Alan O. Forst
2013 - Present
2027
12
Alan O. Forst is a judge of the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal. He assumed office on March 7, 2013. His current term ends on January 5, 2027.
Forst ran for re-election for judge of the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal. He won in the retention election on November 3, 2020.
Forst completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Alan O. Forst was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Forst received his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in 1980 and his J.D. from the Columbus School of Law of the Catholic University of America in 1985.[1][2]
Forst began his career in Washington, D.C., serving in the Departments of Justice and Labor as counsel to the vice chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board and as special assistant/counsel to Chairman Clarence Thomas at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Forst was later an associate and partner at the law firm Crary Buchanan in Stuart, Florida. He was chair of the Reemployment Assistance Appeals Commission (formerly the Unemployment Appeals Commission) from 2001 to 2013.[1][3]
Elections
2020
Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
Alan O. Forst was retained to the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal on November 3, 2020 with 64.1% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
64.1
|
1,148,005 | ||
No |
35.9
|
641,645 | |||
Total Votes |
1,789,650 | ||||
|
|
Campaign finance
2014
See also: Florida judicial elections, 2014
Forst was retained to the Fourth District Court of Appeal with 75.1 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014.[4]
Bar evaluation
The Florida Bar conducted a poll of its members regarding the appellate judges up for retention in 2014. 79% of respondents recommended Forst for retention.[5]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Alan O. Forst completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Forst's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I have had the honor of serving on the Fourth District Court of Appeal for over 7 1/2 years. Our work at the court is on three judge panels. I was nominated for the court by a nine-member judicial nominating commission and appointed by the governor.
Activities: past President of the Martin County Bar Association; Originator and Chair of the Bar's Constitution Week Program, which was honored by the Martin County Schools in 2020 with the Commissioner's Business Recognition Award;
Board of Directors of Molly's House; presented with a special honor in 2015 by the Broward County Bar Association for my participation in that group's programs;
Past Chair of the 2000-member Florida Bar Labor & Employment Law Section Faculty: Advanced Judicial Studies College, Florida Circuit Judge Conference, and Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth Circuit Bench-Bar Conference; Executive council of Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section; Member of Florida Bar Appellate Rules Committee and (2012-18) Constitutional Judiciary Committee.
Professional Positions: See https://www.4dca.org/Judges/Judge-Alan-O.-Forst
- We are prohibited from campaigning.
- We are prohibited from campaigning.
- We are prohibited from campaigning.
We are prohibited from campaigning or expressing positions on matters of public policy.
My parents are 88 and 86 years old. They've been married for 65 years. Consciously or by reflex, I strive to follow their example as a father, husband, professional, citizen, and friend.
My wife of 34 years is a registered nurse with four board certifications, including critical care and Chemo. She has recently attended to Covid 19 patients. In her "spare" time, she serves as the Vice Chair of Florida's Board of Nursing. It is humbling to live with a true hero.
I was with my mother at an S&H green stamp redemption store that had a display of small black&white televisions that were turned on. The day was November 22, 1963 and I was nearly five years old.
I was a newspaper delivery boy as a pre-teen. I held that job until my family moved from Buffalo to Chicago (out of the freezer and into ... the freezer). I also was a baby sitter and summer camp counselor and canoe tripper during my teens.
Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. Historical fiction with a strong dose of philosophy that imparts lessons relevant to current times.
Perfect Day (Lou Reed)
I admire all of my colleagues, past and present, on the Fourth District Court of Appeal. They are conscientious with respect to every case that comes before them and, although there is an occasional difference of opinion, the level of collegiality and professionalism never wanes.
Empathy is an important quality for a human being, as is respect for and commitment to the rule of law. Legal professionalism starts with the Golden Rule-treat others as you would like to be treated.
The Florida Constitution requires appellate court judges and justices to stand for "merit retention" soon after their appointment and every six years thereafter. I was appointed in March 2013, retained in November 2014 and on the ballot in November 2020, with voters of the six counties covered by the Fourth District determining, yes or no, whether I should be retained for another six year term.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rick Scott, 45th Governor of Florida, "Governor Scott Appoints Alan Forst to the Fourth District Court of Appeal," March 7, 2013
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 14, 2020
- ↑ Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, "Judge Alan O. Forst," accessed November 24, 2015
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate Listing for 2014 General Election," accessed June 13, 2014
- ↑ The Florida Bar, "2014 Merit Retention Poll," accessed September 9, 2014
| ||||||||||
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First District |
Joseph Lewis • L. Clayton Roberts • Ross L. Bilbrey • Lori S. Rowe • Stephanie Williams Ray • Timothy D. Osterhaus • Susan Kelsey • Thomas D. "Bo" Winokur • Robert E. Long Jr. • M. Kemmerly Thomas • Rachel Nordby • Adam Tanenbaum • | ||
| Second District | Stevan Northcutt • Nelly Khouzam • Patricia Kelly • Darryl Casanueva • Craig Villanti • Morris Silberman • Edward LaRose • Daniel H. Sleet • Anthony K. Black • Robert J. Morris Jr. (Florida Court of Appeals judge) • Matthew C. Lucas • Andrea Teves Smith • Susan Rothstein-Youakim • J. Andrew Atkinson • Suzanne Labrit • | ||
| Third District |
Kevin M. Emas • Ivan F. Fernandez • Bronwyn C. Miller • Monica Gordo • Fleur J. Lobree • Thomas W. Logue • Edwin A. Scales, III • | ||
| Fourth District |
Robert Gross • Cory Ciklin • Martha Warner • Melanie May • Dorian Damoorgian • Burton C. Conner • Jonathan D. Gerber • Spencer D. Levine • Mark W. Klingensmith • Alan O. Forst • Edward Artau • Jeffrey T. Kuntz • | ||
| Fifth District |
Eric Eisnaugle • Brian D. Lambert • Frederic Rand Wallis • John M. Harris • Norma S. Lindsey • Adrian Soud • Harvey Jay III • Scott D. Makar • James A. Edwards (Florida) • Paige Kilbane • Joe Boatwright • Jordan Pratt • John MacIver • | ||
| Sixth District |
Jay Cohen • John K. Stargel • Keith F. White • Daniel Traver • Jared Smith • Paetra Brownlee • Mary Alice Nardella • Joshua Mize • Carrie Ann Wozniak • | ||
Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida
State courts:
Florida Supreme Court • Florida District Courts of Appeal • Florida Circuit Court • Florida County Court
State resources:
Courts in Florida • Florida judicial elections • Judicial selection in Florida
 |
State of Florida Tallahassee (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |