Chief Judge Daniel H. Sleet

Judge Sleet earned a B.A. degree in History from Furman University in 1984. While at Furman, he earned First Team All-Southern Conference and Associated Press 1-AA All American honors as an offensive lineman. He received his J.D. degree from Cumberland School of Law in 1987 where he was awarded a scholarship his third year as Director of Trial Advocacy.  During his last two years of law school, he served as a Magistrate for the City of Birmingham, Alabama. During his last year of law school, he was a member of the 1987 ATLA national championship mock trial team.

Following law school, Judge Sleet served as an assistant state attorney for the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office from 1987-1991. During his tenure as an assistant state attorney, he tried over fifty (50) jury trials including capital murders, RICO, drug trafficking, and violent felonies.

In 1991, Judge Sleet joined the Tampa law firm of Barr, Murman, & Tonelli as an associate attorney practicing in the area of personal injury defense.  He tried over thirty (30) jury trials. In 1998, he was unanimously admitted to partnership and developed a clientele of billion dollar and multi-million dollar corporations, insurance companies and governmental agencies. He was certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a mediator and earned an A.V. rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

In 2005, Governor Bush appointed Judge Sleet to the 13th Judicial Circuit Court. He was reelected to the circuit court without opposition in 2008 and served until December 2012 when Governor Rick Scott appointed him to the Second District Court.  Judge Sleet is the chair of the Legislative Committee of the Second District Court.       

Judge Sleet is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and served as president of the Tampa Bay Chapter in 2017.  He received the 2017 Jurist of the Year Award from the Tampa Bay ABOTA Chapter and the 2021 Jurist of the Year Award from the Florida ABOTA Chapter.   Judge Sleet  has been an Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at the University of Tampa since 2016.  

Judge Sleet is married and has two daughters. He enjoys reading, boating, travel and spending time with his family.