Commission on Women in the Profession Past Margaret Brent Honorees

THE HONORABLE ROSEMARY BARKETT

Judge Rosemary Barkett sits on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to her appointment to the Eleventh Circuit in 1994, she was the first woman Justice on the Florida Supreme Court, sitting as an Associate Justice from 1985 until 1992, when she was chosen by her colleagues to become the state's first woman Chief Justice of that court. Judge Barkett has also served in numerous other capacities in Florida State Courts, including as the Chief Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida and as an Appellate Judge on the Fourth District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida.

Prior to her elevation to the bench, Rosemary Barkett was in private practice from 1971 until 1979 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Born in Mexico, Judge Barkett began her career as a school teacher. As a member of a religious teaching order, she taught both elementary and junior high school before earning a B.S. from Spring Hill College, summa cum laude, (1967) and her J.D. from University of Florida Law School (1970).

The recipient of seven honorary degrees, Judge Barkett has also earned dozens of prestigious honors including The Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, presented by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, and the Latin Business and Professional Women Lifetime Achievement Award, in addition to being inducted into the Florida Women*s Hall of Fame. She has served on dozens of boards and committees, and is a member of the American Law Institute, The International Women's Forum, and the American Society of International Law, where she serves on the Judicial Outreach Program Advisory Board. She sits on the Board of Trustees of Barry University, and was also the National Association of Women Judges Honoree of the Year in 1999. Each year, two awards are given in honor of Judge Barkett - the Rosemary Barkett Outstanding Achievement Award given to an outstanding lawyer by the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and The Rosemary Barkett Award which is presented by the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers to a person who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to equal justice under law.