Justice, Florida Supreme Court
On January 14, 2026, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Justice Adam S. Tanenbaum to be the 94th justice of the Supreme Court of Florida.
Justice Tanenbaum served on the First District Court of Appeal from 2019 to 2026 before joining the Supreme Court.
Before his appointment, Justice Tanenbaum served as general counsel for the Florida House of Representatives (2016–2019). In that position, he provided legal advice and counsel to the Speaker of the House and to House members and staff regarding matters of legislative interest. He also advised House members and senior staff regarding ethics laws, public records requirements, House rules, and issues requiring constitutional or statutory interpretation. He also had primary responsibility for handling litigation affecting the House. Previously, Judge Tanenbaum served as general counsel for the Florida Department of State (2015–2016) and chief deputy solicitor general at the Florida Department of Legal Affairs (2014–2015). He moved with his family to Tallahassee from Tampa in 2014.
Judge Tanenbaum grew up in Pinellas County and was student body president and valedictorian at Seminole High School in Seminole, Florida. He spent most of his professional career living in Tampa and Orlando. He has tried jury and non-jury cases and briefed and argued civil and criminal appeals in state and federal courts. He has worked as an assistant federal public defender in Tampa and Orlando (2008–2010; 2012–2014) and as an assistant public defender in Orlando (2005–2006). He practiced as a private complex commercial litigator in Tampa, Orlando, and New York City, including during several stints at Carlton Fields, P.A. (1997–2001; 2001–2002; 2003–2005; 2010–2011). He also taught complex litigation as an adjunct professor at Stetson University College of Law (2001; 2007). He now teaches a spring course on legislative power as an adjunct professor at Florida State University College of Law.
In 1993 Judge Tanenbaum earned a bachelor of arts degree (major in political science and minor in economics), with honors, from the University of Florida, where he was co-valedictorian; recognized with awards for Outstanding Male Leader and Four-Year Scholar; and inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Florida Blue Key, and the UF Hall of Fame. He graduated cum laude with a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1996 and was selected to be his section’s commencement speaker. He started his legal career as a law clerk to then-U.S. District Judge Stanley Marcus in the Southern District of Florida.
President, Nova Southeastern University Federalist Society Chapter
America 250: A Conversation with Justice Tanenbaum
Palm Beach and Treasure Coast Lawyer Chapters
Palm City, FLState Court Docket Watch: Thompson v. DeSantis
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