Selig I. Goldin
(1939–1980)
Those few words, spoken at Selig Goldin’s funeral by his brother, Philip, capture what members of the criminal defense bar knew of this young Gainesville lawyer who died of cancer before his time — that he was a man of great ability and great compassion. His career was cut short, yet he left his mark not only with those he defended, but with those judges before whom he practiced and those lawyers who were his adversaries in the courtroom and his friends when the trials were over.
To honor the memory of this young man, who none doubt would have reached the top of his profession, the Criminal Law Section each year distinguishes one member of The Florida Bar for displaying the talents and compassion possessed by Selig I. Goldin.
His path is not an easy one to follow. He graduated high school at 16, college at 20, and law school at 23. His list of honors is remarkable for one so young. By age 24, he was well-regarded within the Gainesville legal community as a man who would not turn down a case because the client could not afford to pay nor because the client’s cause was unpopular.
As a member of the Executive Council of the Criminal Law Section, he displayed the same zeal and dedication to justice that was his trademark in the courtroom. He was, as many have said, a lawyer’s lawyer, a man who possessed the best attributes of the profession — competence, service, compassion.
Philip remembers: As Selig began working on his goals, he touched many lives. From judges and attorneys to moonshiners, from clergy to ex-convicts, from athletes and coaches to doctors and nurses, from architects to plain, simple folk, he touched their lives in his own special way. Selig accomplished his goals and always did it his way.
2025 Selig I. Goldin Memorial Award Recipient—Retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy A. Quince (Bar News article)
Justice Peggy A. Quince was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1948. She graduated in 1970 from Howard University with a B.S. Degree in Zoology; she received her J.D. Degree from the Catholic University of America in 1975.
Justice Quince practiced general civil law in Virginia and Florida from 1975 to 1980. She practiced in the areas of domestic relations, real estate, and criminal law. In 1980, she began her 13-year tenure in the Criminal Division of the Florida Attorney General’s office. She served as the Tampa Bureau Chief for five years and handled death penalty appeals and postconviction matters exclusively for three years. She argued numerous cases before the Virginia Supreme Court, the Florida Second District Court of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court and the Federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
In 1993, Justice Quince was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeals, making her the first African American woman to serve on a Florida appellate court. She was appointed by Governor Chiles and Governor-elect Jeb Bush to the Florida Supreme Court in 1998. She became the first African American woman to head any branch of Florida government when she became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida in 2008.
As one of the seven justices serving on the State Supreme Court, Justice Quince had many responsibilities that ultimately affected the lives of over 16 million Floridians. As a justice, she reviewed final judgments imposing sentences of death, cases involving the constitutionality of laws passed by the Florida Legislature, and other matters as delineated in the Florida Constitution. She also lectured on various legal topics, including the need for a fair and impartial court system, search and seizure, probation and parole, use of peremptory challenges, postconviction relief, professionalism and ethics, and the independence of the judiciary.
Justice Quince is a member of the Gamma Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the Ivy Enrichment Foundation of Tampa Bay. She is on the Board of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, formerly on the board of the Pace Center for Girls, and is on the board of Funding Florida Legal Aid (FFLA) (formerly The Florida Bar Foundation). For her commitment and service to the law and community, she has received numerous honors and awards, including but not limited to induction into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame and the Stetson University College of Law Hall of Fame. She was named NBA Women Lawyers Division Jurist of the Year, and received an ABA Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from The Florida Bar’s Government Lawyer Section, and the 2024 Medal of Honor from FFLA.
Previous Selig Goldin Award Winners
2024 – Stanford Blake
2023 – James E. Felman
2022 – Jennifer Zedalis
2021 – Benedict P. Kuehne
2020 – No Recipient
2019 – Larry Turner
2018 – C. Richard Parker
2017 – Thomas Petersen
2016 – Nancy Daniels
2015 – Honorable Charles D. Edelstein
2014 – Charles B. “Chuck” Morton Jr.
2013 – James T. (Jim) Miller
2012 – Robert C. Josefsberg
2011 – Henry M. Coxe, III
2010 – Barry E. Krischer
2009 – The Honorable O. H. Eaton, Jr.
2008 – Seymour Gelber
2007 – Albert J. Krieger
2006 – Neal R. Sonnett
2005 – Honorable Lou Frost
2004 – Honorable Susan R. Schaeffer
2003 – Professor Charles W. Ehrhardt
2002 – Honorable Bennett H. Brummer
2001 – Honorable Janet Reno
2000 – Professor William R. Eleazer
1999 – Honorable Ben F. Overton
1998 – Professor John F. Yetter
1997 – Honorable Stanley R. Morris
1996 – Robert E. Jagger
1995 – Professor Steven M. Goldstein
1994 – Professor Gerald T. Bennett
1993 – William J. Sheppard
1992 – Professor Paul Barnard
1991 – T. Edward Austin, Jr.
1990 – Honorable Marvin U. Mounts, Jr.
1989 – Honorable Edward D. Cowart
1988 – Honorable Gerald Kogan
1987 – Honorable James C. Adkins
1986 – Honorable Phillip A. Hubbart
1985 – Honorable Benjamin M. Tench
1984 – Honorable Richard E. Gerstein
1983 – Albert J. Datz
1982 – Tobias Simon