M E E T
T H E
J U D G E S
by Lyndsey E. Siara – Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
Continued from page 15
He is happiest when sitting down for a simple
conversation with his wife Lara. In fact, for the past
13 years, they have had a standing weekly date night for
just this reason. An attorney herself, Lara has been his
sounding board for twenty years. Although they
generally avoid talking about work and the law, they
enjoy bouncing ideas about other topics off one another.
They will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this
year. They have three children, two boys aged 13 and 11,
and an 8-year-old daughter. On the weekends, you will
find Judge Tibbals shuffling his kids to their various
sporting activities. If it’s not baseball or football for the
boys, then it’s gymnastics or swimming for his daughter.
Having noticed his gator cuff links, it was no surprise
to me that Judge Tibbals is a proud double Gator. He
attended the University of Florida College of Law with
the likes of former judge and now Florida Attorney
General Ashley Moody and former judge and now
Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee. Most important,
UF is where he met his future wife. After law school, he
moved to Tampa where he was in private practice for
over fifteen years, focusing primarily on commercial and
business litigation. He was appointed to the bench in
March 2015 by then Governor Rick Scott. Without
opposition, he was elected to a six-year term in 2016.
Although he is the first person in his family to enter
the legal field, Judge Tibbals wanted to be a judge for
as long as he could remember. In fact, his maternal
grandfather’s job at the county clerk’s office was
;
probably the closest anyone in his family has been to the
legal field. His biggest inspiration was retired Judge T.
Michael Johnson, a circuit court judge from Lake
County. Judge Tibbals first met Judge Johnson while
interning at the Fifth Circuit Public Defender’s Office.
At that time, Judge Johnson was a chief deputy public
defender, and “super smart” according to Judge Tibbals.
Judge Tibbals admired his mentor’s ability to talk to
anyone. Judge Johnson’s appointment to the bench in
1995 was a milestone for Judge Tibbals; seeing his
mentor become a judge really solidified his own desire
to become one someday. Judge Tibbals reminds himself
of the significance of that relationship when he looks at
his Oath of Admission, signed by his inspiration, who
administered the oath when Judge Tibbals first became
a member of The Florida Bar.
What he enjoys most about being a judge is the daily
opportunity to meet all kinds of people, from litigants
and lawyers, to staff and the community. He also
relishes the opportunities for community outreach that
being a judge provides. Those opportunities come to
him directly … and indirectly. For example, his mom
called him recently to relay a request from the former
Public Defender for the Fifth Circuit that Judge Tibbals
speak at an upcoming event in his hometown. Although
Judge Tibbals has known the man his entire life and
interned with him the summer before law school, the
request came through his mom. He called it a “small
town moment.”
Continued on page 17
6 >= ? / ? - ) * < ? : 5 ; 2
+??.38>?7>0=<1