The Federal Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, was named on Friday, June 30 after the late Akerman partner, Florida Supreme Court Justice, and Eleventh Circuit Court Chief Judge, the Honorable Joseph Woodrow Hatchett. During his career, Judge Hatchett was a civil rights advocate who broke several barriers, including becoming one of the first Black judges appointed to the federal bench in the South.

The judges of the Northern District of Florida and the U.S. General Services Administration hosted a naming ceremony on Friday to honor Judge Hatchett. During the ceremony, many contemporaries and admirers of the civil rights pioneer, including colleagues from Akerman, family members, former law clerks, members of the judiciary, and members of Congress, spoke of how much he meant to them and how many lives he changed for the better.

Law360, which covered the event, quoted Akerman Chairman and CEO Scott Meyers: "It has been an extraordinary day to honor and recognize an extraordinary person. It is wonderful to see truly good things happen to a truly good and deserving person, and we are delighted, as a firm, to be a part of it."

"He was a mentor. He was a friend. He was a confidant. He was a counselor, and he really just made Akerman an extraordinary place to be and an extraordinary place to work."