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The Bopp Law Firm PC
University of Florida College of Law, 1973
Why did you decide to enter the legal profession?
I started at Indiana University in pre-med to follow in the footsteps of my father and grandfather, but second semester organic chemistry convinced me to be a lawyer. That was fortunate, even though a little dramatizing, since my first love was conservative politics and government.
If you hadn’t pursued a legal career, what would you be doing?
I would probably be homeless.
Who is someone who has inspired you in your career?
Several U.S. Supreme Court justices: John Harlan, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
That people who hold different political views than mine are not evil, because politics is not personal and there are reasonable and good faith arguments on every side of an issue.
What makes a good lawyer/judge?
For a judge, the humility to set aside their personal policy preferences and follow the law. For a lawyer, to maintain professional detachment since you are not the client and the clients and lawyers on the other side are not evil and to be denigrated.
Tell us about a “lesson learned” moment you’ve had in your career.
When, early in my career, my client got a $500,000 damage award against him in a sexual harassment case, after he refused to let me do adequate discovery, I resolved that I would always do what is legally available and ethically appropriate to win a case.
Tell us something surprising about you.
I am pretty mundane, but I make 16 quarts of soup every two weeks and eat the soup for lunch.
What is something you wish people knew about lawyers?
That most lawyers are not hired guns to be used as weapons against your adversary but people who seek justice.
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