[RPPTL-constructionlaw] Sad News

Tue Jul 14 14:15:07 PDT 2026

Bruce -
Great email.  Thank you.  I too recall being "voluntold" to assist him.  As such a gentleman, he made me even feel like it was my idea.
This is a great loss of a gentleman and excellent lawyer.  Hopefully, his qualities are now being passed on to young lawyers joining our profession as there are too many loud examples of the opposite.

Paul 
Paul S. Martin, Esq. Law Offices of Paul S. Martin & Associates, P.A. 2134 Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood, FL  33020 USA 
Phone 954.923.4604 Telefax 954.923.6545 
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    On Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 10:03:50 AM EDT, RPPTL constructionlaw <constructionlaw at lists.flabarrpptl.org> wrote:   

Good morning, folks –

I have the sad duty to report that Fred Dudley, one of the real legends of Florida’s construction bar, passed away on July 13 at age 81. I got word last night from Fred’s law partner, Shawn Heath.

Fred was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1968 after graduating from Stetson University College of Law and served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1982 to 1986. He then served in the Florida Senate from 1986 to 2000, where he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, and as Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He was also instrumental in the creation of Florida Gulf Coast University in the early 1990s. After his time in the legislature, he continued practicing in Tallahassee with several firms eventually forming his own firm, practicing both in construction and regulatory and licensing law.

Fred’s impact on our practice was particularly profound. In 1989, Fred was the sponsor and principal drafter of a major re-write of what we now know as the Construction Lien Law and for the remainder of his time in the Senate he sponsored nearly every significant change to the lien law. There probably is not a single person who had more influence on the present lien law than Fred. He was also involved in the creation of Board Certification in Construction Law and served several terms on the Certification Committee including as its chair. And it is no surprise that he was one of the early recipients of the Construction Law Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

I had the good fortune of serving on the Certification Committee with Fred after he encouraged me to apply and will never forget in one of our first meetings (if not the first) hearing Fred say over the phone, “well, I think Bruce Partington should write an essay for the next exam.” Some years earlier he had “voluntold” me to do a one-hour section CLE on practical considerations in construction contract drafting. But that was kind of how Fred did it, gently pulling folks into greater involvement by perceiving what he thought they could do and might be fairly good at. Fred was unfailingly kind and respectful with a quick wit and great sense of humor. Yet he also possessed a fierce intellect that could see quickly the practical implications of an argument or a statutory revision. He was a friend to so many. He will be deeply missed. I am, though, thankful that our own Young Lawyers Subcommittee has recently submitted for publication in the Florida Bar Journal a history of the lien law which features interviews with Fred and another true legend, Larry Leiby, and look forward to seeing it published.

Farewell, my friend. I wish you fair winds and following seas until we meet again. You’ve lived well and generously and earned your rest. We’re all better for knowing you.

Bruce D. Partington  | Partner 
D: 448.239.6465  | M: 850.982.3875 
bpartington at joneswalker.com

Jones Walker LLP
13 Palafox Place, Ste 200
Pensacola, FL 32502
joneswalker.com

Board Certified in Construction Law by The Florida Bar

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