Gov. Rick Scott has appointed a well-known attorney to the bench in Lake County.
Cary Rada, 50, of Eustis, has been named to succeed Judge James Baxley, who was elevated in August to the Fifth Circuit Court bench.
Rada ran unsuccessfully in 2016 for the judgeship. He was defeated by Mount Dora attorney Brian Welke, who succeeded retiring judge Donna Miller.
Rada is well-known for representing a number of clients in The Villages, including a father accused of attacking his 41-year-old daughter, a man who attacked a woman at a postal station and a Villager who had been accused of violating the Move Over Law.
Rada received his bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and his law degree from Stetson University.