A LIFE DEVOTED TO THE LAW, AND TO HUMANITY

Larry Davis devoted himself to two things he loved as much as life itself: the law and politics.

A well-liked and respected figure in Broward legal circles for four decades, Davis died Monday after a courageous battle with cancer. He was 77 years old and lived and practiced law in Hollywood for much of his life.

Davis was a criminal defense lawyer who, through his clients, often saw Broward at its most stressful. His cases often dominated the headlines, such as his representation of a troubled teenage girl who fatally shot a classmate in 2008 in a hallway of Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale (a jury rejected an insanity defense; she received a 25-year sentence).

Most of his cases were not so tragic, or sensational. From his cramped storefront law practice on Harrison Street in Hollywood, he became a go-to lawyer for public officials accused of serious wrongdoing  — which meant that in Broward, he never lacked for clients. Local mayors and commissioners sought him out, from Hallandale Beach to Plantation to Tamarac.

“I principally represent the wrongfully accused,” he would say with a twinkle in his eye and a hint of sarcasm.

Davis came of age at a time when the political nerve center of Broward was the creaky old county courthouse on the banks of the New River. But before becoming a lawyer, he was a social worker, starting at age 24 at the old South Florida State Hospital in Pembroke Pines.

While in law school, he went to work for then-Sheriff Bob Butterworth in the first psychiatric unit in an underfunded and overcrowded Broward County Jail. Davis helped inmates deal with a threadbare social safety net, which led to a job as an assistant public defender.

A genuine creature of the courthouse, he seemed to know every bailiff and judicial assistant. He always had a revealing anecdote about one judge’s explosive temper, or another’s penchant for knocking off early.

Davis and Butterworth remained close friends and allies through Butterworth’s long career as the county sheriff, state agency head and 16 years as the last Democrat to serve as Florida attorney general.

“He cared about people. He was not there for the ego,” Butterworth, 83, said in an interview. “He was there to make a difference.”

In a place full of lawyers, Davis stood out, carrying himself with an air of formality that seemed from another time.

He almost always wore a hat, long after that accessory fell out of fashion. His eyeglasses were perched on the bridge of his nose. He greeted callers with his full name: “Hey, it’s Larry Davis.”

He was always working, but he always had time for Democratic politics in an era when the party dominated at the state level. He served on the management team that ran the always-chaotic Broward Democratic Party and was a fixture at political gatherings.

He was part of the legal team that tried without success to salvage victory from Al Gore’s 537-vote loss to George W. Bush in Florida in 2000. He advised former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick when she won a recount by five votes in a special election for Congress in 2021.

He successfully defended Robert Lee Wood, an Opa-locka man charged with election fraud as part of a high-profile roundup orchestrated by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The state appealed, and the case is pending at the state Supreme Court.

Discussing the case on Channel 10’s Sunday program This Week in South Florida, Davis liked the tone of a question from co-host Michael Putney, and said: “Thank you, Judge Putney. I appreciate that.”

In his final days, Davis kept his cancer fight a closely guarded secret and only a few close friends visited him.

His allies in the legal community especially recalled his work on behalf of the mentally ill through the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition, or BBHC, which manages state and federal grants for substance abuse and mental health programs.

“He had been ill for some time and requested privacy in his health struggles,” attorney Julie Klahr wrote to coalition members. “Larry spent many of his waking hours in service to our community at large in many ways, both on a grand and personal level.”

The family plans a private funeral service, and plans for a celebration of his life are pending.

Davis had a close friendship with Sam Goren, the Pembroke Pines city attorney and dean of local government lawyers in Broward.

“He had great compassion for people he represented,” Goren said. “I don’t think Larry ever saw a problem he couldn’t try to resolve.”

Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor of the Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale. Contact him at sbousquet@sunsentinel.com or (850) 567-2240.

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