Interview with the Honorable Corali Lopez-Castro
- admin
- May 23
- 10 min read
Interview with the Honorable Corali Lopez-Castro, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Florida
By Katie Mitchell
Q: You practiced law for a little more than 30 years before joining the bench. Can you tell us what your decision-making process was for joining the judiciary at that time?
A: I think there were a couple of reasons why I thought it was the right time. There had not been an opening in the Miami division for 16 years. Specifically, my former partner, Laurel Isicoff had been appointed at that time. So, when A. Jay Cristol decided to retire and it was announced, I really had to think about whether this was something that I was going to pursue and whether it was the right time. Professionally, I felt I had done most of the things that I wanted to do: first-chair big cases, manage the firm, mentor young lawyers, and really attract the clients that I wanted to represent. So, it seemed like—okay, maybe this is the right time. Personally, my youngest was about to go to college, and that made me think that maybe this was the right time as well. I think opportunity comes at a time when you do not really know that it is coming, and you have to be flexible enough to look at that opportunity and decide: is this mine? Or am I going to let this pass?
Q: One of the goals you said you accomplished was having managed the firm, Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton—and you did that three times! Did you encounter anything unexpected your first time in that role? What do you wish younger lawyers knew about management?
A: They asked me several times to manage the firm and I felt, because of my case load and where my children were in their educational journeys, perhaps it was not the right time. But I do think every partner should experience managing a firm because it really teaches you the business of law. When I said yes the first time, I thought it was my responsibility as a business owner. I remember the first meeting being somewhat contentious and thinking, “Wow, I did not handle this well.” And then it got easier. I realized that I had to do a lot more before we walked into that meeting; I wanted to build consensus before we actually went into that meeting to discuss a topic. I think if people have enough time to think about things, they are much less reactive, and we can have more productive conversation. So, the first time, I definitely learned a lot. With respect to your second question, I do think everyone should do this because you need to know, for example, how does billing relate to collections, and relate to keeping the lights on? You have to see how all of this fits together. The second time was a lot more fun because I already had some experience with it and I thought I had developed my voice as a managing partner and learned how to use that voice productively. Before I was lucky enough to be appointed to this job, I realized that my whisper was a shout and I had to be careful how I expressed my feelings because, as managing partner, those feelings were very strong and had an effect on people. I decided that I would be much more careful with my words. The third time around, the firm was in transition. Some of our founders had retired and other lawyers that had been with the firm had decided to pursue other interests, so it was definitely a period of transition. But I thought I was actually the right person for the managing partner role because I was a bridge: I had grown up with the founders and had also been young enough to relate to some of the younger partners.
Q: You mentioned that your family has been one of the factors you considered when pursuing this job and also when agreeing to be managing partner. I know your husband is also a lawyer and you have three wonderful daughters together. What advice do you have for other lawyers striving to balance their family lives with taking on new professional challenges?
A: Make smart choices. Start with picking the right partner because the right partner will support you and will help you. I think right now, marriages are much more aware of dividing the responsibilities and both parties contributing to all that it takes to have a home, a happy home. Even if you do not have children, you have a lot of responsibilities and you need to pick the right partner. With respect to professional work/life balance, I think I was pretty good at being fiercely protective of my private time. I really needed to be with my girls and raise them; I needed to be with my friends; I needed to be with my husband. Those are the things that made me happy, so I was very protective of that time. I also realized that, sometimes, you cannot do everything. I started thinking about commitments a little differently: if someone asked me to do something—speak at a conference, take on a case, whatever it was—I thought to myself, “How does this affect my family and will this make me happy?” There is nothing worse than saying yes to something and when it comes up, you feel like, “Ugh, why did I say yes to this?” So I became much better at that. I was not always very good about that, but I became much better at it.
Q: As far as being protective of your time, was that harder as a young associate or when you were established as a partner? When in your career did you find yourself able to set those boundaries effectively?
A: One of my goals when I was in practice, I would say more than 12 or 13 years, was that I decided that I wanted my own clients. My own clients were important because I thought I could control my schedule a little better. I was always pretty confident that if I told the client, “I cannot have the meeting on Wednesday at 3:00. It would be better for me do to it on Thursday at 9:00,” that the client would be okay with it. I did not have to give a detailed explanation as to why I was asking for that change, and I also was experienced enough to know that not having the meeting on Wednesday and having it on Thursday instead was not the end of the world because of where the case was. Sometimes we are afraid to ask and I think that is something that I would offer as a piece of advice—just being more upfront that you need a change can be great. People are very understanding; they have their own families. But sometimes, as women, we are reluctant to show vulnerability. “This does not work for me. Do you mind changing it?” Just asking becomes difficult. I see that sometimes with my daughters and I say, “Just ask. The worst that can happen is they say no.” But sometimes we are hesitant to make that request. Everyone should be thinking about “How can I make my life easier?” It doesn’t have to be that difficult.
Q: You have been on the bench for a little more than a year now. What adjustments have you had to make from practice to being on this side of the bench?
A: One thing related to that change is that I will read something, and I want to send an email to someone, and I cannot. Before I was lucky enough to begin this job, I always read the advance sheets before I did anything in the morning. I would read, and say “Oh, this would be great for a case,” and not to have that aspect of my profession available now is hard for two reasons. One, I love strategizing about cases. And two, I am a very social person. Not being able to talk about the law with other people has been a big change. I have that idea, “Oh, I should email a person about this,” and then I think, “No, that is not appropriate; you cannot do that.” But this job is much less isolating than I thought it was going to be. By way of example, I just attended the FBA lunch [featuring the three new district court judges] and that was delightful. I love seeing people. I love going to events. The recent investiture [of U.S. Magistrate Judge Marty Fulgueira Elfenbein] was lovely. I still see people. If you are going to be social, there are ways for a judge to be social in an appropriate manner.
I was very surprised how much judicial education is available for judges, and it is amazing. It is the best programming I have ever seen. The Federal Judicial Center does amazing work and I have really been very surprised how generous people are with their assistance, especially when you have questions about certain cases. My colleagues have been available for any question I have had. I feel like I am kind of part of a law firm, but it is a little different.
Today I was talking to two other judges, and we were wishing that in our building, it was not just one judge on a floor and that there could be more than one judge on each floor because that would be really fun.
Q: You share a long friendship and history with Judge Isicoff. Has that relationship morphed now that you are back to working in the same capacity together?
A: Definitely. We had this unfortunate wall before. I had cases in front of her, so that made our relationship different. Now, if I have not seen her in a while, I will just get in the elevator and go surprise her and see how she is doing. That has actually been really fun to have her available again. She is an incredible legal mind and, really, she was the brains of the operation for the bankruptcy department [at Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton] as it related to drafting documents. Sometimes she would look at some of our documents and she would tell us, “This is not going to work.” So now, it is great to have her accessible when I am thinking about a difficult legal issue that I have not had before, and she has been very generous. Chapter 13 is something I had no experience with, and it is actually much more complicated than I appreciated—and Judge Isicoff has been great because she has really dug into a lot of the issues involved in Chapter 13.
Q: Speaking of special relationships: when you became a judge, Senior District Judge Huck swore you in informally and Eleventh Circuit Judge Lagoa swore you in formally. Can you tell us about their roles in your life?
A: Judge Huck and I have always had a special relationship. When he worked at Kozyak Tropin, we always got along. I do not know what it was. It is something that we maybe saw in each other, we had a lot of respect for each other, and our friendship has endured. I really love that about Judge Huck. Judge Huck is a person that, when he is in your corner, you cannot lose. He is such a helpful and sincere person. It has been great. By way of example, when I was lucky enough to start this new job, I had an evidentiary hearing coming up and my law clerks were trying to figure out how to turn on the computer and how to understand the process and the technology here, which can be daunting. The first thing Judge Huck did was say, “Do you want to use one of my law clerks to help you prepare for that evidentiary hearing?” I thought that was such a kind thing and before he could get the words out of his mouth, I said yes, and I got this amazing bench memo. That was a very kind thing for him to do. But for some reason, we always had a connection when we were working together. He also appreciated, I think, especially when my girls were young, trying to navigate that work-life tug of war. He appreciated that, and I think he was always very supportive of the working women at Kozyak Tropin.
And Judge Lagoa—so, I met [her husband] Paul Huck, Jr., or PJ, when he worked at Kenny Nachwalter. I had a very good friend who has unfortunately passed away, Amanda McGovern, who worked with PJ and the three of us would go to lunch and have so much fun. I still remember those lunches. So I met Barbara through PJ and of course we got along really, really well. As far as our relationship: the other day I went to hear Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Jackson speak, and she talked about advice she would give—she said you should network when you are in law school. I think you should always network, but as [University of Miami Law School] Dean Abril said, “Network, but really establish friendships.” It is the friendships that you start in the beginning of your career. Some of my closest friends are those who all started working together. Having that bonding experience when you get a project and you think you did not do it as well as you could have, or when you have your first trial, sharing all those bonding experiences when you are all going through it together—that is a bond like super glue. You cannot break that bond. When PJ and Barbara and I were starting our careers, we had a lot to talk about because we were all going through the same things. Instead of networking, because networking seems very transactional, I say establish friendships. Friendships will carry you through this legal career because law is stressful, but you have to take care of yourself. You have to help your colleagues. If a former partner of mine hurt, I was hurting too. I felt their pain. It was a friendship and I wanted to help that person.
Q: It is obvious that you love this job. Is there anything that you miss about practicing as an attorney?
A: I miss the people, and I miss working on an argument before I was going to court and trying to come up with a theme. I have been trying to encourage lawyers appearing before me to have introductions or to include introductions in their pleadings because it is so important to grab your audience. That first paragraph should tell the judge, “You should grant this motion because of these three reasons,” or “You should deny the motion or deny the requested relief because of these three reasons,” so when the judge is reading the rest of the pleading, she has those reasons already in her head. People do not always use introductions, and I think they are very important. I miss, whenever I was about to argue a big motion, working on that theme and thinking about how I could grab the attention of the judge so the judge would be listening to me right away, and that would at least give me a fair chance to convince them that my position was correct. I miss that kind of overthinking of my argument.
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