In recognition of Hispanic Heritage, the Broward County Bar Association and the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association held a virtual “Behind the Gavel” event, in honor and celebration of our county’s Hispanic judges last week. Judge Marina Garcia-Wood was recognized as a Trailblazer, for her role in founding the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association in 1989. She and other colleagues established the organization with the aim to promote judicial diversity and the interests of Hispanic lawyers. It was the first of its kind in Broward County.

To watch Behind the Gavel: A Celebration of Broward Hispanic Judges, click here: https://www.facebook.com/browardhispanicbar/videos/243166903681003/

Pictured here are the judicial participants from this year, Trailblazer award recipient Judge Marina Garcia-Wood, a screen shot of just some of the 135+ participants and observers from this year’s Zoom event, and last year’s in-person event.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates

ALERT! BROWARD COURTHOUSES CLOSED TO PUBLIC BEGINNING MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2020. WILL REMAIN CLOSED, WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS, UNTIL FURTHER ORDER.

Please visit the link below frequently for updates regarding the current status of the Courts and the Coronavirus: Updated 9/2/2020

http://www.17th.flcourts.org/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/

Congratulations to Magistrate Allana Robinson Woods who was chosen as one of Legacy South Florida’s “40 Under 40’s” honorees! She was featured on the publication’s August 12 cover. Read more here: https://issuu.com/miamediagrp/docs/legacy-southflorida-40under40-2020

The Washington Post recently published an article about innovative methods to proceed with jury trials amid the current pandemic. Click here to read the article.

Judge Marina Garcia-Wood was honored as Judge of the Month for July by the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association. Her introduction and biography can be found here: https://browardhispanicbar.com/2020/07/01/judge-of-the-month-the-honorable-marina-garcia-wood/

Watch the full interview below.

Although it is unknown when face to face courtroom activity will resume in the Seventeenth Circuit, we will be prepared with new virtual courtrooms which allow litigants, attorneys, and witnesses to appear via Zoom from a remote setting or in-person inside the courtroom. The circuit’s IT and Audio/Video departments have been hard at work developing a process to interface Zoom into technology that already exists in the courtrooms. When put to use, these virtual courtrooms will offer many advantages to seamlessly maintaining court dockets.