Robert “Bob” C. Josefsberg, a revered trial attorney, mentor, and pillar of the South Florida legal community, passed away on July 14, 2025, in Coral Gables, Florida, while doing what he loved: representing a victim in need of legal services. He was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
From defending Doors lead singer Jim Morrison, who was posthumously acquitted of indecent exposure, to representing victims of Jeffrey Epstein, Bob’s courtroom prowess was matched only by his dedication to pro bono service.
When accepting cases from Dade Legal Aid’s “Put Something Back” program, Bob often said, “Give me the ones no one else wants,” even if the cases are not in his areas of expertise.
“They are the right clients,” Josefsberg said, “and they make us the right lawyers. I have learned more representing people pro bono than I have representing some corporate clients, and I’ve received some more gratitude, which I love.”
Schwartz Media Strategies was blessed to work with Bob for more than a decade, during which his wisdom, warmth, and general presence left an enduring mark on us all. His soul and spirit will be deeply missed, but his legacy will continue to inspire all who knew him.
Read ahead for a small glimpse into the extraordinary life and legacy of Bob Josefsberg:
Legal Legend: Honoring the Life and Legacy of Bob Josefsberg
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Robert “Bob” Josefsberg first met newly minted Yale Law School graduate Roy Altman in 2008 at a gathering hosted by U.S. Appeals Court Judge Stanley Marcus.
“I was a law clerk and he was a living legend, and he spent the whole time talking to me and giving me legal advice about my career,” recalled Altman, who would go on to work as a federal prosecutor, a partner with Josefsberg’s Miami law firm and now as a federal judge.
“At the time, I thought it seemed so special, but in retrospect, I realize it’s not so special. It’s commonplace for Bob.”
In fact, last month, Josefsberg brought in a dozen interns from his law firm to visit Judge Altman in his chambers and gave them the same treatment.
“He knew everything about their personal lives and talked about each of their accomplishments,” Altman said.
On Monday, Josefsberg, 86, died doing what he always loved, practicing the law, with a distinct measure of “civility,” a virtue noted by dozens of colleagues upon his death in tributes on social media. At the time, Josefsberg was with his grandson, an intern, while taking a deposition at the Coral Gables law firm Kozyak, Tropin & Throckmorton.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, before the start of World War II, Josefsberg rose from humble roots to graduate from Dartmouth College and Yale Law School in 1962. But it was his outsize influence on the legal landscape of South Florida as it transformed from a Southern backwater to an international capital that distinguished him among his peers, from recent law school graduates to elite attorneys to federal judges.
“Bob was my very close friend for over 60 years,” said Aaron Podhurst, founding partner of the commercial and aviation law firm Podhurst Orseck in Miami, where Josefsberg worked for 40 years. “He was loved by everybody … and can never be replaced.”
“Bob was a legendary lawyer, and the best trial lawyer I’ve ever seen in a courtroom,” said Peter Prieto, a former federal prosecutor who heads the Podhurst firm’s commercial litigation and class-action practice. “But he was an even better person because he was kind, big-hearted and always enjoyed fighting for the underdog.”
Jim Morrison incident at Dinner Key
Josefsberg was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1962 and the U.S. Supreme Court eight years later. He briefly served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, before gaining his first bit of fame as a young lawyer representing an infamous client: The Doors’ rebellious singer, Jim Morrison. The front man was charged with public drunkenness and lewd behavior after a bawdy concert at the Dinner Key Auditorium in the late 1960s.
Jurors acquitted Morrison of lascivious behavior and drunkenness, but found him guilty of indecent exposure and open profanity. He was sentenced to six months in prison and a $500 fine. Josefsberg later described the verdict as more about local cultural sensibilities than the law itself.
“Not that I’m saying dropping your pants in public is acceptable,” Josefsberg told the New York Times in 2010. “It’s not. It’s also not the worst thing in the world that ever happened.”
After representing Morrison, Josefsberg developed a reputation as a fierce litigator specializing in white-collar and commercial litigation, with a commanding physical and intellectual presence in and out of the courtroom. He represented high-profile clients, such as Florida Gov. Bob Graham, as his general counsel. He also represented corporate executives, lawyers and judges. His law firm also represented dozens of victims as part of the plea settlement in the South Florida criminal prosecution of financier Jeffrey Epstein on charges of soliciting teen-age girls for sex.
Jon Sale, a former Watergate prosecutor who worked in both the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Manhattan and Miami, described Josefsberg as one the pioneers of the white-collar defense bar in South Florida. He said Josefsberg brought him and other top civil litigators into major cases, opening doors as the specialty expanded during the region’s explosive growth and escalating fraud.
“His reputation always helped his clients,” Sale said.
One seasoned criminal defense lawyer, who got into trouble with federal authorities in the 1990s for his alleged role in a Colombian drug-trafficking case involving about 20 defendants, said he owes his professional life to Josefsberg.
‘Most caring human being’
Attorney Frank Quintero said that despite a lack of funds to pay him in full, Josefsberg stuck by his side as his defense lawyer in a federal cocaine trafficking and money laundering prosecution that dragged on for years and ended with Quintero’s acquittal.
“He wasn’t just my lawyer, he was my friend, my adoptive father and he and his wife made me feel like a part of their family,” said Quintero, adding that Josefsberg presided over his and his wife’s marriage vows. “On top of being a legend in our profession and a perfect example of what a lawyer should be, Bob was the kindest, most caring human being I have ever met and I thank God for bringing both him and [his wife] Marlene into my life.”
On Facebook and other social media posts, dozens of lawyers praised him not only for his legal prowess but his mentorship.
A formidable legal duo, Jane and Norman Moscowitz, who worked as federal prosecutors in Miami and then as criminal defense lawyers, said Josefsberg made careers all across Miami.
“Like everyone in town, we were beneficiaries of Bob’s enormous generosity,” Jane Moscowitz posted on Facebook. “He got us both our first jobs out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and I bet that’s true of every ex-AUSA [assistant U.S. attorney] here. The best thing was that whenever you saw him, he made you laugh. You always felt better after seeing him. I can’t believe we won’t have those laughs again.”
Over his long career, Josefsberg earned the recognition of his peers, garnering the Florida Bar Foundation’s Medal of Honor, the Florida Bar Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award and the Dade County Bar’s David Dyer Professionalism Award, among others.
Josefsberg held leadership roles in multiple legal and civic organizations, including the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He also was an advocate for civility and professionalism — his 1994 article on “Civility” was published in more than 20 legal journals.
Seasoned civil litigator Mark Raymond posted on Facebook that early in his career he worked as co-counsel on a case with Josefsberg “when so many lawyers were praised for being uber aggressive and downright bullies.”
“Bob showed me that being kind and respectful were not weaknesses but in fact the best traits for effective advocacy,” Raymond wrote.
‘Family man’
At his boutique law firm Podhurst Orseck — where Josefsberg would play the role of Santa Claus at Christmas parties for staff and children — he was a “role model” to everyone, said Steven Marks, the managing partner.
“There’s no one quite like Bob Josefsberg,” Marks said. “He leaves behind a huge void not only at our firm, but also in our community. … Most importantly, Bob was a family man. He was so proud of his children and grandchildren and would never miss any opportunity to be with them, whether it was playing basketball, tennis, skiing, graduations or any other family event.”
Robert Josefsberg is survived by his wife, Marlene; his children Amy, Kenny, Karen and David; their spouses and 12 grandchildren. His memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Temple Beth Am, 5950 North Kendall Dr., in Pinecrest.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article310735705.html#storylink=cpy
More than 40 years after Jim Morrison was convicted of indecent exposure and profanity for his behavior at a Florida rock concert the Doors’ front man is once again drawing headlines for that event, at Miami’s Dinner Key Auditorium on March 1, 1969, following remarks by Florida’s outgoing governor, Charlie Crist, that he was “willing to look into” a pardon for Morrison before his term expires in January.
As the saying goes, if you can remember the 1960s you probably weren’t there. But one person who contradicts that adage is Robert C. Josefsberg, a commercial and criminal litigation lawyer and partner at the firm of Podhurst Orseck, P.A. in Miami, who was one of the lawyers who defended Morrison at his 1970 trial and helped get him acquitted of the more serious charges of drunkenness and lewd and lascivious behavior.
Mr. Josefsberg, 72, spoke recently to ArtsBeat about his memories of Morrison, who died in 1971, and the possibility of his receiving a posthumous pardon. These are excerpts from that conversation.
Q. How were you connected to this case, and what were your impressions of Jim Morrison at the time?
A. I was co-counsel and local counsel. I think I’m the only one from the trial who’s left alive. The defense co-counsel has passed away. Three different prosecutors have passed away, the judge passed away. And Jim passed away. Jim and I were pretty close in age, and we kind of hit off. He was a very nice person. I’ve seen the movie about him and the Doors. Oliver Stone, with all due respect, is a revisionist. In the movie Jim was portrayed as a selfish druggie, and he wasn’t. He was a very nice person, a nice, decent human being with a very good sense of humor. We spent a lot of time with notepads, passing notes back and forth to each other, and he was very perceptive, very bright. He understood everything going on around him. And for the three weeks I was with him, he was sober.
Q. I realize your perspective is colored somewhat because you defended him, but then how did he go and get himself arrested?
A. Well, the charges brought against him were that it was 1969, it was a different world. There were all sorts of political and social pressures, as was shown by the immediately following “Rally for Decency,” with Anita Bryant and Pat Boone. People were terribly offended by what he did. And I think it got blown out of proportion, as most things do. It gathered its own steam and fed off itself, and it became an atrocious thing. Not that I’m saying dropping your pants in public is acceptable. It’s not. It’s also not the worst thing in the world that ever happened. I’m not justifying his behavior – I think there was an overreaction.
Q. Why do you think the subject of his being pardoned is coming up again?
A. It’s the end of a governor’s term. Governors and presidents have regularly been much more liberal about pardons at the very end of their terms. They’ve usually been much more liberal when their political futures are over, and I don’t think Charlie considers his political future over. I think it’s being raised now because people figure he’s getting out and he might want to do something nice. But I don’t know politics well enough to know whether this would enhance his career. This isn’t an open-and-shut case.
Q. How does a clemency board decide whether to issue a pardon in a case like this?
A.There are some very loose criteria, which is mostly, what has the person done since? And the second part is, How have the laws of society changed? On one of these, Jim’s a total loser, in terms of rehabilitation and what he’s done. He’s shown no remorse, no sorrow. And on the second one, it’s questionable. The funny part is, he was drunk. He was loaded. That, he got acquitted of. Part of their contract was to have, I think, 48 cans of ice-cold beer in their dressing room. What do you expect? But when you got Jim alone and you weren’t with all these groupies and the people who were star-gazing, he was a very thoughtful, decent person. He was very weird that night, and he didn’t remember any of it.
Q. Do you still listen to his music now?
A. When I did – and when I do – he was a gifted musician. Then again, being a gifted musician does not justify antisocial behavior. He was gifted, there’s no question about it. His music is still wonderful, and his poetry that I have is pretty good. He’s not a drunk devil, and he’s not God. He’s a human being and very nice person. I wish he hadn’t done a stupid thing that night, and I wish he hadn’t done a stupider thing in a bathtub in Paris. But I don’t get to vote.
Read more at: The Lawyer Who Helped Jim Morrison Ride Out a Legal Storm – The New York Times
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