Judge Corbins Biography from the 20th Circuit website

I was born Madisonville, Kentucky, in 1949, and I've lived in Lee County since my parents moved here in 1951. My father was raised on a farm west of Madisonville. My mother was born and raised in the Florida panhandle. During WW2 my father was stationed at Buckingham Air Base in Lee County and during those years my parents lived in Fort Myers. After the war they returned to Kentucky and went into business running a feed store, but they missed Fort Myers so they sold that business and came back here and bought another feed store located at the corner of Main and Monroe Streets in downtown Fort Myers where the Justice Center now sits. Eventually, all of my father's family moved to Florida. My mother's family already lived in Florida. I graduated from Fort Myers High School in 1967, the University of North Carolina in 1971, and the University of Florida College of Law in March 1974. I joined Air Force ROTC at UNC in 1969 and I was commissioned a second lieutenant in June of 1971. A few months before being commissioned I entered a program to become a JAG officer and I was given a delay of entry on active duty while I completed law school. However, a few months before graduating from law school in March of 1974, the Air Force announced a reduction in force and I was put in the Reserves. I was assigned to 90 days at the base legal office at MacDill AFB, Tampa, as soon as I passed the bar exam. I remained in the Reserves for eight years.

A few weeks after I graduated from law school, I began practice as a law clerk at a firm in Fort Myers, Allen, Knudsen, Swartz, DeBoest, Rhoads, and Edwards, where I worked until May 1978. Thereafter, until 1994, I was associated with other lawyers in my own firm or I worked by myself: Terry, Adams, & Corbin; Terry, Adams, Corbin & Terry; Adams & Corbin; Smoot, Adams, Corbin, Johnson & Green; R. Thomas Corbin; Corbin, Dryden & Horowitz; Corbin & Dryden; Corbin, Dryden & Heidkamp; and finally, Corbin & Dryden. In all, I have been associated with about 30 or 35 lawyers. One of my former associates once said: "There are three kinds of lawyers: those who have been Tom Corbin's partners; those who are Tom Corbin's partners; and those who will be Tom Corbin's partners." I remain on good terms with all of the lawyers with whom I have been associated, no small feat.

In the 20 years that I practiced, I handled civil and criminal jury trials and commercial litigation as well as an office practice, writing wills and trusts and doing real estate and commercial transactions. In 1992 I became a board certified wills, trusts and estates lawyer. The best advice I ever got about practicing law was from my Uncle Joe, my mother's brother who was a lawyer and a judge in Bay County, Florida: "Get to your office early and leave late. Stay in your office and answer your mail and return your phone calls the same day they come in. Take care of your clients' problems promptly and they'll send you more clients." Uncle Joe always was pretty hard-boiled. I always tried to follow that advice.

I have served as a Director of the Lee County Legal Aid Society; Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President and President of the Lee County Bar Association; Chair of the 20th Circuit Grievance Committee 20A; member of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee; member of the Fee Arbitration Committee; member of the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce; member of the Downtown Property Owners Association; Director of L.A.R.C., and Director of the Counseling and Growth Center, Inc. I taught business law at U of F during my senior year of law school and for several years at the Fort Myers branch of the University of South Florida after I came here to practice law.

As for hobbies, I lift weights, go to yoga classes regularly, and run on elliptical machines at my gym several times a week. I like to garden, work in the yard, and cook. Studying Spanish is also a hobby I've pursued since college. One of these days I'll get good at it. I also read. I prefer history and biographies. I don't fish, hunt, follow sports, or play golf. My idea of a good time is to try another case, research and write on an interesting legal issue, or learn something new.

I began work as a judge in January 1994. When I was in law school I thought I would like to be a judge but I never had an opportunity to pursue the idea until 1994. Since taking office I have worked in Charlotte, Hendry and Lee Counties. I had a family law docket in Charlotte and Lee Counties, for two years. I was next assigned to Hendry County for a year, February 1996 to February 1997. The docket in Hendry County was a general docket, handling everything a circuit judge does, although the county judge handled the juvenile and civil domestic violence cases. Since February 1997 I have been in Lee County. For the first two years here I had a docket of family law and a docket of criminal and civil domestic violence cases. For a year after February 1999 my assignment was felonies and domestic violence civil and family law cases. From February 2000 until May 2003 I was assigned to a docket of felonies and juvenile delinquency cases, and from May 2003 to July 2004 I was assigned to a docket of juvenile delinquency cases and back up judge for felony and civil trials in Lee and Hendry Counties. From July 2004 to June 30, 2006 my assignment was 19% of the civil cases and all of the guardianships, Baker Act and Marchman Act cases. Since July 1, 2006, I have been assigned 25% of the family and domestic violence civil cases and I also preside over the Felony Drug Court. I served as the Lee County Administrative Judge and Deputy Chief Judge of the Circuit from July 1999 until May 2006.

There is no shortage of work on any docket. Indeed, although I tried a lot of cases as a lawyer, I had no idea how much work a judge has to do and how large and relentless is the flow of the work. It never stops and keeping up with it is a challenge, to say nothing of the challenge posed by the decisions that must be made every day. Much of the work is done outside of the courtroom. Uncle Joe's advice comes in handy here too. The work of a judge is similar to that of a lawyer in that both try to determine the law in a given situation, but it is also very different. Lawyers must dig out the facts and present them to the court. The judge must decide the case based on what is presented, and if it is a jury trial, be sure the trial is fair for both sides. This position is also very isolating. I see a lot of lawyers and litigants in court, but always in the formal setting of the courtroom. I miss the informal contact with lawyers and clients that I had in private practice. On balance, however, this is a very interesting job with many new things to learn.