ORLANDO, FLA. – Bob LeBlanc, a successful criminal defense lawyer in Orlando, Fla. who grew up in Presque Isle, has begun serving on a judicial seat on the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court bench, which includes Orange and Osceola counties.
LeBlanc, who was born in Quebec and moved south to Aroostook County in grade school, won election Sept. 5, 2006 for the seat in central Florida. He officially took the bench Jan. 2, 2007 for a 6-year term.
“I’ve always wanted to be a judge from day one,” LeBlanc said. “I just thought I should be knowledgeable enough and experienced enough before I took the bench.”
LeBlanc has been a criminal defense lawyer for 17 years, since 1989 when he began his career at the Public Defender’s Office and subsequently worked at a private law firm before forming his own firm with a partner in 1996. He was sworn in as a U.S. citizen March 28, 2006.
While LeBlanc attended grade and middle schools in Maine, he graduated from Bradford College in Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy in 1980. He spent his junior year abroad at the American College in Paris. He obtained his law degree from the University of Miami Law School in Florida. In 1984, he married Joan Schuler at the Rollins College chapel in Winter Park, just north of Orlando.
“I am very proud to be able to serve the citizens of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, where I have lived for 20 years,” he said. LeBlanc was assigned to take the bench in the circuit criminal division.
Although LeBlanc is proud of his legal accomplishments, his fondness for Maine where he owns property and has family, and the values he learned picking potatoes on local farms remains strong.
“I learned how to get up early in the morning,” he said. “I learned the value of hard work and being friendly and generous. Those values are still in existence.”
LeBlanc’s parents, Paul and Aurella LeBlanc, still live in Maine.
In central Florida, LeBlanc is a founder of Orange County Teen Court, a voluntary diversion program from Juvenile Court, and the Teen Alternatives Advisory Board, which raises money for the program. He is the president of the Lake Eola Heights Neighborhood Association and a board member and executive committee member of the Mennello Museum of American Art. He is a past chair of the board of trustees of the museum.
LeBlanc said he is pleased to be taking the criminal bench where he will have a familiar beginning.
“I just want to be a fair, impartial and courteous jurist,” he said.
