Gerald Kogan passed away on Friday. He is known for being the former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, but he was so much more. We knew him as a Miami Dade Circuit Court judge, and then saw him frequently when he was retired. His lecturing against the inequalities of the death penalty was one of the standouts of his time in retirement.
Trivia- At some point after leaving the Dade SAO, where he started as a State Attorney in 1960, he formed a firm: Kogan and Kogan. Who was the other Kogan?
Jack Blumenfeld, an REGJB and Miami legal legend in his own right, wrote us with this memory which says so much more than we can:
Rumpole, I’m sure that you will get many comments regarding the devastating loss of
Jerry Kogan. Most will come from young and not so young lawyers who practiced before
him on the Circuit Court and/or the Supreme Court. But, there are a few of us older
(guess ancients would be more accurate) who go back to the 60s and 70s with him.
I met him as a young ASA and tried many cases against him, especially as a Major Crimes
prosecutor handling murder cases. Unfailingly, he was brilliant. His closings made you
wonder if you would have voted NG if you were a juror, even when you knew the
defendant was guilty. But, he was also unfailingly a true and consummate professional.
He NEVER made it personal. He treated every lawyer-even
adversaries- with respect. That didn’t change when he took the bench either, as many can
attest. When I decided to leave the SAO, he invited me to practice with him and a year
later made me his first law partner; a junior partner for sure, though he never treated
me as anything but an equal. What an experience!! We got a young law clerk from
UM Law, who seemed to have some promise. His name: Alan Ross.
Can you imagine a better place to practice in those days?
More importantly, I knew him as a human and it was as a human that he excelled.
He was one of the most decent, honest and respectful person I have ever met.
Yes, he was a great lawyer and jurist, but, he should also be remembered as a great husband,
father, brother and friend. He just did life the right way.
Gerald Kogan made you proud you were a lawyer; especially proud to be a criminal defense
lawyer. And he made me thank G d for allowing me to know and associate with him.
Frankly, if we have displayed pictures of some of our colleagues who have left us,
we should dedicate the entire 4th floor in his name!!!
Well said Jack, and yes, his picture should be hanging in our beloved REGJB. All Judges in
the REGJB are measured against the great and brilliant Judge Cowart. Deservedly so.
But Judge and Justice Kogan should be in that discussion for all the reasons Jack Blumenfeld
has so eloquently written.