Steven Whittington got arguably the most important call of his career a week before Christmas.
And he missed it.
Whittington was in the Clay County courthouse where cellphone reception is pretty much nonexistent.
When he got out at 9 a.m., he saw a call from Naples had come in 30 minutes earlier.
He and the other 11 candidates for two judicial seats in the 4th Circuit had been told not to ignore a call from Naples because it could be Gov. Rick Scott.
It was Scott who left a message that morning. But there was no hint as to whether he had chosen Whittington to be a judge.
He called the governor back — even before calling his wife, Kim, to tell her about the missed call.
But Whittington, 48, had to leave a message in the game of phone tag with Scott.
In the hour before the governor returned the call, Whittington bounced between confidence and uncertainty, asking himself, “The governor wouldn’t make the call if it was bad news, right?”
Finally, that second call from Naples came in.
Scott told Whittington he had selected him to replace Judge Lawrence Page Haddock Jr., who spent 41 years on the bench. (Scott also named Assistant State Attorney John Guy to replace Judge Mallory Cooper.)
It was a chance for Whittington to go into public service, which he had planned to do in law school.
But along the way, he fell in love with practicing law. A career he never thought about until a community college professor planted the seed.
Unexpected words led him to the law
Whittington admittedly didn’t do well as a student at Sarasota High School, finishing in the middle of the pack of his 502-member class.
Then came a transformative moment for the self-proclaimed mediocre student at what was then Manatee Community College.
Standing at the front of the room after class was over, Whittington distinctly remembers the words from his economics professor: “I think you would make a good candidate for law school.”
Words that came out of the blue from a man he respected. Words that led Whittington to begin thinking about law.
He took a class in constitutional law at the University of Central Florida and “absolutely loved it,” Whittington said.
From there, the former middling student graduated from UCF in 1991 as a Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society member.
While at the Florida State University School of Law, Whittington expected he’d probably serve the public by working as a lawyer at a government agency.
But a clerkship and a subsequent job offer from Robert Harper in Tallahassee led him to be a defense attorney.
It also kept him in the city where he met his wife (a school teacher) and where they had their first daughter.
Then came a call that brought him to the Jacksonville area.
Preparing for the second half
In 2002, Whittington’s father-in-law, James Thies, asked his son-in-law to join him at his Northeast Florida firm.
Thies said he would be retiring in the foreseeable future and Whittington could take over the practice. (His current partner, Bruce Culbert, joined the firm in 2005. Thies retired in 2008.)
It also would bring Kim Whittington back home and bring her parents’ first grandchild closer than the three-hour drive to Tallahassee.
“I don’t blame them,” Whittington said, with a laugh.
Whittington loves being a lawyer, calling it a noble profession.
“It’s the brunt of many jokes, sometimes maybe justified, but I gain joy from it,” Whittington said.
He said his love of practicing law kept him wanting to play the game versus being the referee — the judge.
But this year, he decided he wanted to spend the second half of his career in public service.
Whittington had been told he had the temperament to be a good judge.
He also knew the qualities he felt a good judge should display — being punctual and courteous and making prompt rulings.
Pursuing a judgeship wasn’t something Whittington would do without the backing of his wife. That included praying for wisdom, he said, that it was the best decision for their family, which now includes two daughters.
In his first attempt for a judgeship earlier this year, he was one of the final six candidates for the Clay County job Scott awarded to Kristina Mobley.
It made the process a little easier this time.
Learning quickly
Whittington will miss being a practicing attorney. Not just trying cases, but being at the courthouse with colleagues and friends.
“I love just going to hang out there,” he said.
Getting the chance to see cases from a different perspective will be exciting, though, Whittington said.
But he’s been around long enough to know 20 years in a courtroom on one side of the bench doesn’t mean there won’t be a learning curve for the other side.
There’s a private practice to pull away from, learning how to keep a docket and calendar and adjusting from a small office to a much larger working environment.
He’s already begun talking to judges about the transition, including his assigned mentor, Circuit Judge Linda McCallum.
While in the Duval County Courthouse for a client’s arraignment, he stopped by to meet with Chief Judge Mark Mahon.
Whittington expected a quick conversation, but instead Mahon walked him around the courthouse and introduced him to judges and court employees.
“It was a whirlwind,” he said.
Whittington also got his circuit judge badge and ID — necessary tools for the second part of his career he’ll begin in February.
@editormarilyn
(904) 356-2466