Miami-Dade County Court Judge Gordon C. Murray received the William M. Hoeveler Judicial Professionalism Award.
Given annually by the Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism and the Standing Committee on Professionalism, the award recognizes an active judge who best exemplifies “strength of character, service, and competence as a jurist, lawyer, and public servant.”
“Judge Murray demonstrates the ideals of professionalism and justice while inspiring others to do the same,” said Bar President Gary Lesser.
Judge Murray attended the University of Miami, where he received his B.A. in politics and public administration and earned his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law. He has been a judge for 10 years, beginning his judicial career as a general magistrate in the 11th Circuit, where he served for five years before being appointed a county judge in 2017. Judge Murray has presided over a wide range of civil cases and was appointed administrative judge of the County Court Civil Division in less than two years. The 11th Judicial Circuit’s County Court Civil Division is the largest in Florida, with 22 judges handling over 185,000 pending cases.
In 2021, Judge Murray helped to create CourtHELP, an online early dispute resolution portal to assist landlords and tenants. He also helped create the FWOP calendar automation system that reduced FWOP-eligible cases from over 35,000 to 1,500 by the end of 2021.
“Judge Murray has a strong passion for mentoring and helped develop a mentoring program for law students throughout Florida with his son’s Innovative Community Engagement Foundation,” Lesser said. “The mentoring program is based on a model of professionalism that emphasizes the importance of integrity, civility, and excellence.”
As part of the program, Judge Murray has personally mentored many young lawyers providing them with guidance and advice on everything from legal strategy to courtroom decorum. His work on this project has deeply impacted the legal community in Florida and led to him being appointed as a “Supreme Court Certified Mentor Judge” by former Chief Justice Charles Canady in 2019 and reappointed to the same role in 2021.
In 2022, Judge Murray was featured in a CLE series created by the Bar’s Center for Professionalism and hosted by attorney Paul Lipton, “Your Honor.” His episode can be viewed free and on-demand here.
“It goes without saying that Judge Murry is the epitome of professionalism and public service,” Lesser said. “He is committed to the ideals of professionalism in his courtroom and models best practices of civility, competence, and strength of character to anyone who steps in it. He is the embodiment of professionalism in the judiciary.”
