Judge Patricia A. Seitz Visits Campus

On March 30, the Honorable Patricia A. Seitz, a senior judge of the United States Court for the Southern District of Florida, joined us for a special visit to engage with our students and faculty members. Judge Seitz attended Professor Chuck Ehrhardt’s Evidence and Professor Wayne Logan’s Criminal Law: Adjudication classes. She spoke to students on the journals and Moot Court Team over lunch, had tea with Women’s Law Symposium students and local alumni, and attended the Florida State University Law Review banquet. Judge Seitz also met with faculty members of the Judicial Clerkship Committee. During the lunch and tea sessions, Judge Seitz made inspirational remarks to students. Among other topics, she discussed the importance of being grateful and positive, overcoming obstacles, embracing opportunities, building relationships, finding role models, and balancing work and life. She also talked about how exciting it is that there are far more women in the profession compared with when she was in law school, and about her experiences as The Florida Bar’s first female president.

Judge Seitz was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton, confirmed, and commissioned in 1998, and she took senior status in 2012. Before joining the United States Court for the Southern District of Florida, she served as director of the Office of Legal Counsel for the Office of National Drug Control Policy; practiced for more than 20 years at Steel, Hector & Davis, LLP, where she was the first woman lawyer hired by the firm; was an adjunct professor at the University of Miami; and was the first female law clerk for Judge Charles Richey of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Published on April 8, 2022