These pages have periodically noted that the only constant is change. See Baseball, Hotdogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet (July 2013); What is Right with Comp (June 2016); What is Different (December 2021); Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (October 2022). The law is ever-changing. Workers' compensation as a community is ever-changing. People come and go. I have lamented that: Judicial Experience in Florida (April 2018). Only two years ago, I lamented the retirement of one, Hugo, in Two Emails and Two Stories (September 2021).
Today, I put pen to paper (figuratively, a reference for those who remember both. Anyone missing the reference, look it up and know I envy your youth). This post is about a departing judge and an evolving OJCC staff member. The world changes, and we have to both recognize and accept that.
When I was first appointed by Governor Bush in 2021, The Director of DOAH was Sharon Smith. We had a "Chief Judge," Shirley Walker, whose job had just been eliminated statutorily with the creation of the new Deputy Chief Judge. Judge Bill Pfeifer had been designated by Director Smith as acting Deputy Chief Judge at DOAH with responsibility for the OJCC. It was a time of significant change, intersecting authority lines, and frankly confusion. I remember listening to many "sky is falling" and "glass half empty" laments in the community back then.
In the early days of 2022, Judge Scott Stephens, PhD, was appointed Deputy Chief Judge. He remained until the fall of 2005 and then headed off to the Circuit Court. Of course, his initial appointment ended the tenure of Judge Walker and largely detoured the responsibility of Judge Pfeifer. As an office, the OJCC was then beginning a new iteration of itself, a growth from its days in Commerce, Labor and Employment Security, and a deeper history of conjunctive co-existence in the old Commissions.
By the time Judge Stephens left, in 2003, Judge Smith had departed. I had been at the Office of Judges of Compensation Claims for about two years when Robert Cohen was appointed Director by the Cabinet. Director Cohen stepped down in the early part of 2019, though I struggle to remember the month (perhaps February). That was a significant term at the helm, sixteen years. The workers' compensation community had many opportunities to acclimate to Judge Cohen in those sixteen years.
So that we are clear, such a tenure by any agency leader in workers' compensation in America is exceptional. There is a tendency for workers' compensation agencies to see leadership turnover. A leader serving even a decade is notable.
Judge Cohen was followed in September 2019 by Judge John MacIver. He served only until the spring of 2020. Judge Peter Antonacci was appointed Director in January 2021 and served until July 2022 when he departed to head the newly created Florida election fraud office. Judge Brian Newman took the helm immediately in July 2022. Today, I note his departure in December 2023 to work with Citizens Property Insurance.
Judge Newman will be remembered for various reasons. Some will note his effort to reduce the number of staff meetings. Judge Antonacci had a penchant for meetings, and Judge Newman reduced those to monthly gatherings, a reduction of about 76%. I am not a fan of meetings generally, and was appreciative of that change. Judge Antonacci instigated the dismantling of section 440.44 in 2022, and the OJCC office closures that followed. Those continued in 2023 under Judge Newman's leadership.
Judge Newman will also be remembered for his efforts with the community. Judges McIver and Antonacci were not known for any marked involvement with the workers' compensation community. To my knowledge, neither attended an Inns of Court meeting (or as some colloquialize "Inns of the Court"; which "court?"). Neither delivered any remarks to a workers' compensation audience or gathering (to my knowledge). Each had internal foci at DOAH, and undoubtedly left a mark on the institution, but not so much on the OJCC community.
The OJCC, workers' compensation, has a rich community. I have often heard Judge Newman and others lament their perceptions of other legal practices, noting the incredible community and commitment that is workers' compensation. So many are noticing that there is true and persistent collegiality and familiarity in the workers' compensation space that is absent or de minimus in so many other sectors of the legal practice. Sister Sledge was perhaps thinking of us in 1979 (The Power Station); we are indeed family to the extent that is possible in a professional setting. That may mean one of us is that cousin everyone finds embarrassing at times I’ll leave that to you to decipher.
The Governor has announced that Judge Darren Schwartz is the acting Director of DOAH. There will be feelings of loss with Judge Newman's departure. There will be tendencies toward gossip, conjecture, and questions. The future is ours to perceive. But, having spent hours with Judge Schwartz over the years, I think it is likely workers' compensation and the OJCC will continue to thrive during his tenure. There seems every reason for optimism as to our continuing a steady course.
But, December 7, 2023, is also a challenging day, a day of change. We mark the transition today of Jeanette Randall in the Paradise district office. Just after I was appointed in 2001, I received a congratulatory call from a fellow Jacksonville attorney. He wanted me to also know of his appreciation for one Pensacola staff member with whom he had worked. His message was simple "You have to keep Jeanette." He was right. In my defense, I tried.
After 27 years at the Paradise district office, Jeanette will transition in 2024 to a broader responsibility with DOAH, supporting the Clerk's office and around the state. Pensacola will miss her wealth of knowledge, her unbelievable work ethic, and her persistent patience with our challenges, responsibilities, and duties. It is not an overstatement to say, simply, Jeanette has been the ideal team leader in Paradise for 27 years and celebrates her 31st year with the State this month.
Jeanette is both responsive and proactive. She is known to lawyers throughout Florida as a resource and an effective expediter of filings, information, and challenges. What most of them do not see is her unfathomable patience with pro se litigants, the misdirected, the confused, and the angry. I have seen her defuse many angry interactions with poise, patience, and compassion.
But change comes. We all age, refocus, and progress. I am glad that she will continue with the OJCC, but she will be missed in Paradise. December 7, 2023, is a day that will stick in my memory as we look to our agency's future, and contemplate the changes that are inevitable with changes in the team. We will persist and persevere.
Nonetheless, we pause to recognize the departure of Judge Newman and offer him our heartfelt bon chance.
We pause to recognize an amazing term of collaboration with Jeanette Randall. To her, we offer our collective thanks for all she has brought to this community over the last (over) quarter century. I cannot imagine how many lives she has touched in her inimitable way.
We as an agency are grateful to each. We are hopeful about both changes and look optimistically to great tomorrows. We are troubled in each in the measure of loss that comes with departure and change. As for me, I find the appropriate mixed emotions in each. For each, I wish the best future, and celebrate their personal decisions; from each, I lament the personal and community loss of their changes.
For us, this community, life will go on. We will adjust, progress, and grow. It has been our hallmark, our mantra, and we will persevere in it. Reach out if you have questions or concerns.
