Judge Alex is the only television judge with extensive police, legal and judicial experience, presiding over a wide array of cases, resolving complicated issues with his straight forward approach and cogent rulings. In October 2008, Judge Alex was voted the most trustworthy face in daytime television and he was recently featured in People Magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive” issue.
Born in Havana, Cuba, Judge Alex and his family escaped from Fidel Castro’s Communist regime to America when he was one year old. Growing up in Miami with a passionate interest in law enforcement, at 19 he became one of the youngest police officers in the state. While on the police force, he served as a patrolman, detective and in an undercover capacity. He was also trained to be on the department’s SWAT force. Intent on building a career in the legal profession, Judge Alex performed his duties as a police officer while attending both college and law school.
Judge Alex received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Miami School of Law, where he became a published member of its Law Review and eventually returned to become a Judicial Director of the university’s Alumni Board. Upon receiving his degree, Judge Alex practiced law in Miami, focusing on civil litigation, including hundreds of suits involving medical malpractice, wrongful deaths, personal injuries and commercial business disputes. After becoming an attorney, and to further embolden his commitment to law and order, Judge Alex served as a volunteer reserve police officer in the Miami suburb of Homestead. But the experience of law enforcement and legal representation were only stepping stones in his dream of reaching for higher aspirations in the U.S.
In 1995, at the age of 34, he was elected judge, making him the youngest Circuit Court Judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, where he served as a Family and Criminal division judge for ten years. Throughout his high-profile tenure on the bench in the fourth largest court system in the country, he handled thousands of cases, ranging from first degree murders involving the death penalty, drug related offenses, RICO conspiracy indictments, kidnappings and armed robberies to child custody and support issues, general financial matters, adoptions and paternity suits. Judge Alex also presided as an appellate judge over appeals from the Miami-Dade County Court, County Commission and numerous other governmental bodies.
In 1999, his peers elected him as their District Representative to the Executive Committee of the Conference of Circuit Court Judges. He served on the Conference’s Legislative Subcommittee from 2003 to 2005 and, as Associate Administrative Judge, helped to oversee the operation of Miami’s Criminal Division-the largest in the State. Moreover, Judge Alex was selected by the Judicial Nominating Commission as a finalist for a vacant seat in Florida’s high-profile Third District Court of Appeals before choosing to withdraw his name from consideration in order to undertake his new television role.
Judge Alex is a member of the Florida and District of Columbia Bars, and has served as an adjunct professor at Florida International University, teaching graduate courses in criminal law and procedure. He continues to teach media relations and closing arguments to other judges at judicial conferences held throughout the year, as well as at the New Judges College and the College of Advanced Judicial Studies. Judge Alex has also authored a “bench book” on closing arguments that is used by judges throughout Florida and is regularly interviewed by media to provide expert opinions on a number of legal issues. Judge Alex resides in Miami with his wife and their two children. A licensed pilot, his interests also include scuba diving, sculpting, music and running marathons.
“Judge Alex” is exclusively distributed throughout the U.S. by Twentieth Television and executive produced by Kathy Sapp, Burt Wheeler, and Sharon Sussman.
