Law clerks are attorneys hired to assist judges in fulfilling their public duties. Attorneys chosen for these prestigious jobs often are recent graduates who excelled in law school activities. A few are asked to remain at the Court for many years, but only two have ever returned to the Court to don judicial robes. One of these was James C. Adkins, the 58th Justice.

Adkins worked as a law clerk at the Court in 1938 and 1939. In those days, law clerks worked for all of the Justices, and Adkins quickly impressed them all with his sound legal mind. His skills were partly a family heritage, since Adkins was from a family of noted Florida lawyers. His father, J.C. Adkins, Sr., for example, was the author of many editions of the book, Florida Criminal Law & Procedure, which the younger Adkins continued to update after his father's death. Adkins returned to the Court in 1969, where he remained until he retired in 1987.

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