FIU College of Law mourns the loss of Judge Mario P. Goderich, who passed away peacefully at his home on Thursday, February 10, 2022. Judge Goderich was the first Cuban American attorney to sit on three different courts and blazed a trail for many other Cuban American jurists to follow. He was one of the founding members of the Cuban American Bar Association and served as the organization’s first president.
Judge Goderich’s lifetime of service as a jurist began in 1975, when Governor Reubin Askew appointed him to the Court of Industrial Claims, and then to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in 1978. He was appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal twelve years later, in 1990, by Governor Bob Martinez. Judge Goderich served on that court until he retired in 2005.
With the Cuban American Bar Association’s generous support, the Mario P. Goderich Merit Scholarship Endowment continues to honor his legacy by supporting students pursuing a law degree at FIU Law.