The Honorable Michael B. Chavies

Adjunct Professor of Law

B.A., Rutgers University, 1971
J.D., Rutgers Law School, 1974

As a law student at Rutgers, Michael Chavies was the president of the Black Law Students Association, and, upon his graduation, received the Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship Award. Following law school, Judge Chavies moved to Jacksonville where he became an Assistant Public Defender. In 1978, he joined the Dade County Public Defender’s Office where he reached the highest trial position attainable when he was promoted to the position of senior attorney. Judge Chavies opened his own law practice in 1985 specializing in criminal defense, civil litigation, and appellate law. Judge Chavies remained in private practice until his appointment to the bench by Governor Lawton Chiles on June 22, 1992. He was invested as a Circuit Court Judge on August 6, 1993, and he won re-election to the Circuit Court Bench for a full six-year term in September of 1994 and again in July of 2000. Judge Chavies currently serves in the Civil Division of the Circuit Court, and has been nominated for a seat on the Third District Court of Appeal in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Judge Chavies is an active member of The Florida Bar, has been recognized by the Dade County Bar Association for pro bono work, and is a member of the Black Lawyers Association, the National Bar Association, the American Judges Association, and the NAACP. He is the director of the Mock Trial for Youth Program. At St. Thomas University School of Law, Judge Chavies teaches the Judicial Internship Clinic for Dade County.