by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
Judge Bernard Nachman is the scholarly sort. He has an eccentric collection of trinkets on his desk, like an exhibit from a trial — a defective machine part — that ended up with him, and a small pair of painted, metal shoes from somewhere in Europe. He’s been an adjunct professor at the University of North Florida and he’s taught at the College of Advanced Judicial Studies, the organization that instructs judges. He’s on the education committee of the Florida Conference of Circuit Judges. He’s an avid reader and he wears a bow tie.
“I was an English major at Tulane which, as you know, meant that when I graduated I had no resources to earn a living,” said Nachman, who also attended Tulane Law School. “So I stayed in New Orleans.”
Nachman was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1961, making an easy transition from a curriculum centered around Louisiana’s Napoleonic Code, which is based on the French system of law, to Florida’s, which (like every other state except Louisiana) is based on the British system.
By that time Nachman was 25, married and had a daughter, Melissa. His first job out of law school was working for local real estate attorney Al Schneider.
“I was practicing what you might call door law,” said Nachman. “That meant that if it came in the door, we would take it.”
A year and a half later, with the incentive of earning $100 more per month, Nachman joined Hazard & Fernandez. (Ellis Fernandez, who went on to become a Circuit Court judge, delivered the speech at Nachman’s investiture and is his mentor. He still fills in occasionally on the bench in Duval County.)
“We did lots of family, tax, real estate and business law, ” said Nachman.
But at that time, Nachman hadn’t really done any trial work.
“So in 1965 I went to work for the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” recalled Nachman, who learned about the job through a friend. And that was Nachman’s first foray into serious trial work.
“That was a great internship for me,” said Nachman about the job which has a notoriously large case load. “Of course this was the time when the U.S. Attorney’s Office was dealing a lot with civil rights.”
Nachman worked for Joseph Hatchett, an assistant U.S. attorney who went on to serve as a Florida Supreme Court justice and chief judge of the Federal Court of Appeals.
“As federal prosecutors in the 1960s, we handled cases about moonshine, gambling, bank robberies, mail fraud, car theft rings,” said Nachman. “And a lot that had to do with changes in the laws that impact minorities.”
As a Jewish lawyer practicing in the South, Nachman felt connected to the civil rights movement. And he has plenty of anecdotes about the colorful characters that mark Florida’s legal past.
“I remember going up against future congressman Bill Chappell, who as his name implies, liked quoting the Bible during trials,” said Nachman, joking about one particular case in Ocala. “I told him that was fine, as long as he wouldn’t mind keeping it to the Old Testament.”
Nachman recalls that Chappell repeatedly referred to his client as Barrabus, who, as the story goes, was spared from crucifixion to make room for Jesus in the New Testament. “I told him afterwards that he had cheated.”
By 1967, Nachman was starting to build a client list. He defected to the State Attorney’s Office where, in those days, it wasn’t a full-time job. “That meant you could have a private practice as well . . . in the afternoons,” said Nachman.
As a young attorney supporting a growing family, Nachman worked under then State Attorney Eddie Booth in the mornings, which left the afternoons open for more “door work” — that paid the bills.
“I shared space with other lawyers mostly in the old American Heritage building,” said Nachman. “In the mid-1970s I decided to go private full-time.”
Nachman practiced real estate law and had a general practice for the next 20 years, which included attorneys Chuck Oberdorfer, Steve Rohan and John Berry. Oberdorfer & Berry still have an office on Blanding Boulevard.
Then, in 1990, Nachman assembled a team to get ready for a race that he never had to run.
“I had Lois Chepenik as my campaign manager,” said Nachman, referring to the current executive director of Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. “And Paul McCormick [the president of a local public relations agency] was handling public relations.
“We had some good luck in the beginning, which I think kept others out of the race,” recalled Nachman, referring to the petition with 150 signatures from local attorneys supporting him for judge that his team sent to every member of the Jacksonville Bar Association. “One lawyer went up to McCormick at a fundraiser and said, ‘I hear Nachman’s raised $50,000’ to which McCormick replied, ‘Not exactly, but you’re in the right ballpark.’ But we had $5,000.”
Nachman always had a seat on the bench in the back of his mind. He said it was discussed regularly as he sat in the Desert Rider sandwich shop across the street from the courthouse. He actually applied in 1980, making it to the nominating committee.
“I was flattered to have made it that far even back then,” he said.
In 1980, Nachman told the nominating committee that he believes a judge should take his job seriously, but not himself.
“I hope I don’t get judge-itis,” said Nachman, joking about the reputation that some on the bench have for slightly inflated egos. “It’s important that in this role, everyone from bailiffs to defendants get treated with respect — even reporters.”
Of course, it must have been difficult for Nachman not to smile at least a little bit when he presided over the second of the major tobacco trials in Jacksonville.
“I had friends calling me because they saw me on CNN,” Nachman said. “It was kind of fun.”
Nachman has also presided over a major case about sex education in public schools.
“One reporter asked my wife on tape how she thought I would do in making a verdict,” said Nachman. “She replied that I would be fair.” The judge later asked his wife why she couldn’t have chosen a word like excellent.
Nachman is active in the community and is a past president of his synagogue on the Southside. He is vice president of the Southeast Council, an amalgamation of American Hebrew Congregations. And Nachman has participated in JCCI studies, which is how he met his old campaign manager, Chepenik. He is also a member of the Supreme Court Trial Court Technology Committee — a group that promotes technology in the courtroom. He is a master in the American Inns of Court and is president of the Chester Bedell Inn of Court in Jacksonville, an international organization where older lawyers and judges mentor the young.
Two of his three children — Melissa, who lives in Austin, Tex., and Andrew, who lives here — are lawyers. His other daughter, Alison, is a computer analyst for an insurance company here. Nachman’s been married to Ruth for 43 years. They have six grandchildren and four granddogs.