Judge Lee Hawworth steps down as Law in Sarasota host; highlights foster-care, foreclosure reforms and access-to-justice work

Senior Judge Lee Hawworth said he will step down as moderator of the public-education program Law in Sarasota, reflecting on more than four decades of service and a series of reforms he helped lead in Sarasota and the 12th Judicial Circuit.

"I have decided to step down and pass the baton to two very talented and respected judges," Senior Judge Lee Haworth said on the program. He described the show’s purpose as informing the public about legal issues that affect daily life and showcasing problem-solving courts and pro bono lawyer work.

The change matters because Hayworth described several judge-led initiatives and system changes that affected local court operations and residents: the Family Safety Alliance to monitor foster-care performance, a mandatory mediation program for foreclosure cases that the judge said became a state model, and the courthouse self-help library that now bears his name.

On the show, Judges Andrea McHugh and Erica Quartermaine — both newly introduced as the program’s successors — said they will continue the educational mission. "It is our pleasure to be here, hosting Law in Sarasota and to take this esteemed position over for you," Judge Andrea McHugh said. Judge Erica Quartermaine added that the pair hopes to continue the program’s community education work.

Hayworth recounted major episodes from his judicial career. He said work on the child-welfare system followed the privatization of foster care under Governor Jeb Bush and led to creation of a community oversight group, the Family Safety Alliance, "authorized by statute," that brings citizens together across Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties to monitor caseloads, turnover and other service problems for dependent children.

He also discussed the court’s response to the foreclosure surge in the late 2000s, saying the circuit moved from about 400 foreclosure cases a year to roughly 4,000 at the peak. To address that, Hayworth said the court implemented a mandatory mediation program to force lender-borrower discussions and launched a litigation-quality initiative he called "Stop the Slop" to reduce sloppy pleadings from lenders. "We implemented a mandatory mediation program where we forced them to come into a mediation and talk about what the issues were and that got adopted as a state model," Hayworth said.

Hayworth described his earlier military legal service in the Army Reserve. He said his unit, the Judge Advocate General detachment he commanded, deployed to the Persian Gulf area around the 1990–1991 Gulf War to document atrocities and prepare reports for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

On access to justice, Hayworth noted the courthouse self-help library is named after him and said assisting pro se litigants has been a priority: "Trying to help people access justice is one of the projects that we judiciary, all of us, are engaged in." He urged judges to balance case-management demands with recognition of the human impact of judicial decisions and offered brief advice to new judges: "Always prepared."

Hayworth also warned about threats to judicial independence and urged respect for constitutionally based rulings even when unpopular. He cited the handling of confessions and Miranda protections in high-profile criminal matters as examples of judges applying constitutional rules despite community outrage.

Producers said the program could not list all of Hayworth’s awards during the episode but that the full list would be shown on screen. Judges McHugh and Quartermaine thanked Hayworth for mentorship and pledged to continue Law in Sarasota’s public-education work.

The program is produced with support from the Sarasota County Bar Association and a grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.