John D. Couriel

John Couriel
Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 1, 2026
Preceded byCarlos G. Muñiz
Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 1, 2020
Appointed byRon DeSantis
Preceded byBarbara Lagoa
Personal details
BornJohn Daniel Couriel
(1978-03-23) March 23, 1978
Miami, Florida, U.S.
PartyRepublican
EducationHarvard University (AB, JD)

John Daniel Couriel (born March 23, 1978) is an American lawyer and jurist.[1] He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 1, 2020. He is currently serving as the 58th chief justice of Florida since July 1, 2026.

Early life and education

Couriel's parents emigrated from Cuba in the 1960s, with his father immigrating as part of Operation Pedro Pan. He grew up in Miami[2][3] and attended graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in 1996.[4] He earned the rank of Eagle Scout as a member of the South Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America.[5]

He received a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2000, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2003.[1][6]

Career

Couriel began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge John D. Bates of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Following his clerkship, Couriel went into private practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy.[2][7] In 2009, he returned to Florida as an assistant United States attorney for the U.S. Southern District of Florida.[1][7] In 2013, he joined Kobre & Kim in Miami as a partner, specializing in financial services and asset recovery, with an emphasis on representing Latin American clients.[7]

Couriel unsuccessfully ran for the Florida Senate's 35th District in 2012 where he lost to incumbent Democrat Gwen Margolis 62-38%, and for the Florida House of Representatives' 114th District in 2016, where he lost to Democrat Daisy Baez 51-49%.[8][9]

Couriel applied to become U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida in 2017, but President Donald Trump appointed Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan. Sources claim Couriel had fallen out of favor for writing in former Florida Governor Jeb Bush instead of voting for Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Couriel had told the Los Angeles Times that "our Republican base hasn't known quite what to do with Donald Trump.”[10]

Florida Supreme Court

On May 26, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Couriel as the 90th justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, replacing Barbara Lagoa, who was appointed by President Trump to serve on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.[11][12] Couriel's investiture ceremony did not occur until October 7, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][13] He was unanimously elected by his fellow justices as the 58th chief justice of the Supreme Court of Florida on April 16, 2026; he was sworn in on July 1, 2026.[14][15]

Couriel has a conservative jurisprudence following textualism.[16] He summarized his judicial approach at the 2025 Florida Bar Convention:

We’re always applying the tools of construction, we’re always looking at context as a determinative to meaning, and we don't turn to sources extraneous to text and context, we engage with the text, and context in history, to determine what the original public meaning of the statute was.[17]

Couriel wrote the unanimous opinion in City of Tallahassee v. Florida Police Benevolent Association, Inc.,[18] holding that the victim confidentiality provision of the Florida Constitution does not guarantee a generalized right of anonymity to crime victims or preclude the city from disclosing officers' names and identities to the media.[19][20]

While serving as a judge, Couriel joined a national panel to review law school accreditation in March 2026. Couriel's appointment followed a January 2026 decision of the Florida Supreme Court to remove the American Bar Association as Florida's sole law school accrediting body.[21]

Awards and honors

Couriel was honored with the Outstanding Eagle Scout Award in 2021 by the National Eagle Scout Association.[22]

Personal life

Couriel is married to his wife, Rebecca L. Toonkel, M.D., and they have two children.[2]

Couriel is a native speaker of Spanish.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Justice John D. Couriel". Florida Supreme Court. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Hon. John D. Couriel". The Federalist Society. September 8, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  3. ↑ Ash, Jim (December 12, 2024). "Justice Couriel draws inspiration from legacy of service at Impact Award celebration". The Florida Bar. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Alumnus John D. Couriel '96 Elected Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court". Columbus High School. April 16, 2026.
  5. 1 2 Blankenship, Gary (October 8, 2021). "Couriel ceremonially sworn in as a justice of the Florida Supreme Court". The Florida Bar.
  6. ↑ Richardson, Lynda (October 16, 1999). "The Mentor Conservatives Turn to for Inspiration; A Gadfly and Confessor To a Harvard Lineage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 "Law, Politics, and Friendship: Lunch with Ambassador Katherine Tai and Florida Supreme Court Justice John Couriel". iop.harvard.edu. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Justice John D. Couriel | Voting for Justice". www.votingforjustice.com. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  9. ↑ "John On The Issues - John Couriel". John Couriel. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  10. ↑ Caputo, Marc (September 21, 2017). "Sources: Family court judge tops list to fill U.S. attorney post in Miami". Politico. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  11. ↑ Wilson, Kirby (May 26, 2020). "Ron DeSantis Announces two More Appointments to the Florida Supreme Court". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  12. ↑ Downey, Renzo (May 26, 2026). "Gov. DeSantis taps John Couriel, Renatha Francis to Florida Supreme Court". Florida Politics. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  13. ↑ Downey, Renzo (October 7, 2021). "In pandemic-delayed ceremony, Florida Supreme Court welcomes John Couriel". Florida Politics. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  14. ↑ Perry, Mitch (April 16, 2026). "John Couriel elected as next chief justice of Florida Supreme Court". Florida Phoenix. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Florida Supreme Court elects John Couriel as next chief justice". The Florida Bar. April 16, 2026. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Keynote Speech: Elon Musk And The Law". , Stetson Law Review Symposium 2023. Stetson Law Review. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  17. ↑ Ash, Jim (August 9, 2025). "Justice Couriel praises Florida's criminal bar, defends textualist approach". The Florida Bar. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  18. ↑ "City of Tallahassee v. Florida Police Benevolent Association, Inc". November 30, 2023 – via Justia.
  19. ↑ Burlew, Jeff (November 30, 2023). "Florida Supreme Court rules Marsy's Law privacy doesn't apply to police officers". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  20. ↑ Zizo, Christie (November 30, 2023). "Marsy's Law doesn't protect anyone's name, including law enforcement, Florida Supreme Court rules". WKMG. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  21. ↑ Killian, Mark D. (March 10, 2026). "Justice Couriel joins national panel reviewing law school accreditation". The Florida Bar. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  22. ↑ NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award Recipients. NESA. December 2025. p. 29.
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