August 7, 2026, marks a bittersweet moment, one I know will be repeated. Tomorrow is the last workday of Hon. Ralph Joyner Humphries. He desires to depart without hoopla or celebration. I have respected that generally (no party, no cake), but I could not resist a blog post.
Judge Humphries is a Florida Gator, graduating from law school there in 1977. He worked briefly in criminal law in Jacksonville and then began practicing insurance defense, which included workers' compensation.
I met Judge Humphries very early in my career at a convention produced by the Florida Defense Lawyers Association (FDLA). I met a great many lawyers at that Amelia Island gathering, and as I reflect, the experience was somewhat overwhelming. Young lawyers—do not get overwhelmed. This is a very welcoming community you have joined. Embrace it, become involved and active in it.
While FDLA was an association I belonged to for several years, there was also a local Jacksonville equivalent: the Jacksonville Association of Defense Counsel (JADC). Judge Humphries was a leader in that group, and it hosted annual programming even when the FDLA opportunities involved significant travel and expense that my employers did not favor or persistently facilitate for young lawyers.
Employers, find a way to facilitate such experiences for your young lawyers. It is important. It is more important today than ever before. Lawyers have to have opportunities for interaction and growth.
That economic reality related to travel led me to focus on JADC opportunities, and as a result, I worked there with Judge Humphries and a variety of excellent Jacksonville attorneys. I proudly became an organizer and eventualy president of JADC.
When I met Judge Humphries, he was a partner at a prestigious firm. I recall when he departed and formed a partnership with two other well-known local defense attorneys: Schutte, Humphries, and Becker. His example in that likely contributed to my analysis when I opened my own firm in 1997.
Nonetheless, throughout my time practicing in Jacksonville, I had ongoing contact with Judge Humphries and his firm through the JADC, some multi-employer litigation, and mediating with his partner Mark Becker.
In one memorable multi-employer case, I represented a company whose employee was injured hanging drywall in Jacksonville. There were thorny coverage issues because my client was a Texas company with only Texas coverage. Looking for a "general" contractor, another entity was represented by Judge Humphries, and yet another by the newly retired Judge Rhodes Gay.
I learned a lot in that case. To make it more interesting, one of the potential "contract" employers was the building owner. Coincidentally, that owner was then negotiating to build out a space for the Jacksonville OJCC office to occupy. That layered some interesting potential recusal issues into the mix, raised by Judge Wilbur Anderson at a hearing at the old OJCC office in the Fuller Warren Building at the base of the Hart Bridge Expressway. Somehow, I recall that hearing after all these years.
That litigation and my involvement with JADC allowed me many opportunities for education and growth. Stated simply, Judge Humphries was engaged in the community, an experienced and engaging practitioner, and a willing mentor. I look back fondly on those Jacksonville days.
After taking the bench, I had a few opportunities to preside in cases in which Judge Humphries was counsel. One of those was complex and challenging enough that I remember details to this day. Suffice it to say that over the course of years, lawyers and judges are exposed to a lot of disputes. In my experience, only a very few stick in the memory. Nonetheless, I still recall that one of Judge Humphries's and his patient resolve with a difficult situation and opponent.
Judge Humphries was appointed to the OJCC bench in 2010 and is retiring just short of 16 years here. I struggle with that somewhat because it seems more like yesterday. As they say, time flies when you are having fun.
Thus concludes August 7, 2026, a storied career spanning almost 50 years and almost 16 years on the bench. I lament his departure and what that will mean for the OJCC in Jacksonville. Simultaneously, I celebrate that he is taking the time to spend on fishing, family, and travel. There comes a moment for us all when the long-earned reward of retirement is the right move.
I promised Judge Humphries no party and no cake, but I do love cake. So, here is your cake; the message is apropos—so much conflict and challenge is "not your problem anymore." Thank you for making the resolution of so many conflicts, disputes, and cases your problem for so long.
Congratulations, Ralph, that your moment is now. You will be missed, valued, and remembered here for your demeanor, work ethic, impartiality, and commitment. I join many in wishing you well in the next chapter!
