Judge Jay B. Rosman Takes Office as Chief Judge of the Twentieth Circuit

by Rick Callanan

I am pleased to announce that Judge Jay B. Rosman began a two year term serving as the Chief Judge of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit on July 1, 2011.

Chief Judge Rosman brings a broad array of experience with him as he settles into his new role. He has been a member of the judiciary since 1986 serving first as a county judge and since 1992 as a circuit judge and he has sat as an Associate Judge on the 2d DCA three times.

As an attorney before being appointed to the bench he was in private practice handling a wide range of civil and criminal cases in a small firm. Prior to private practice he served as an Assistant State Attorney (here) and as an Assistant Public Defender.

He has taught at the graduate and undergraduate level teaching Business Law and Criminal Law Courses. He has taught law for the past 27 years at USF and Florida Gulf Coast University.

Chief Judge Rosman has a Master of Judicial Studies from the National Judicial College and presently is a Doctoral candidate, needing only to complete his dissertation for a degree.

He has received three awards while on the bench. First, an Outstanding Teacher award, the first time given to an adjunct, The Governor's Peace at Home Award based on research he did in Domestic Violence, and a Statewide award from MADD given for the student tours that were given while he was a County Judge to help prevent students from drinking and driving.

Chief Judge Rosman has had four law review articles published while on the bench, two dealing with domestic violence and one on juvenile crime. The fourth article on the return of jury trials in Russia was published last spring.

His wife Cathy is a partner in Naples with Roetzel and Andress, practicing in the area of civil litigation. They have been married for 28 years and have 3 children. They live in Bonita Springs.

Preparation for his transition to Chief Judge began long before his term started. Chief Judge-elect Rosman began meeting with legislators, county officials and partner-agencies so that he could "hit the ground running" on July 1st. He met also with judges and staff throughout the circuit to begin developing a plan for advancing the mission of the court while mindful there are a myriad of challenges that we face as a court system.

We have weathered financial uncertainty over the last few years but have pulled together to maintain high standards for the quality of justice in the 20th Circuit. The future will bring new challenges. Nevertheless, our mission is the same. The courts will continue to serve the public as efficiently and effectively as possible and will continue to anticipate issues and be proactive in our efforts.

Chief Judge Rosman is strongly committed to ensuring the highest level of integrity, equality, fairness and professionalism of the court as well as reaching out to the public to educate it on the role of the court, its importance and the need to preserve its independence.