The Hon. Terry P. Lewis (Ret.) served as a judge for the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Lewis was appointed to the bench by former Governor Lawton Chiles in 1998. He retired at the conclusion of his term in 2019 and became of counsel at Messer Caparello.
The 2nd Judicial Circuit encompasses Franklin County, Gadsden County, Jefferson County, Leon County, Liberty County, and Wakulla County. Lewis acquired national attention for his role in overseeing the electoral recount during the United States presidential election in 2000.
Prior to his appointment, Lewis was a judge for the Leon County Court, a position to which he was elected in 1988. Before that, he spent time as an attorney in private practice, handling civil litigation, criminal appeals, and family law matters as a partner at Oven, Gwynn & Lewis.
Lewis earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. He then completed a J.D. at Florida State University College of Law in 1976.
His memberships have included the board of the Mystery Writers of America (Florida Chapter) and the advisory board of the Florida Book Awards.
He was named Judge of the Year by the Florida Legal Education Association (1993, 2013) and Trial Judge of the Year by the Tallahassee Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (2000).
Lewis was born in Live Oak, Florida, and raised in Perry, Florida. His father was a subcontractor in the construction industry, and his mother was a schoolteacher. When not presiding over legal proceedings, Lewis enjoys playing tennis and writing legal thriller novels. Three of his novels have been published: Conflict of Interest (1997), Privileged Information (2003), Delusional (2013), and Incognito (2021).