Created by Ben C. Willis

Ben C. Willis, Florida's longest-reigning chief circuit judge, was born in Quincy, FL, October 7, 1913. According to his son, Lee Willis, he attended Emory University for his freshman year but transferred to the University of Florida Law School in 1936, his sophomore year, where it took him five years to get the LLB Degree.

He first practiced law in Tallahassee (FL) with the firm of Waller and Pepper, whose partners were Claude Pepper, later U.S. Senator, and Curtis L. Waller, who became a distinguished U.S. District and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal Judge. Willis practiced with this firm until 1942. He then went into partnership with James Messer Jr., but late that same year he was inducted into the U.S. Army. After serving three and one-half years as a soldier, Willis returned to Tallahassee and resumed his career. In 1957, he was appointed by Florida Governor LeRoy Collins to serve on the Second Judicial Circuit Court. bench. According to Lee Willis, his father "particularly enjoyed riding the circuit and holding court in Apalachicola, Crawfordville, Monticello and Quincy, and "had a real connection with each of these communities."

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