Get to know Justice Meredith Sasso on the Center for Professionalism podcast ‘Never Contemplated’
As a young girl, Supreme Court Justice Meredith Sasso would spend afternoons in the Florida Capitol, writing pretend bills to present to her father, a legislative analyst.
“So, I very much grew up ingrained in government,” Sasso recalls.
The Tallahassee native discusses an otherwise typical childhood, extraordinary career, and deep commitment public service in the latest episode of “Never Contemplated.”
Justice Meredith Sasso
The popular podcast series is hosted by Administrative Law Judge Hetal Desai. Produced by the Bar’s Henry Latimer Center for Professionalism, it takes its name from an 1872 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that asserts the U.S. Constitution “never contemplated” women lawyers.
Sasso “never contemplated” becoming a lawyer, at least not when she majored in public relations and political science as a University of Florida undergraduate.
Going to law school didn’t seem appealing to someone who grew up in a state capital determined to chart her own course, Sasso said.
“I’m a bit of a contrarian, and there’s a lot of attorneys and law-adjacent people in Tallahassee,” Sasso said. “I was always very passionate about civic engagement.”
Sasso had all the ingredients to succeed in a legal career.
She learned the value of discipline and teamwork through high school athletics — volleyball, and later, rowing.
“With any physical sport, getting used to sitting in discomfort, I think I developed a pretty high pain tolerance,” she said.
Her ancestors, who fled an authoritative regime in Cuba and eagerly served in the U.S. military, taught her the importance of sacrifice, and to venerate the American judicial system.
“So, I pretty quickly drew the conclusion that the rule of law is unique in this country, and what makes our country great,” she said.
Graduating high school so close to 911 only strengthened her commitment to serve, she said.
She grew fascinated with crisis communications and dreamed of one day serving as White House press secretary, after watching the Bush Administration respond to the attack.
“I wanted to be Ari Fleischer when I grew up,” she said.
But after a few internships with public relations firms, Sasso had a change of heart. At the time, she was serving as a residential advisor for the university.
She went back to her friends in student housing — “that was my extracurricular activity, pretty nerdy” — and announced she was going to apply to the University of Florida law school.
“What really appealed to me about advocating was working through puzzles, you know, applying rules to hard situations,” she said.
Now, she can’t imagine choosing any other path, she said.
“I think I would have missed the concreteness that law offers, and just the rich legal traditions, and the philosophical underpinnings of the law, which was missing in public relations.”
Sasso graduated law school in 2008, at the height of the Great Recession. She was amazed the partners at a Stuart law firm didn’t rescind her first job offer.
One of two associates, she was initially assigned to appellate work, but rotated to other partners in other practice areas. The firm was fortunate to have seasoned professionals, she said.
“I remember they took me to an attorney fee [dispute] right away, so I could see what it means to defend your time, in court, under oath,” she said. “I can assure you my billing got real tight after that.”
She eventually moved to Orlando to be closer to her husband. She became a guardian ad litem, representing the best interests of abused and neglected children in court.
During her first court appearance, she became momentarily flustered by an unfamiliar aspect of the law. The judge imparted some wisdom, she said.
“He emphasized how important it was to treat these cases like any case [with paying clients],” Sasso said. “It’s one of those roles that I encourage every member of a firm to do. They just can’t do it without volunteer support.”
In 2016, Sasso was recruited by then Gov. Rick Scott to serve as chief deputy general counsel. She represented state agencies and helped the Scott Administration vet candidates for judicial appointment. It was a welcome change from working in private sector, she said. She calls Scott, now a U.S. senator, “a textbook servant leader.”
“That opportunity demonstrated to me that a career in public service was possible and very gratifying,” she said.
Her competitive nature “completely flipped.”
“I became very much motivated by duty,” she said. “It’s just a very gratifying way to go through life, serving others.”
Scott rewarded her passion for service in 2019 when he appointed her to serve as a judge on Fifth District Court of Appeal.
Working in the Scott administration gave her a unique perspective, she said.
“Because I was vetting a lot of judicial candidates, I had a lot of time to think about the role of judges…and how that plays out in practice,” she said. “When I started the job, I was very confident and clear in what my role was. From there, it was just executing on that idea.”
Sasso befriended fellow Fifth DCA Judge Jamie Grosshans. The two now serve together on the Supreme Court. Sasso cherishes her friendship with other women judges.
“Oh my gosh, I love my sisters in law,” she quips. “We have such a wonderful community on the district courts of appeal.”
In January of this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis recommissioned Sasso to serve on the newly created Sixth District Court of Appeal. Sasso had previously served on a Supreme Court committee that recommended adding the new state appellate court. Her fellow Sixth DCA judges elected her to serve as its first chief judge, a responsibility she didn’t get to fulfill for very long.
In May, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed her Florida’s 93rd Supreme Court Justice.
Asked what projects or professional service she would advise lawyers to consider, Sasso doesn’t hesitate to suggest rules committees.
Many court committees do important work, Sasso said, but rules committees are special.
“What the rules committees do is so concrete, and so needed, and has an immediate impact,” she said. “It requires the best people to come together and decide what is really legal policy.”
