DeSantis set to pull from six judicial candidates for Third District Court
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With the passing of Third District Court of Appeal Judge Eric William Hendon, Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to appoint a new judge to handle cases across Miami-Dade and Monroe County.
Hendon was appointed in 2018 by Gov. Rick Scott, and passed away on Feb. 26.
Since then, the Third District Judicial Nominating Commission has put forth a list of six candidates for DeSantis to pull from.
Kansas Gooden
Gooden serves privately as general counsel and appellate practice group leader for Boyd & Jenerette, P.A. Her bio notes experience in spearheading a diverse variety of cases in Florida, all the way up to the Florida Supreme Court. She has been an attorney since 2008.
For the 2023 Legislative Session, Gooden was also a registered legislative lobbyist for the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida. 2023 was the year lawmakers worked hard to overhaul Florida’s property insurance market with tort reform legislation.
Gooden spoke before the Senate Judiciary and Senate Fiscal Policy committees during session on the insurance reforms.
She was selected by DeSantis in 2022 to be a commissioner on the Eleventh Circuit’s Judicial Nominating Commission.
Gooden obtained her law degree from St. Thomas School of Law.
Of the candidates, Gooden is the only one who has no experience serving as a judge.
Laura Gonzalez-Marques
Gonzales-Marques is a DeSantis appointee for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in 2023.
Before that, she was a judge on the Miami-Dade County Court since 2021. Prior, she served as an attorney for Kobre & Kim LLP.
She earned her law degree from Columbia University.
Spencer Multack
Multack is a judicial appointee of Scott to the Eleventh Circuit. Before the 2018 appointment, he was a county judge in Miami-Dade, with past experience as the assistant state attorney for the Eleventh Circuit.
He obtained his law degree from the University of Miami.
Thomas Rebull
Rebull was appointed by DeSantis to the Eleventh Circuit in 2020. He was a judge for the circuit since 2011, the governor’s office noted at the time of his appointment. Before that, he was a partner at Broad and Cassel.
He earned his law degree from American University.
Daryl Trawick
Former Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Trawick to the Eleventh Circuit in 2000. Before that, in 1997, former Gov. Lawton Chiles appointed him to serve as a county judge for Miami-Dade.
He earned his law degree from Howard University.
Robert Watson
Watson was tapped by DeSantis in 2019 to serve on the Eleventh Circuit. Before that, Watson was a Miami-Dade County Court judge, and was previously an attorney at Kobre and Kim LLP and was an assistant U.S. attorney.
He got his law degree from Stanford Law School.
