Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure

The recent appellate case Becker v. Becker, 3D19-1493 (Fla. 3d DCA September 18, 2019) explores the issue of the disqualification of a judge in a Florida divorce. In this case, the judge was previously represented by the lawyer representing the wife in a case pending before the judge. The former husband appealed an order denying his motion to disqualify the judge from presiding over the case.

The husband filed his petition for divorce. Six months later, he learned the judge assigned to his case had been represented in her own divorce by the lawyer representing his wife in his case. The husband then filed a motion for disqualification of the judge, asserting that because the judge and her former counsel did not disclose their previous attorney-client relationship, he feared the judge could not be impartial in his case. The judge denied his motion for disqualification and the husband appealed.

The husband’s appeal was granted, with the appellate court holding “In a contested marital dissolution action, the trial judge should, at the first practicable instance, disclose the fact that one of the parties' attorneys personally represented the trial judge in the trial judge's own marital dissolution proceeding. Even if the attorney-client relationship ended years before, and even if the trial judge genuinely believes no bias exists, reasonable people might consider such prior representation relevant to the issue of the trial judge's impartiality. In this case, we conclude that the husband's alleged fears of bias and of not receiving a fair trial were objectively reasonable given the trial judge's prior attorney-client relationship with the wife's attorney in a divorce proceeding and the trial judge's failure to disclose the relationship to the former husband.”

The appellate court was careful to specify that it was not creating a blanket rule that any time a judge was previously represented by a lawyer appearing in a proceeding before the judge, the judge should be disqualified. Rather, the court held such relationship should be disclosed upfront. If you need help deciding if you have a basis to disqualify the judge in your case, contact a Miami family law attorney for a consultation.