By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Judge Peter Fay, center, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, and recipient of this year's Lex Christi, Lex Amoris award, poses with Attorney Herbert Russomanno, right, last year's recipient, and William Mulligan, president of the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Attorney Herbert Russomanno, right, last year's recipient of the Lex Christi, Lex Amoris award, presents the plaque to this year's recipient, Judge Peter Fay, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit. The reception followed the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild Red Mass at Gesu Church Oct. 26.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Judge Peter Fay and his wife, Pat, far right, pray the Our Father alongside fellow judges and attorneys during the Oct. 26 Red Mass of the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild.
MIAMI | Judge Peter Fay joked he didn’t recognize himself in the praises proffered by a fellow attorney, Herman Russomanno.
“I really wish I can live up to all those words Herman was saying about me,” said this year’s recipient of the Lex Christi, Lex Amoris (Law of Christ, Law of Love) award from the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild.
The award is presented each year at the guild’s Red Mass, whose name comes from the color of the vestments worn by the presiders. The tradition of the Red Mass dates back to the 13th century. Its purpose is to invoke the wisdom of the Holy Spirit upon legal professionals as they go about their work in the world.
The Miami Red Mass is celebrated at Gesu Church, where many Catholic legal professionals attend Mass on weekdays and holy days of obligation. The church’s downtown location is convenient to their offices and courthouses.
Gesu’s pastor, Jesuit Father Eduardo Álvarez, serves as spiritual advisor to the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild. The group meets at Gesu the third Friday of every month after the noon Mass.
Judge Fay, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, is the sixth judge to receive the Lex Christi, Lex Amoris award, and the eighth attorney to be honored since the guild established it in 2009. Russomanno was the 2015 recipient.
He praised Judge Fay as “a man of faith” and “unblemished character” whom he has known for 39 years. He called him a teacher and scholar, a “judge’s judge,” a man of excellent character and absolute integrity with a passion for justice, an understanding heart, and sympathy for humanity.
“Judge, you possess all these virtues,” Russomanno said. “You inspire all of us to do good.”
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
William Mulligan, president of the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild, welcomes members to the reception that followed the Red Mass at Gesu Church Oct. 26.
Judge Fay responded that he was “honored, humbled and undeserving.” He noted that he was not raised a Catholic but became one at age 41, thanks largely to his wife, Pat.
He praised his wife and his parents for providing good role models. He also recalled the advice his father gave him many years ago: “It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and seconds to destroy it.”
The 87-year-old jurist is a native New Yorker who graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park and obtained his law degree from the University of Florida in 1956. He worked as an attorney in private practice in Miami until 1970, when he was appointed U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. He was appointed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1976 and took on senior status in 1994.
“They’re a very powerful court. They have a lot of major, landmark cases,” said Judge Celeste Muir, who serves in the Probate Division of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Florida. She said she attended the Mass to honor Judge Fay “for his decades of service to Miami” and the court.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Judge Peter Fay, senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, speaks after receiving the 2016 Lex Christi, Lex Amoris award from the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild.
Judge Fay also helped establish St. Thomas University’s School of Law back in 1984 — one of only two accredited Catholic law schools south of Georgetown University’s in Washington, D.C.
His advice to young lawyers following in his footsteps was simple: “Play by the rules.”
Miami Auxiliary Bishop Peter Baldacchino, main celebrant of this year’s Red Mass, also shared some advice with the judges and attorneys who attended.
“The Church is you; Christ in your workplace has to be made present through you,” he said in his homily. “Nowadays, this often means to pass through the narrow gate of rejection, of being despised, of losing a job because you are being driven out of a law firm because of your beliefs, or because your understanding of marriage does not match the commonly accepted one.”
“Jesus Christ did not promise us a fancy lifestyle but a cross,” Bishop Baldacchino said. “Be supportive of the truth, courageous and honest. Enter through the narrow gate. Do not be fooled by other doors, wide, open, spacious, well-lit and with lots of applause. They will not give you happiness here, and will in the long run be a source of further pain and injustice.”
FIND OUT MORE
Those interested in joining the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild can contact the law firm of Espinosa | Trueba PL, 1428 Brickell Ave., Suite 100, Miami, FL 33131; 305-854-0900. The group is in the process of updating their website, miamicatholiclawyers.com.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Judge Peter Fay, second from left, poses with St. Thomas University Law School Dean Alfredo Garcia, Provost Irma Becerra, and son Michael Fay. Michael serves on the board of St. Thomas University, and Judge Fay was one of the founders of its law school.
