THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA WELCOMES THE HONORABLE MARCIA MORALES HOWARD AS CHIEF JUDGE

On November 3, 2024, United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard assumed the duties of Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Judge Howard, who is stationed in Jacksonville, succeeds Judge Timothy J. Corrigan, who served as Chief Judge from November 2, 2020 to November 2, 2024. 

Judge Howard, a Jacksonville native, received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and her law degree from the University of Florida. After law school, Judge Howard returned to Jacksonville where she was in private practice as a civil litigator concentrating in labor and employment law. In 2003, Judge Howard was appointed as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Florida. She was nominated and confirmed as a U.S. District Judge in 2007. 

Judge Howard's community involvement has included serving on the boards of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, as well as numerous community and non-profit organizations. She is a past president and current Executive Committee member of the Chester Bedell American Inn of Court and is an emeritus member of the University of Florida Law Center Association Board of Trustees. In 2016, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Howard to serve on the national Judicial Conference Committee for the Administration of the Magistrate Judges System, and in 2021, he appointed her to serve a three-year term as Chair of the Committee.

In 2020, the Florida Bar awarded Judge Howard with the prestigious William M. Hoeveler Judicial Professionalism Award, an award presented to an active judge who best exemplifies strength of character, service, and competence as a jurist, lawyer, and public servant. And in 2022, Judge Howard was awarded the Distinguished Federal Judicial Service Award, an award presented by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court to recognize outstanding and sustained service to the public, especially as it relates to the support of pro bono legal services. Judge Howard is looking forward to this new opportunity to serve the judiciary and the people of the United States.