems to be working. Nothing is perfect, and there are exceptions from time to time. Overall, however, we don’t know how good we have it here. We could improve by making better use of the Lawyer Professionalism Panels (“LPP”). It is a great resource that is unfortunately under-utilized.

Q: You have been involved in a wide variety of initiatives throughout your time as judge. Why do you think it is important for judges to engage with the community or to reach out to others outside the courtroom? Talk about one or two initiatives that you think have been successful.

RG: I believe judges have a duty to use the bench to help in the community, to the extent it is ethically allowed. Being a judge comes with a great deal of respect, and an ability to bring the community together over some issues. Using that influence for good just helps everyone do better.

One project I just finished is bringing all the agencies together to deal with children on the autism spectrum who are charged with delinquent acts. For example, a child on the spectrum may take an action which, technically, is a battery. The real cause may be a random reaction to an unexpected stimulus. So, instead of treating them like any other delinquent juvenile, we bring the agencies together and tailor a plan to this child’s specific needs.

Another project I worked on a while ago, and which I hope we can bring back in the post-COVID world, is the professionalism cruise. We took a three day trip to Mexico. On the way there and on the way back, we had seminars in the morning. Participants got CLE credit and a nice little break. More importantly, lawyers from many different backgrounds got a chance to socialize and get to know each other. Carmella Porter gets the lion’s share of the credit for coming up with and implementing the idea.

Q: What do you enjoy doing outside the world of law?

RG: I love collecting, and I especially love collecting really fine scotch, whiskey and whisky. I also enjoy yard sales, garage sales, estate sales and auctions. They are fun, and it feels like a treasure hunt. You never know what you might find! It is also very relaxing!

Q: Who would you like to thank for helping you become the judge that you became?

RG: Judge Hodges! Whenever I had a tough decision, I would ask myself: “What would Judge Hodges do?” I also have to thank my JA of 14 years, Robin White. She was invaluable. Of course, my wife was a heavy influence on me, and I truly appreciated her willingness and patience, especially in the early years. Frankly, I have way too many people to thank. Fellow judges, the lawyers who appeared before me, court admin and court security…they all contributed, and I am grateful for all of them.

Q: So, what is next for you?

RG: I will go travelling with my wife as much and as far as we can. And, I will be “of counsel” at Levin, Papantonio and Rafferty. I also have several charities and projects I have worked with that I plan to continue to work with.

On behalf of everyone in the legal community of Northwest Florida, I would like to thank Judge Goodman for his tireless commitment to the law, to the community and to the people he encountered. I wish you the very best in retirement and look forward to your future projects!