Robert T. Watson

The Honorable Robert T. Watson

Adjunct Professor of Law

Email: rwatson2@stu.edu

Mail:

St. Thomas University College of Law
Faculty Suite (209)
16401 NW 37th Ave
Miami Gardens, FL 33054


Education:

B.S., Georgetown University
J.D., Stanford Law School


The Honorable Robert T. Watson

The Honorable Robert T. Watson was appointed a Judge of the Miami-Dade Circuit Court by Governor Ron DeSantis, beginning his service in January 2020. Judge Watson currently presides over civil cases at the historic Dade County Courthouse in downtown Miami. Previously, Judge Watson presided for three and a half years over felony criminal matters – including drug trafficking, burglary, grand theft, battery, child abuse, fraud, and homicide cases – at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building.

In August 2022, the citizens of Miami-Dade County voted in a contested election to retain Judge Watson for a full six-year term beginning January 3, 2023.

Judge Watson began his judicial service on the County Court, appointed by then-Governor Rick Scott in January 2019. Judge Watson served for a year at the Coral Gables courthouse in the civil division, handling insurance cases, commercial and residential landlord-tenant disputes, debtor-creditor matters, and small claims cases. Judge Watson presided over 20 jury and bench trials in County Court.

Prior to serving on the bench, Judge Watson practiced law at the international boutique firm of Kobre & Kim, where he represented individuals in white-collar criminal defense matters in federal court and oversaw internal investigations.

From 2011 to 2016, Judge Watson served as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, where he led investigations into money laundering and currency structuring, investment fraud, wire fraud, healthcare fraud, child exploitation, and large-scale international narcotics trafficking. Judge Watson tried 20 cases to verdict in federal court and argued successfully before the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Judge Watson began his legal career practicing commercial litigation and arbitration in Miami at both Steel Hector & Davis and Holland & Knight.

Judge Watson grew up in Southern California. There, and as a high school exchange student in Costa Rica, he learned Spanish and developed a love for the people and culture of Latin America. Judge Watson’s interest in government and public service led him to Washington, D.C. for college, where he received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude in international relations and law from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. During college, Judge Watson worked at the United States Embassy in Santiago, Chile and at a Capitol Hill lobbying firm. Following graduation, he returned to Chile as a Fulbright Scholar and taught elementary school in a Hispanic immigrant neighborhood in inner-city Los Angeles. Judge Watson then earned his J.D. degree from the Stanford Law School in 2003.

Judge Watson also serves as an adjunct professor at the St. Thomas University College of Law. In the Fall semester of 2024, he is teaching Criminal Procedure I: Investigations. He previously taught Criminal Procedure II: Adjudication.

Judge Watson has been active in numerous legal and community organizations, including the Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies, the Federal Bar Association, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, AMIKids, the Cuban-American Bar Association, and the Gay & Lesbian Lawyers Association (part of the Miami Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce). He has also been a panelist at various legal conferences, a guest lecturer and a volunteer judge at local law schools, and a mentor for many law students and new lawyers.