LEESFIELD & PARTNERS RENAMES COURTROOM SERIES TO HONOR JUSTICE LEWIS

Free trial advocacy program returns with expanded access for Florida attorneys

Leesfield & Partners will again this year present its free courtroom training series, renaming it to honor the life and legacy of former Florida Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis, who passed away in May.

“The Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis Courtroom Series will uphold the tradition of trial advocacy in honor of my esteemed colleague and friend,” said Ira Leesfield, founder and managing partner of Leesfield & Partners. “The second year of the program promises to set a new benchmark for litigation training and continue what we started.”

Lewis, who created the Justice Teaching Center at Florida Southern College, and Leesfield, a trial attorney certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, developed the courtroom series in response to concerns about declining courtroom decorum and skill sets. Initially designed for attorneys with less than five years of experience, the program quickly attracted the attention of litigators throughout the state.

Florida attorneys are welcome to attend the 2026-27 program regardless of practice area or experience level.

The in-person program will begin Thursday, October 15, at 5 p.m. at Leesfield & Partners’ Miami office. The series is expected to consist of five training sessions, with the remaining sessions projected for October, early December, February, and May 2027. Space is limited. Zoom attendance also will be available.

To register, contact Carmen Marrero or Sofia Sanchez at 305-854-4900 or by email at [email protected] or [email protected].

Although Bar CLE credit has not yet been approved, sessions are expected to provide between 2.5 and 3 CLE credits each, based on last year’s CLE approval, according to a Leesfield & Partners spokesperson.

“We had people spilling out into the hallway to attend our sessions [for the 2025-26 program], and some people writing in from out of state, so we have decided to admit attendees to participate via Zoom,” Leesfield said. “The aim of this free program is to increase accessibility to legal education and invest in the future of trial advocacy.”

Before his death in May 2026, Lewis served as one of the program’s curriculum and course advisors alongside Leesfield, U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman of the Southern District of Florida, and Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

Past instructors have included:

• Senior Judge Paul Huck of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

• Senior Judge Federico A. Moreno of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

• Senior Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

• Magistrate Judge Detra Shaw-Wilder of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

• Chief Judge Edwin A. Scales III of Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal

• Senior Judge Richard J. Suarez of Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal

• Judge Milton Hirsch of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, Civil Division

• Judge Ellen Leesfield (Ret.) of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, circuit civil division

• Judge Thomas Ramsberger of Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Division

• Roland Sanchez-Medina of SMGQ Law and former Florida Bar president

• Jacquelyn Plasner Needelman of The Florida Bar

• Lonny Rose, professor emeritus of the University of Miami School of Law

• H.T. Smith, professor emeritus of Florida International University College of Law

• J. Clancey Bounds of Bounds Law Group in Maitland

• Kendall Coffey of Coffey Burlington in Miami

• Richard P. Cole of Cole, Scott & Kissane in Miami

• Jaret Davis of Greenberg Traurig in Miami

• Rachel Wagner Furst of Maderal Byrne & Furst in Coral Gables

• Justin B. Shapiro of Leesfield & Partners in Miami

• Stephen Talpins of the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office

• Navan Ward of Beasley Allen in Atlanta, Georgia

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