Background

Mr. Brandon served as City Judge for the City of Lake Wales in 1971, and as Special Assistant to the Lieutenant Governor for the State of Florida in 1972. In 1975, Governor Reubin Askew appointed him Chair of the Ridge & Lower Gulf Coast Water Management District, and he served a three-year term. In 1979 he was appointed by Governor Bob Graham to the Governor’s Resource Management Task Force. Mr. Brandon received The Florida Bar President’s Award of Merit for the year 2000, and was appointed to a six-year term on The Florida Bar Foundation Board of Directors. By appointment of Governor Jeb Bush he served as Chair on the Second Appellate District Judicial Nominating Commission. He served as Secretary and Treasurer of the Polk Education Foundation & Business Partnership, Inc. for ten years, and has served as a faculty member for The Florida Chamber of Commerce Environmental Permitting Short-Course. In 1997 he was appointed as Trustee of Polk State College serving as Vice Chair, and in 2000 he was appointed to the Board of the Polk State College Foundation where he served as Chairman. He was an organizing director of the First Commerce Bank of Polk County, Inc., served on the Board of Directors for American Bank and on the Board of Directors for Citrus & Chemical Bank. Mr. Brandon was the 2014-2015 recipient of the Jerry A. DeVane Award in recognition of extraordinary scholarship, professionalism and collegiality in the practice of law.

Education

Mr. Brandon received his B.A. degree with honors in 1966 from the University of South Carolina and his law degree in 1969 from Stetson College of Law. At Stetson he served on the Student Council and as President of Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity.

Admissions & Associations

Mr. Brandon’s Bar activities include Board of Directors, Polk County Trial Lawyers Association, 1980-1981, 1991-1994; member, Tenth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee, 1979-1982; member, Tenth Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission, 1991-1994 and Chair, 1991-1993; member, the Judicial Nominating Procedures Committee of The Florida Bar; Honorary Member, Willson American Inn of Court; and Arbitrator, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. In 1995, Mr. Brandon was elected to the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar and served a five-year term chairing the Legislation Committee, Disciplinary Procedures Committee, Program Evaluation Committee and Merit Selection and Retention Committee. He is a member of The Florida Bar and the American Bar Association. Mr. Brandon is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Middle District and Northern District of Florida.