PBC Court Judge, Group 2 Candidate - Doug Leifert

Leifert is running for an open seat on the Palm Beach County Court.  It's the only judicial race in this election.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, Joel, Malcolm Ford wj n O dot com. My election

(00:02):
spotlight is on the Palm Beach CountyCourt Judge Group two race. We could
just say the judicial race, becausethat's all that's gonna be on your ballot,
is one judicial race this time around. And we are joined by one
of the three candidates for this racefor an open seat, Judge Ted Morris
retiring, leaving this seat vacant.Douglas Leifert is joining us. Thank you

(00:27):
for joining me. Thank you,Joel. I appreciate the opportunity to be
with you and your listeners today.You know, Ted Borris has been a
judge, I don't know how manyyears in a long time, as I'm
familiar with the name, and Idon't know all the judges unless I've interviewed
them, right, so, whichis probably a good thing, right to
not not know all the judges names. But this is the only race.

(00:53):
This is somebody that and I've kindof been asking other other candidates this,
you know, why is nobody elserunning for judge or what's happening here in
your opinion or you know, doyou have some insight? I don't know
if I have any insight. No, one's told me why they're not running.
I'll tell you. This is theonly open seat this year. There's
only one open seat, and thereare plenty of other judges that were up

(01:17):
for reelection, but no one decidedto challenge any of those judges. So
the judges that were up this yearfor reelection, both in this circuit and
the county, were elected unopposed.So this is the only contested seat,
and it's an open seat. Soit must be that you know people at
least you know view would be potentialcandidates or opponents. View what the judges

(01:38):
that were up for election are doingis you know, they must be doing
a good job in their opinions.I can speculates to what other people are
thinking that I would say that that'sthat could be correct. I couldn't pressure.
Well, let's talk about let's talkabout Doug Leifert for judge. Tell
me you know some information about you, give us some background, and obviously

(02:00):
we'll get into experience and whatnot aswell. Sure. Sure, So I
appreciate Aganjel, I appreciate the opportunityto be with you and your listeners this
morning. I'm running to serve asyour next Pumbage County Court judge because I
believe that the citizens of our countydeserve a judge with the necessary experience,
qualifications, and known temperament to beon the bench. I've been a Pumbache

(02:23):
County court room attorney for the lastthirty four years. I began my career
as a local state prosecutor working atthe State Attorney's Office. I worked under
two different prosecutors, David Bludworth,who initially hired me, and then Barry
Krisher. I served for a totalof just under five years. I then
left and started my own firm,Leiffert and Leifert, and I have been

(02:44):
in business for over twenty nine yearsin Pombache County. I'm in court almost
every day, usually with multiple casesin different courtrooms and even different locations.
We have one main courthouse and foursatellite courthouses in Pombage County. I definitely
times hit multiple court rooms during theday. I practiced in almost every division

(03:04):
of our courts, and I've beenthe attorney of record on over fifty thousand
cases during my career. With mythirty four years experience, I'll be ready
to serve the citizens of Pombu's countyfrom day one, and I will bring
my decades of experience to run afair and efficient courtroom. And I'm asking
people to vote for me Douglas Leifertan election day. All right, now,

(03:27):
let's talk about, you know alittle more regarding experience. You talk
about fifty thousand court cases you haveon your campaign page thirty four years.
As you said of experience in thecourt, you mentioned something about known temperament.
Obviously you're not a judge at thispoint. How what do you mean

(03:47):
by your known temperament that you're knownto have a good temperament? Sure,
well, my fifty thousand cases I'vedealt with. I don't know how many
attorneys I've dealt with or how manyjudges I've dealt with in my career,
But no one will ever say thatthey had a bad experience with me working.
I'm no one. As a veryfair, very honest person, I

(04:08):
always have a smile on my face. I love going to court. I
walk into the courtroom or a courthousewith a smile, and I generally walk
out with a smile. I justenjoy what I'm doing, So I've never
gotten to a fight with anybody.I've never been mean to anybody. I've
never been crass with anybody. Wehave a saying here in Palmbay's County when

(04:29):
it comes to being in the courts, and that's civility, that we need
to treat everybody with civility. Andthat comes with dealing with clients, litigants,
people that are in court on oneside or the other, witnesses,
judges, court personnel. Everyone inthe courthouse knows who I am and knows
me to be pleasant, honest andeasy to work with, not causing any

(04:51):
problem. So that's what I meanby a known temperament. I'm a known
quantity after all these years and allthese cases. I'm not someone who's a
stranger to the courthouse or people inthe court house or people that have to
go to court. So that's myknown temperament. Tell me what is the
difference between the county court and thecircuit court. Sure, the difference between

(05:15):
the two courts are jurisdictional. CountyCourt is the position I'm running for.
It's also known as the people's court. Seven out of ten cases filed in
the courts go to county court,so county court are generally traffic cases,
misdemeanor cases, domestic violence, smallclaims which has been raised. Small claims
will be anything below fifty thousand dollars, landlord tenant and debt collection. That

(05:43):
would be county court. Those arethe cases that a county court judge would
hear. Circuit court here is moreserious cases, more serious as far as
a higher amount of money. Rightabove fifty thousand dollars would here faelony cases
which are much more serious than trafficor misdemeanor cases. Family court you know,
deciding child custody, divorced matters,division of assets, and also approbate

(06:08):
and guardianship. You know, dealingwith people that are unable to deal with
their own finances or estates after someonepasses without a will or if there is
a challenge to in a state witha will. So the circuit court handles
higher, higher matters, more seriousmatters. You're talking about people's liberty,
going to prison, you're talking aboutdividing people's children, dividing people's assets.

(06:31):
That will be the circuit court andcounty court is lesser. It's a lesser
jurisdiction, but also has a broaderexposure to the public. Go to county
court. Go ahead, now youcan finish. Go ahead. I was
saying a lot of people that goto county court don't even have an attorney.
You don't need an attorney in countycourt, but in circuit court you
do. So would would it becorrect to surmise that maybe you know a

(06:57):
lot of folks that are you know, first yeah, not judicial business,
but you know, going from beingyou know, an attorney to being a
judge might see county court as thefirst, you know, the next step,
and then eventually work up to circuitcourt being that it's more serious,
or does it not. I'm notan attorney, So I apologize if this
sounds pretty ignorant, but you know, it's just how I look on it

(07:19):
at it from the outside. Right. No, and no, there's no
ignorant question. There's no dumb question. Every question is good. Is a
good question. Information is important.So I would say to you that most
judges, I'll say some, becauseI can't say most, A lot of
judges would look at that as anentry level position and seek to go higher

(07:40):
up in the court system. Sowe've had judges that have been in the
county court then get elevated to theCircuit Court and then get elevated to the
District Court of Appeal. And we'veeven had several judges out of Pummeage County,
very distinguished judges, get elevated tothe state Supreme Court. So it
can be an entry level position.I know, I don't look at it

(08:01):
as an entry level position. Ilove County Court and I would intend to
stay in County Court until if I'melected, until I can't serve any longer.
So for me, it's not anentry level This is a dream job
for me, an honorable thing todo. It would be a capstone to
a great career for me to becomea county court judge. That's admittedly that's
where I spend most of my practice. But yes, some judges would consider

(08:24):
it as entry level and would seekto get elevated to higher office. Absolutely,
all right, do you have anythingelse before we wrap up? You're
going to make a closing statement?Is that what you're asking me? Joel?
There you go with our ten minutes. They're up. Okay, thank
you. Well, I've enjoyed doingthis interview with you, Joel. I
really do. I enjoy listening toyour show. I listen to your listeners,

(08:48):
and I appreciate you making the effortto reach out to me and my
competitors other candidates, to get ourword out there and let people learn about
this race. Judges are an importantpart of our system, where a check
you know against law, enforcement againstother citizens you know against, and a

(09:09):
check against law. Most people,indeed, my clients, and you said
it at the beginning of interview,most people never expect to be in front
of a judge at all, youknow, And I could say that most
of my clients never thought that ever, being an office like mine, never
even or short of going to court. So I think it's important that when
you have a judge, you havea judge who's got experience, who's been

(09:31):
there, who's been in court,knows how to deal with individual people.
My fifty thousand plus cases are representingeveryday people. I'm not represent representing corporations
or entities or Hoa's representing individual clients. And I've built my career maintaining relationships
with my clients long after their dayin court. The emotional ups and downs

(09:54):
for these people during the process hasprepared me to maneuver through challenging and difficultes
pisis and this is exactly what ajudge must do daily. And I have
a proven track record of working withand for the people of Palm Beach County.
All right, And you know usuallyusually I will wrap up with one
one other question. But you kindof made that you're closing your closing statements.

(10:18):
But I will just add, youknow what, and you talked about
some of this already, but ina nutshell, you know those three candidates
here, why ultimately should folks votefor Doug Leiffer. Good question. I
am the most experienced candidate. I'vebeen a thirty four year lawyer. I've
been in court the most with fiftythousand cases. I've had cases in almost

(10:39):
every division of both the circuit andthe county court over the last thirty four
years. I have a known trackrecord. You can look me up online.
You'll see what people say about meas far as on case reviews and
client reviews. And my other candidates, while they're qualified, they're not as
qualified and they're not as well knownas I am. And I'm doing it

(11:01):
not as a career. I'm doingit to have a capstone to a successful
career. And I'm doing this toset an example for both younger professionals in
my profession and younger lawyers and otherpeople in our community that if you have
the opportunity to step up and serveand represent your community, you should do
it. You should do it.And there are not enough people in my

(11:22):
age at this point in their careerthat are willing to leave a successful practice
and serve the community. To me, this is the highest calling, the
highest honor. It would be acapstone. I can't say the same for
at least one of my competitors,but I could say that about me,
that this is why I'm doing it, and these are my motivations to it.
I really would like to serve asan honor to serve, and I

(11:43):
believe that my motivations, my experience, and my reputation is what puts me
as the best candidate for this position. All right, well, appreciate you
taking the time to speak to thevoters in Palm Beach County. And this
is a race because it's obviously nonpartisan, this is open to all voters,

(12:05):
regardless of party affiliation or even ifyou're an NPA. And this is
again the pomp Beach County Court JudgeGroup two race. The only judicial race
on your ballot, Doug Lyifford,Douglas on the ballot Lifeford just so folks
can see the name Kennedy for PompbacheCounty Court Judge Group two. Thank you
for joining me. Thank you,Joy, I appreciate the opportunity. Again,

(12:26):
it's been a pleasure.