U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, of the Southern District of Florida in Fort Lauderdale. Photo: Cathy Wilson/ALM U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, of the Southern District of Florida in Fort Lauderdale. Photo: Cathy Wilson/ALM

U.S. District Judge Roy Altman has concrete proof that he is young-looking.

Altman, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April, was returning to his chambers after lunch one day and found a clutch of attorneys standing in the foyer outside his Fort Lauderdale courtroom. The doors were locked so they couldn't get in.

Anticipating the next hearing, Altman asked the plaintiffs attorney to meet with the still-missing defense attorney to nail down some dates.

"What are you, a law clerk on the case or something?" the attorney asked. Another attorney who knew Altman spit out his coffee.

The Caracas, Venezuela, native was a quarterback and pitcher at Columbia, graduated from Yale Law School, served six years in the Miami U.S. attorney's office and spent five years with the Miami litigation boutique Podhurst Orseck.

Altman offered his mistaken-identity story to an overflow crowd at his formal investiture Friday. For the record, he is 37.