Though she will stay long enough to finish up some cases and proceedings, Judge Lisa Porter is retiring from the circuit court bench. A retirement party was hosted last week so her co-workers could say so long to her, and her judicial assistant Neilson Brown who is also moving on after having just graduated law school. Judge Porter has been on the Seventeenth Circuit bench for 10 years, and was a prosecutor prior to that.

The Seventeenth Circuit will miss them both!

The Central courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale hosted a Judicial Campaign Conduct Forum on Friday, May 11, 2018 for judicial candidates seeking contested seats. Approximately 40 people, including sitting judges, judicial candidates and members of the public, were in attendance. The forums are held every election year in order to help emphasize the importance of conducting campaigns in compliance with the myriad laws and rules governing judicial elections. Held across the state, the forums are sponsored by the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Bar Board of Governors and supported by the state’s trial court chief judges and the court’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.

Judge Deborah Carpenter-Toye was chosen as one of South Florida Business Journal’s Top 25 Most Influential Business Women in South Florida, 2018. She accepted the award on May 11, at an event honoring the leadership and contributions the women have made to the South Florida community.

Read the article here: South Florida Business Journal 2018 Influential Business Women

Congratulations Judge Carpenter-Toye, for all of your contributions in the community!

The Seventeenth Circuit congratulates the following judges for retaining their seats on the judicial bench:

Circuit Judges Carol-Lisa Phillips, Nicholas Lopane, David A. Haimes, Ari Abraham Porth, Michael Ian Rothschild, Fabienne Fahnestock, Jose Izquierdo, Tim Bailey, Michael A. Robinson, Martin Fein, Keathan Frink, Yael Gamm, Thomas Coleman, Alberto Ribas Jr., Michele Towbin-Singer, Marina Garcia-Wood.

County Judges Olga Levine, Kathleen McHugh, Louis Schiff, Melinda Brown, Ginger Lerner-Wren, Jill Levy, Jennifer Wigand Hilal, Arlene Backman, Terri-Ann Miller.

The Honorable Tarlika Navarro was sworn in by Chief Judge Jack Tuter on May 2 and started on the bench Monday, May 7, 2018. She will serve in both the Family division and Domestic Violence division. Judge Navarro was previously in private practice, and she began her legal career as an Assistant State Attorney for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami and her law degree from St. Thomas School of Law.

Welcome to the bench, Judge Navarro!