Through our years of practicing law, we're constantly learning—whether from watching opposing counsel, co-counsel, or through good old-fashioned trial and error. But one of our judges has quite helpfully published "some friendly, random advice" about federal court practice that should be required reading for every federal practitioner. That judge is Judge Huck, and you can read his tips on his SDFLA webpage.
But Judge Huck is now taking his show on the road, so to speak. Beginning in September, he is embarking on a CLE breakfast series in which he (and another district judge) will expand on this advice in person. If you're a young professional—a lawyer with four years of practice or less—you can register for one of these breakfasts, which will be held at locations throughout Miami (Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, etc.).
The first breakfast, featuring Judge Huck and Chief Judge Altonaga, will be held at the law firm of Leon Cosgrove Jimenez in Coral Gables on September 9, 2026, and has already been approved for 1.5 Professionalism Credits by The Florida Bar. Space is limited to 20 attorneys. You can register here.
Oh, and if Judge Huck ever gives you a pop quiz on what the first rule of "Judge Huck Club" is, don't mess it up like I did. It's this: "Judges do not like surprises!" I went with Rule #2, which is to "learn about your judge."
Kudos to Judge Huck for giving back to our federal bar through this CLE series.
19 comments:
Judge Huck Zooms in to court hearings (including evidentiary motions) but makes time for this?
Between both of them, I would be surprised if either has tried a jury trial to verdict as attorneys.
Whelp then get ready to be surprised, Judge Huck was a trial attorney for 35 years before he took the bench and brought plenty to verdict. I'm sure Judge Altonaga has plenty too from a decade at the County Attorney's office. And both have 25+ years as a trial judge so not sure what the purpose of your strange comment is or where it's coming from.
It's coming from the current state of our society and the detrimental effects of social media (and comment sections, more broadly). Have you ever looked at the comment sections on local news stories? Just a bunch of weirdos with no cognitive ability spouting off inflammatory nonsense to get a rise of out people, akin to clickbait, all while hiding behind handles like "the trialmaster."
I immediately found this Kafka quote in the judge’s tips to be suspect given that Kafka wrote in German, and apparently the interwebs agree that there’s no evidence he said it… “Franz Kafka critically observed, ‘A lawyer is a person who writes a 10,000 word document and calls it a brief.’” Tip: fact check famous “quotes.”
Senior Judge Paul C. Huck, at bullet point #2 of his "Friendly Random Advice for Litigants", wrote, "Learn about your judges, including her background, how she runs her courtroom." Pardon? Does Judge Huck identify as a woman? Are Judge Huck's pronouns "her" and "she"?
Otherwise, yes, learn about your judges, including "their" financial disclosure report required under the Ethics in Government Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. §§ 13101–13111). The Wall Street Journal reported on September 28, 2021, "131 Federal Judges Broke the Law by Hearing Cases Where They Had a Financial Interest. The judges failed to recuse themselves from 685 lawsuits from 2010 to 2018 involving firms in which they or their family held shares, a Wall Street Journal investigation found."
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/131-federal-judges-broke-the-law-by-hearing-cases-where-they-had-a-financial-interest-11632834421
And remember, we do not live under the Rule of Law. No, no, no. We live under the rule of judges. The famous quote is, "Better to know the judge than know the law."
New York lawyer Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917)
https://barrypopik.com/blog/its_better_to_know_the_judge_than_to_know_the_law
Judiciary Financial Disclosure Reports
https://www.uscourts.gov/administration-policies/judiciary-financial-disclosure-reports
Not German, the language doesn't have the homonym "Brief." Kurz and Schriftsatz share absolutely no linguistic connection, the joke cannot function in German.
Kurz and Schriftsatz share absolutely no linguistic connection, the joke, the result of homonyms in English, cannot function in German.
Did it occur to you that, as he was writing his rules down, Judge Huck realized that many judges are women and it's okay to acknowledge that?
Ya'll acting crazy in the comments. To borrow one of my favorite lines from Goodfellas: Judge Huck is 86 years old and likely hasn't been able to digest a decent meal in six weeks. Give him a break. He always ruled quickly and ruled well. It candidly would serve the current bench well to read up on his tips and watch him handle hearings and trials.
2:31 i would be interested to know where Judge Huck worked before he was appointed. Didn't he have family connections as I believe he is a junior. What firm did he work for? Probably not a trial firm. As for Altonga, most in the County Attorney's office do not try cases. My guess is that she never tried a case to verdict. Perhaps one of your readers can point me to a single jury trial that either of them tried.
Wikipedia works wonders.
He's still pompous and condescending!
You know how some folks like to puff and build a up their cresentials.
Which of our district judges tried the most jury trials as a lawyer?
PCH was at Kozyak Tropin before becoming a judge. Still think he didn’t come from a trial firm?
@ 6:35 PM - yeah if you're unprepared and make bad arguments.
My guess is of all our DJs, Billy D has tried the most cases as a lawyer. Singhal probably up there as well: But happy to be educated.
I'd be interested in the answer too! But, I'm also not sure it's a valid metric in terms of "good judge" vs. "bad." Maybe in terms of pretrial schedules and not being unnecessarily (or obliviously) hard on the lawyers who are doing their best under extreme pressure. But ONE jury trial is enough to understand that! All the rest seems easy enough to learn on the job, especially in the comfort of chambers and with multiple law clerks.
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