A Florida appellate court removed a trial judge from personal injury litigation after his comments in a ruling came under fire. And an ethics expert said the judge’s comments serve as a cautionary tale for those who don the black robe.

Judges Bronwyn Miller, Fleur Lobree and Alexander Bokor of the Third District Court of Appeal ruled that the comments Monroe Circuit Judge Mark Wilson wrote in an order “may not have been intended to reflect on his beliefs as to the merits of the underlying claims.”