by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Greetings and farewells were served up at lunch last week in honor of federal judges serving in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association hosted the event that gave the local law community a chance to say goodbye to U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Covington, and welcome back District Court Judge Marcia Howard and U.S. Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge Paul Glenn.
“I learned the importance of being collegial and taking pride in your work,” said Judge Covington. “That’s what I saw here in Jacksonville.”
Covington said she will miss the people she met in the legal community and the community in general as a Downtown resident.
“I’ll miss being able to run in the morning,” said Covington, who will be moving to a U.S. District Court in Tampa. “I lived at Berkman Plaza and ran the Acosta and Main Street Bridges.”
Covington is closing in on her fourth year as a U.S. District Judge. She was commissioned on Sept. 10, 2004. At the luncheon, Covington and her dog Bobo were awarded Jaguars jerseys with their names printed on the back as farewell gifts.
“I think the number 17 on the jersey symbolizes the number of cases you tried,” said U.S. District Judge Tim Corrigan jokingly.
The group also welcomed back two judges that had been serving in South Florida.
Glenn returned to Jacksonville, where he started practicing law. He has been Chief Judge of the Middle District of Florida since 2003 and he was appointed to the bench in 1993. Glenn started his legal career practicing corporate commercial and bankruptcy law.
“It’s good to be back among people I started practicing law with,” said Glenn. “It’s good to be in a place with friends I have known and it’s good to get the opportunity to meet more.”
Howard also has roots in Jacksonville.
“I grew up on a little dirt road next to the Bolles School,” said Howard. “I think they still haven’t given it a name yet.”
Howard received her commission to the Middle District of Florida as a District Court Judge on Feb. 20, 2007 and she was serving in the Ft. Myers Division. She served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Middle District from 2003-07. She began private practice in Jacksonville after graduating from the University of Florida School of Law in 1990.
“It’s great to be back. It’s home and this is where my family belongs,” said Howard. “I made a very conscious decision as a law student that Jacksonville was a place where I could balance a family and a career.”
Howard plans to utilize her Jaguars season tickets this season as well.
“We’ve had them since the Jags came to town,” she said. “We’ve only been able to make to a couple of games lately, but that will change now that we are back in town.”
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