As usual, Gilbert A. Smith Jr. will follow the law on July 31, even though this particular one is not among the judge’s favorites.
A constitutional amendment passed in 2018 requires Florida judges to retire at 75, forcing Smith off the bench. But his retirement promises to be every bit as busy as his career on it.
“I would have liked working through the end of the year; that would have been 18 years,” or three terms, said Smith, who is ending his career in the dependency division of the 12th Judicial Circuit.
Smith is known for the cupcakes, balloons and teddy bears he brings to his courtroom for final adoption hearings, his favorite part of the job.
“It is a celebration in my courtroom” when a child legally becomes part of their adoptive family, he said. “That’s maybe the most satisfying thing that happens in a courtroom.”
The hardest part of the job, by contrast, has been terminating parental rights.
“There are situations where parents should not be parents, and, to their credit, they do what’s right and surrender the child,” he said.
Children are among his highest priorities off the bench, too.
An Eagle Scout, Smith has taught the Law merit badge curriculum to Boy Scouts in Southwest Florida for two decades, one of the reasons he received the Manatee High School Alumni Association Community Achievement Award this year.
He also served as a guardian ad litem, speaking for children in court. Those volunteers, he said, “are so important to me because they give this neutral, objective, loving report from the child’s perspective.”
His work with the Bradenton Kiwanis Club is child-centered, too, as detailed in the two-volume set he wrote, “The Bradenton Kiwanis — Champions of Children.”
Author, author
Writing books is Smith’s passion, and he has several in mind for retirement.
“I get so involved in research,” Smith said, looking out at downtown Bradenton from the second-story window of the jury room in the Manatee County Judicial Center, named for his father, Judge Gilbert A. Smith Sr.
“One of the books I want to write is about inspiring and interesting people, maybe not people who were successful financially, but people who overcame something,” he said. One chapter will feature his son-in-law’s aunt, Cindy Gettinger, an EMT who was paralyzed in the line of duty and went on to swim in the Paralympics.
Smith became interested in writing when he was president of the Manatee County Bar Association in 2003-04 and started digging into how local law firms had evolved.
“That led me to looking into everything,” he said, pulling another volume from the stack of his books. “That’s how this book came about.”
“Lawyers and Legends of Manatee County” lays out who practiced law with whom and when, setting it all against the events of the time.
The book opens in 1855 with the county’s first settler and carries the reader through the Civil War, bootlegging, marriages, more wars, the day women began serving on juries, baseball history, the first Black assistant state attorney and how COVID-19 changed the practice of law, all illustrated with photos and historical sketches. The second edition is updated through 2024.
His other book, “Legends of the Bench: A History of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit and the Judges Who Served From 1855-1979,” stops at 1979. Writing the sequel — 1980 to the present — is on his retirement list.
Circuitous path to circuit judge
Smith’s father is featured in that book. Gilbert A. Smith Sr. was a local judge and the brother of Chesterfield Smith, a co-founder of the Holland & Knight law firm.
Lawyers run in the family. Besides his uncle and his uncle’s children, some of his father’s cousins practiced law, as did two of his own three siblings.
He came to it late, though, in his 30s. Smith attended Manatee High School, Manatee Junior College in Bradenton and the University of South Florida in Tampa, then worked for the Florida Department of Corrections as a vocational placement counselor for convicted felons, steering them into trades such as boatbuilding, once a booming Manatee County industry. Later, he joined a bank in Palmetto.
“I loved banking,” Smith said, but he eventually “got the itch” to go to law school.
After graduating from the University of the Pacific law school in Sacramento, California, in 1986, he joined Holland & Knight, spending about eight years there, including stints in the Orlando and Tampa offices representing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. He later worked at the Bradenton firms Lane Trohn and Hamrick Perrey Quinlan and Smith.
One of his most memorable cases was bankruptcy work for BraSota Mortgage Co., representing stockholder investors. The company had looked like a good investment, but poor business practices meant “it almost turned into a Ponzi scheme,” Smith said.
BraSota gave mortgages to buyers who couldn’t get them anywhere else and paid excessive returns to stockholders using money from newer investors, he said. When mortgage holders stopped paying, the company went into bankruptcy.
Smith said he challenged the receiver appointed to the case, who stood to profit from the bankruptcy along with a select few investors, and got a new one appointed.
“We got almost 60% to 70% back for investors,” he said, noting that creditors in most bankruptcies get pennies on the dollar. “It was satisfying to help people recover from their investments.”
After 22 years practicing law, Smith was approached by retiring Judge Durand Adams, who persuaded him to run for his seat.
“I qualified to run and was opposed and won in 2008,” he said. When his father swore him in as a circuit judge in 2009, “we became the first father and son team to serve as circuit judges in the 12th Judicial Circuit,” Smith wrote in “Lawyers and Legends of Manatee County.”
His first assignment was criminal felonies, and he was glad for his earlier experience with felons at the Department of Corrections.
Smith on law
Since Smith took the bench, technology has changed the practice of law — and not all for the better, he said.
People used to dress up for court: suits, ties, jackets, dresses and hats. They showed respect for the judge and the process. Zoom hearings, he said, are a different story.
“Sometimes you hear the toilet flush,” he said.
What would his father have said? Smith shakes his head.
Men turn up to Zoom hearings lying shirtless in bed, wandering the warehouses where they work or driving to their jobs, he said. The format helps disabled parties, out-of-town experts and people without transportation, he said, “but you lose the formality to an extent, and see more inappropriate things. I won’t miss this.”
Security systems have made another mark: it’s harder now for young attorneys to build mentoring relationships with senior members of the bar, he said. In the late 1980s, a lawyer could walk into a judge’s office to ask questions and talk. Not anymore.
There have been strides, too, Smith said. “It was a challenge for women” when they began entering the profession, he recalled, because some male judges and attorneys believed they didn’t belong in the courtroom. Now all five county judges in Manatee County are women.
“I’m so excited because they’re so conscientious and have such refreshing, young ideas,” he said.
Angel Colonneso, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller for Manatee County, remembers practicing before him as an attorney.
“Judge Smith has been more than a respected jurist to me — he’s been a friend,” she said. “I still remember the day he insisted I come to the historic courtroom to be sworn in as interim clerk, because he believed historic moments deserve to be documented. That’s exactly who he is — a man who understands the weight of history even as he’s making it. It was an honor to practice before him, an honor to serve as clerk while he was on the bench, and an honor to call him a friend. Manatee County is better for his decades of service, and I wish him all the best in retirement.”
Friend and fellow 12th Circuit Judge Edward Nicholas said that Smith’s retirement is an enormous loss for the 12th Circuit, and for him personally.
“He’s been an enormous asset and a wonderful colleague,” Nicholas said. “His father would be so incredibly proud of his wonderful career.”
On the docket
In retirement, Smith is looking forward to more time with family, especially his 4-year-old grandson, Zeppelin, and his parents, and to traveling with his wife, Anita. Their first trip is to Croatia next year.
He also plans to take on pro bono civil and family law cases with Legal Aid of Manasota. “As a judge, one thing I saw throughout my career was how many people cannot afford attorneys,” he said. Some charge $600 or more an hour.
Smith intends to stay active in the Bradenton Kiwanis Club, the Manatee County Bar Association and the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, which co-sponsors the Leadership Manatee program with Kiwanis. He won Leadership Manatee’s Kent C. Schulz Award this year, which honors people who have made a lasting impact on Manatee County.
He wants to mentor young attorneys, too. “The reason is that so many people helped me in my life, and without being mentored in so many different ways in my life, I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at,” he said.
When the household to-do list is done, the unwritten books wait. His father lived to 94, and Smith hopes to follow that example and stay active.
He will miss his colleagues.
“I’ve been on the bench now 17 and a half years, and when I started, I knew most of the judges and lawyers,” he said. “I have been honored to serve with these people. And in the last few years, that feeling of respect has only grown.”
Cindy Lane is a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Beacons. She can be reached at clane@tbnweekly.com.
City of Bradenton: Proclamation
By virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Bradenton, I do hereby issue this proclamation honoring Judge Gilbert Smith Day July 31, 2026.
Whereas, Judge Gilbert Smith is a lifelong public servant with his involvement and leadership, integrity, and commitment to all citizens of our community. His service has shaped both its legal community and its broader civic landscape for decades; and
Whereas, throughout his distinguished judicial career, Judge Smith has earned a steadfast reputation for fairness, wisdom, and unwavering dedication to justice. His work on the bench reflects not only a deep understanding of the law, but also a genuine respect for the people and community; and
Whereas, his leadership spans numerous civic and nonprofit organizations including his role as President of the Bradenton Kiwanis Club and the Manatee Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Affairs Chairmanship. He has led with humility, collaboration, and responsibility; and
Whereas, Judge Smith is a dedicated mentor, investing his time in guiding young professionals, supporting aspiring attorneys, and mentoring youth during their formative years; and
Whereas, he is a recent recipient of the prestigious Kent C. Schulz Award by the Leadership Manatee Alumni Association; and
Whereas, Judge Smith is a respected historian and author, he has made an enduring contribution to preserving the region’s story. Work includes Lawyers and Legends of Manatee County, 2nd Edition, and in celebration of Bradenton Kiwanis’ 100th year, he wrote Champions of Children, Volumes 1 and 2.
Now, Therefore Be It Resolved that, I, Gene Brown, as Mayor of the City of Bradenton, Florida, do hereby proclaim July 31, 2026, as Judge Gilbert Smith Day, and urge all citizens to honor and thank him for his years of lifelong commitment to all residents.