by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
Chief Judge Donald Moran Jr. held the wooden desk plaque and smiled.
The inscription read “Professionalism and Civility: Anything Less Will Not Be Tolerated.”
“That’s a FLABOTA project,” he said. “They’re in all the courtrooms, all the chambers. You know, lawyers get short-tempered. They’ve got a lot of pressure on them, and they don’t like losing. So FLABOTA tries to promote professionalism.”
Moran appreciates the efforts of the Florida Board of Trial Advocates. And the association showed its appreciation for the work being done by the chief judge of the 4th Judicial Circuit by naming him its Jurist of the Year.
The award honors judges for their outstanding service and dedication to the right of trial by jury.
The presentation was made Aug. 1 during FLABOTA’s conference at Howey-in-the-Hills as the group also named local attorney Wayne Hogan its Lawyer of the Year.
It is the first time both winners have come from the same city in the same year, said attorney Joe Milton, himself a member of FLABOTA and a past award winner.
“I am honored to have received the award,” said Moran. “I feel confident there are a whole lot more people who deserve it more than I do. We have a lot of great trial judges in Florida.”
Others believe the right person was recognized.
“To be recognized as Jurist of the Year by such an outstanding organization as the Florida Board of Trial Advocates is truly an honor which Judge Moran deserves,” said Court Administrator Britt Beasley. “Judge Moran’s understanding of trial court administration is unequaled. He sees issues clearly and asks the right questions. Working with him on a daily basis has given me tremendous insights into court administration.”
Moran has relied on FLABOTA’s services for quite a while because of its efforts to make the judicial system run more smoothly, he said.
“It’s a group of trial lawyers that is equally divided between plaintiffs’ lawyers and defense lawyers,” said Moran. “They zealously make sure it is always equal. They’re interested in preservation of the right to trial by jury.”
The judge makes a point of running pretrial and administrative orders by the association “because if I can get plaintiff’s bar and the defense bar to agree on something, then I know it’s good for the system.”
The association, for example, will help determine when both sides must disclose the names of their experts or set the time between pretrial and trial.
“There are a lot of little things that make the system work better when the rules are in conformity and everyone understands the rules,” said Moran.
The chief judge is in his 11th year in that position. He was elected county judge and started on the bench in January 1977. He was appointed a circuit judge in 1983 and served in the criminal and civil divisions.
He was given responsibility for the asbestos pretrial, oversees sexual offender cases and, for the past 10 years, has presided over the drug court, which he started here.
The bulk of Moran’s work, however, is administrative. He is in charge of Duval, Clay and Nassau counties and the 50-some judges in the circuit.
“We’re trying to make sure the system overall is running right, the judges have the tools they need to do their job and the case counts are as reasonable as they can be,” he said.
The big local project, he said, “is, of course, the new Duval County Courthouse, because it’s so massive. In addition to that, Nassau County is building a brand new courthouse.
“And Clay County has just agreed to a substantial revision of their courthouse.”
Moran has also chaired the Florida Conference of Circuit Judges and was president of the National Conference of Metropolitan Courts. He now serves on the Trial Court Budget Commission, a group of judges and court administrators appointed by the Florida Supreme Court to oversee the statewide budget.
As a member of the Budget Commission, he is taking part in “an extraordinary amount of meetings trying to implement this state funding” brought on by Article 5.
That measure, which takes effect in about 11 months, takes local control away from county courts, giving the State responsibility for the system.
A State-controlled trust fund will also receive fees, fines and penalties, eliminating a significant source of local funds.
“As a member of the commission, Judge Moran will be trying to help manage those scarce resources,” said Beasley. “The biggest challenge he will face as a chief judge, as a member of the Trial Court Budget Commission, will be doing more with less.”
Milton agreed.
“With the implementation of Article 5, this coming year is maybe one of the most serious threats to the independence of the judiciary we’ve seen in many years,” he said. “Judge Moran will be there, helping find the funds to keep the courts serving the people.”