County Judge Andrea Totten on Circuit Judge Terence Perkins’s Retirement: ‘He Will be Profoundly Missed’

Note: this is the first of two articles marking the retirement today of Circuit Judge Terence Perkins.

By Andrea Totten

Judge Perkins became a mentor to me long before I became a judge. I first met him around 2011, when I left the State Attorney’s Office to take a position as a staff attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit. I was assigned to the Courthouse Annex in Daytona Beach and assisted any judge in the courthouse that needed it, but primarily my assignments came from the circuit civil division.

I still remember the first time I was “summoned” to Judge Perkins’s chambers. I was incredibly nervous because I did not yet know that Judge Perkins and his wonderful Judicial Assistant, Susan Price, are two of the kindest, most humble people I would ever meet. I was scared because I knew nothing about civil law at that point and had no confidence that I could be of use to a circuit civil judge–even more so because this was Terry Perkins. The Terry Perkins of Smith, Hood, Perkins.




I could not have been more intimidated. Of course, I met the polite, welcoming, calm, Judge Perkins that I know today. He knew that I was coming from the State Attorney’s Office and had no background in civil anything, and he was asking me to research an issue pertaining to a multimillion dollar lawsuit. He offered me guidance, but spoke to me as an equal, in a way that relayed that he had no doubt whatsoever about my ability to do the work.

His confidence in me with that and many subsequent assignments is what led me to realize that there was nothing in the law that I could not learn. I cannot overstate the importance to my future career of the time I spent clerking for Judge Perkins.

Years later, long after I left my stint as a staff attorney to take a position as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals division, I called Judge Perkins to tell him that I was considering seeking appointment as a Flagler County judge. He was as encouraging as ever, giving me confidence that I could be a good judge. What joy it was that years after being Judge Perkins’ terrified law clerk, I became his colleague, and he was assigned to be my mentor judge.




As a mentor, Judge Perkins’s temperament was his most important quality. As a judge with an almost exclusively criminal background assigned to a civil division, I had plenty of questions, and of course Judge Perkins had plenty of good answers. A lot of judges in the circuit could have answered my specific legal questions–and did. What was so important to me in my new responsibilities was Judge Perkins’s calming influence, his wit, and his good humor.

My anxiety those first couple of years as a judge was through the roof. I was trying to learn the law in the probate, traffic, and civil divisions while learning how to be a judge, and I was trying to learn it all overnight. He would remind me that there are very few mistakes one can make in civil cases that cannot be easily corrected, and remind me of the importance of having a life outside of work so that I could be my best at work.

He has a funny, sometimes self-deprecating sense of humor, but also would tease me to make me realize when I’d get a little too worked up. But even though he was (and is) a mentor, he has never treated me as anything other than a friend and trusted colleague, and has always accepted my decision on the rare occasions when I have politely thanked him for his advice without taking or applying it.

The same characteristics that have made Judge Perkins such a great mentor to me are those that make him a great judge and administrator. He understands that there can be more than one approach to a problem, that different people (and judges are people too!) can see the same facts through different lenses, that all of us make mistakes sometimes despite our best efforts, and that none of us has all the answers.




He seeks counsel from Judge Chris France, Judge Melissa Distler, from me and from other colleagues, and has no trouble accepting suggestions and constructive criticism. He gathers information, considers differing opinions, and tries to make the best decision, with ego playing no role. After trying very hard to make the best decision possible, he is able to move on to the next thing. He is very busy but never flustered, and no matter how busy he is, will drop what he is doing to help a colleague. He has stepped off of the bench to help me with an urgent question more than once.

A recent example of the type of person he is occurred a few months ago. I had a day-long guardianship trial scheduled, with several witnesses appearing on Zoom in addition to live witnesses. I was having terrible technology problems. My judicial assistant, my bailiff and I were trying to get it sorted out but getting nowhere as we awaited a response from IT. In an effort to identify the problem I sent an email to the other Flagler judges to inquire whether anyone else was having problems with Zoom. I knew that Judge Perkins was in court in a murder trial, so I wasn’t expecting an immediate response from him. I figured he might respond to my email on a break.

Next thing I know, in strides Judge Perkins, still in his robe, with this bailiff trailing behind. He had taken a recess from his trial to come help me! He shooed me out of the way and sat down at my bench to try to fix the problem. He actually made some progress–technology guy that he is–and ultimately IT was able to remote-in and make the necessary adjustments. This is just one of countless examples of Judge Perkins being the first to help anytime he can.




As for his influence on the office as a whole, I can say that he is universally loved and respected. He predates me at the Flagler County courthouse so I do not have any way to compare today’s culture with how it was before his arrival. But I can tell you that when senior judges or colleagues from other courthouses visit, they often comment on the wonderful feeling of community we have.

When I have covered hearings at other courthouses I have found nothing that compares to Flagler. It is the norm here for judges, court deputies, and judicial assistants to gather together to eat lunch, celebrate birthdays and holidays, and tell stories. Judge Perkins listens to sheriff’s deputies and judicial assistants with the same respect and interest he gives the most revered circuit court judges. His clerks have told me how much they adore and respect him. I have seen how respectful he is to waitstaff in restaurants. He is one of the most successful civil litigators and circuit court judges the Seventh Circuit has ever seen, but there is no hint of that in how he treats others. The culture he has created makes it easy for the rest of us to heed his counsel when personality conflicts or competing interests arise. In large part because of the influence of Judge Perkins, the Flagler County courthouse is said by many judges to be the best place to work in the circuit.

I am grateful to Chief Judge Leah Case for assigning Judge Dawn Nichols to fill Judge Perkins’s position, and for Judge Nichols’s enthusiasm to come to Flagler County. She is brilliant, hardworking, and affable, and I think she is going to be a great fit. However, Judge Perkins’s absence will be felt for a long time and his legacy will be felt for much longer. He has left the justice system in the Seventh Judicial Circuit better than he found it, and he will be profoundly missed.

Judge Andrea Totten was appointed to Flagler County’s newly created County Judge seat in October 2019, and was elected to the seat without opposition in 2022.