Phyllis Kotey
Education:
- M.A., University of Florida, Public Administration, 1989
- J.D., University of Florida, 1985
- B.A., University of Florida, 1981
Phyllis Williams Kotey, senior judge, is a Clinical Professor of Law at Florida International University (FIU) College of Law in Miami, FL. She began teaching at FIU in 2004 after a distinguished record of service to the bench and bar. She is Director of the Externship and Pro Bono Programs and has facilitated student initiated pro bono legal service in Colombia, South America and around the country including New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. She served as Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and developed the Delinquency, Educational Advocacy and Dependency Clinics at FIU.
Kotey was selected as an FIU Top Scholar in 2014 and was selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for the 2012 – 2013 academic year in Accra Ghana. In Ghana, she conducted research in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Access to Justice. She continues to work with judges and court administrators in creating and maintaining bias-free courtrooms and legal systems nationally and internationally, including the Ukraine, South Korea and most recently Athens, Greece.
Prior to becoming a judge, Kotey served as an assistant state attorney specializing in capital sexual battery cases and serving as chief of the County Court Division. She served as the Associate Dean of the Florida Judicial College. She specializes in the areas of judicial ethics, professionalism, criminal law, criminal procedure, and trial practice.
Kotey is a member of the Diversity Committee of the ABA’s Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division (GPSolo), a commissioner for the ABA’s Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) and formerly a member of the ABA Judicial Division Committee on Ethics and Professionalism. She served as chair and vice-chair of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Ethics Advisory Commission and as a member of its Election Subcommittee. She also served on the National Advisory Board for the Committees on Bias in the Courts and the Florida Supreme Court’s Commission on Bias and Florida Court Education Council. She served as chair, vice-chair and treasurer of the Florida Bar’s Criminal Law Executive Council. She was also Vice Chair of the Florida Bar Code and Rules Committee and a member of the Juvenile Rules Committee. She is a member of numerous bar associations and has served as president of the Josiah T. Walls and the T.J. Reddick Bar Associations. Currently, she serves as the president of The American Caribbean Law Initiative (ACLI), a membership organization of educational institutions in the Caribbean and the United States (US) She also serves as a hearing officer for Title IX violations for FIU. She is currently chair of the faculty council for the National Judicial College (NJC) – an organization devoted the education of judge at the state, national and international levels. She most recently taught an NJC course in Athens Greece on Judicial Renaissance and was lead faculty in the college’s preeminent new course entitled “How to Build an Antiracist Court” in Montgomery, AL.
Kotey is the author of numerous articles regarding criminal justice and judicial ethics, and has been the recipient of numerous awards. Since 2020, she has been awarded the Difference Maker Award by the American Bar Association’s GP Solo Committee, the Faculty Professionalism Award by the Florida Bar and the V. Robert Payant Excellence in Teaching Award by the National Judicial College. Most recently, she has appeared as a guest on MSNBC’s Jose Diaz Balart Report, Ana Cabrera Reports and Katy Tur Reports.