When Jose Rohaidy roamed the hallways at Wolfson Campus in 2010, he had a steadfast devotion to public service.
Rohaidy was involved with his community. The budding leader was part of the Student Government Association, Phi Theta Kappa and he participated in the Global Citizenship Seminar in Salzburg, Austria.
Those opportunities shaped his leadership skills.
Sixteen years later, the now 36-year-old, is continuing to lead. This past November, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him as a county court judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building.
This past Friday, Rohaidy, who is 10 months into that appointment, attended his investiture ceremony at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, which sits less than a mile from his old stomping grounds—the Wolfson Campus.
Rohaidy was officially robed by his parents Jose and Leonela Rohaidy.
“I know he will objectively apply law to fact, and I think he’s a wonderful addition to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit,” said Andrew Darlington, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.
As a county court judge, Rohaidy is tasked with being the court of first resort, dealing with the criminal division of cases related to driving offenses, theft under $1,000 and loitering.
Rohaidy was previously an associate attorney for a private practice focused on healthcare litigation for a year and a half and an assistant state attorney for six years.
“To see somebody go from a prosecutor, go through the ranks and then finally become a judge, it was incredible,” said Brandon Gonzalez, a former colleague of Rohaidy’s at the state attorney’s office.
After graduating from the Honors College with an associate of arts degree in business administration and management, Rohaidy transferred to the University of Florida where he earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration and economics in 2012.
He continued carving his path at the St. Thomas University College of Law, earning his doctorate degree in 2017 before passing the Florida Bar.
Born to Lebanese-Cuban exiles, Rohaidy was the first in his family to graduate college and pursue law.
So when a new judicial seat was created by the Florida legislature and it went active last year, Darlington and the late Gary Kravitz, Rohaidy’s STU College of Law legal writing professor, encouraged Rohaidy to apply.
The application process took about two months to complete. Rohaidy was required to provide writing samples and recommendation letters from attorneys he had cases against.
“From the beginning, he bought into our ideas of civic engagement really quickly,” said retired MDC professor Christopher Migliaccio, who taught Rohaidy in three honors classes at Wolfson Campus and wrote a recommendation letter for his judgeship. “He didn’t need to be convinced.”
After submitting his application, Rohaidy, a father of two, headed to DeSantis’ office in Tallahassee for a formal interview.
“In the back of my mind I always knew I wanted to go to law school,” Rohaidy said. “I always figured that at some point down the line I would be a judge, but I didn’t think it would be this early in my career.”
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