Wade Lee Hopping (August 12, 1931 – August 11, 2009) was a justice of the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

from 1968 to 1969. Appointed by Governor

Claude Kirk Claude Roy Kirk Jr. (January 7, 1926 – September 28, 2011) was an American businessman, politician, and Marine Corps veteran who served as the List of governors of Florida, 36th governor of Florida from 1967 to 1971. A member of the Republican ...

at the age of 37, Wade was the youngest justice to be appointed to the Court. He was defeated in an election for the seat the following year. Born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, Hopping received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Political Science from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1953, and an

L.L.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

/ J.D. from that university's

Moritz College of Law The Michael E. Moritz College of Law is the law school of Ohio State University, a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1891, the school is located in Drinko Hall on the main campus of the Ohio State University in C ...

in 1955. While a student at Ohio State, he became a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

fraternity.Makio Yearbook. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University, 1955, p. 154. He entered private practice in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, then moved to Florida in 1958 to serve as a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Florida Supreme Court justice

T. Frank Hobson Tolbert Frank Hobson (August 1, 1900 – August 3, 1966) was a justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1948 to 1962. Hobson was born in Hagler, Alabama in 1900 but grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. His father, W.A. Hobson, founded the Hobson M ...

. After a brief return to private practice in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

from 1960 to 1961, Hopping again clerked on the Florida Supreme Court, this time for Chief Justice

William Glenn Terrell William Glenn Terrell (July 24, 1878 – January 12, 1964) was a state legislator and justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1923 to 1964. During the time of his tenure on the Florida Supreme Court, he served as Associate Justice and as chief j ...

, from 1962 to 1964. Hopping became a legislative assistant to Governor Kirk in 1967, leading to Kirk's appointment of Hopping to the Florida Supreme Court the following year. After leaving the court, Hopping remained in private practice in Tallahassee where he founded the law firm of Hopping Green & Sams. He specialized in the areas of environmental and land use law, often representing utilities and corporate interests in efforts to protect property rights and engage in development activity in compliance with land use restrictions and environmental protections. Hopping died in

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

of esophageal cancer.

Sources

*"Former Justice Hopping dies", ''The Florida Bar News'' (September 1, 2009), p. 3.
Wade L. Hopping was a gentleman lobbyist"
''The Tampa Bay Times'' (August 11, 2009)

''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...

'' (August 12, 2009).
Wade Hopping Memoriam"

References

1931 births 2009 deaths Justices of the Supreme Court of Florida Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni Politicians from Dayton, Ohio Lawyers from Dayton, Ohio 20th-century American judges Florida Republicans {{Florida-state-judge-stub