BROWARD COUNTY, FL – The Broward County Commission unanimously approved Commissioner Dale V.C. Holness’ item to name the north wing of the Seventeenth Judicial Court of Florida after the late Thomas J. (TJ) Reddick, Jr., prominent attorney, and namesake of the TJ Reddick Bar Association, established in 1982 at the Wednesday, November 14 commission meeting. “I’ve been working with the TJ Reddick Bar Association for a couple years on getting the courthouse to memorialize Judge Reddick, it is fitting to name the north wing after him because that is where the public defender’s office is housed, and Judge Reddick was once a public defender” said Commissioner Holness.
Judge Reddick passed away on July 28, 1993, but his legacy lives on with the TJ Reddick Bar Association which works to increase the enrollment of minority students in college and law school, promote the professional excellence of Black lawyers in Broward County, and provide economic scholarships to students at local law schools. The TJ Reddick Bar Association was formed on November 12, 1982 by a group of attorneys because minorities were not being afforded equal access into law firms as attorneys, partners, court appointments in civil or criminal cases, appointments to judgeships, and did not receive respect as attorneys in Broward County, Florida. The attorneys named the Association after Thomas J. (TJ) Reddick, Jr., the first Black attorney to open an office and practice law in Broward County, the first Black attorney appointed to the Broward County Court of Record, and the first Black person elected to serve as Circuit Court Judge in the State of Florida.
Also, in attendance at Tuesday’s commission meeting in support of Commissioner Holness’ item were members of the TJ Reddick Bar Association, President Elect Christopher Saunders, and Immediate Past President Harold F. Pryor Jr. “I think it is fitting for Judge Reddick to be honored, the TJ Reddick Bar Association is the only African American Association in Broward County. His name is one of those few names a lot of African American attorneys encounter when they cone to Broward County. The commission placing a symbol that young African-American attorneys and the clients they represent could see as they walk through the courtroom acknowledges the struggles and the successes of being an African American attorney in Broward County and would mean a lot to the TJ Reddick Bar Association,” said Saunders.
