Staff Reports
Simone Marstiller, a retired judge of the 1st District Court of Appeal, will be joining the Gunster law firm’s appellate and government affairs teams and will be based in the Tallahassee and Tampa offices, the firm announced Wednesday.
“Judge Marstiller brings vast expertise and judicial system knowledge,” said Lila Jaber, regional managing shareholder and head of the firm’s government affairs practice. “Her focus, experience and dedication to the State of Florida fit perfectly with Gunster’s mission of attracting diverse and world class legal talent.”
She joins a legal team at Gunster that already includes former Florida Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Bell and former 3rd District Court of Appeal Judge Angel Cortinas.
Marstiller, a Republican, recently said on Facebook she will not run for Attorney General in 2018, concluding “that running for the office just isn’t financially feasible for me.”
The Liberian-born lawyer had been in private law practice after retiring in 2015 as a judge of the 1st District Court of Appeal, based in Tallahassee.
Her long resume includes being Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Interim Secretary of the Department of Management Services, Deputy Chief of Staff, and state Chief Information Officer under Gov. Jeb Bush.
She also was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Attorney General Bill McCollum and Executive Director for the Florida Elections Commission.
Marstiller is an adjunct professor at Florida State University’s College of Law and at Stetson University’s law school. She also got her undergraduate degree in business administration and her law degree from Stetson.
