Justice John Couriel will be Florida’s next chief justice, after he was unanimously elected to the post Thursday by his fellow justices on the Florida Supreme Court. His two-year term begins July 1.
Couriel, 48, will succeed Justice Carlos Muñiz as chief justice, who has served in the role for two consecutive terms.
“I am grateful to my colleagues for their trust,” Couriel said in a released statement. He added that he is “indebted to the previous chief justices with whom I’ve served. I will do my best to serve the people of Florida as they so ably have.”
The chief justice is the administrative leader of not just the Florida Supreme Court but the entire state court system, helping to set the management and operational policies as well as the legislative and budget agendas for the judicial branch.
Before being appointed to the court in 2020 by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Couriel had never served as a judge. He grew up in Miami and earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from Harvard University.
Couriel worked as a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Florida and also practiced at a firm in New York and at Kobre & Kim LLP, a global firm with offices in Miami.
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