Judge Cindy S. Lederman: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

Hon. Cindy S. Lederman (Ret.) was a judge for the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida in Miami-Dade County. She was appointed to the bench in 1994. Lederman retired in 2019.

During her tenure on the Circuit Court, Lederman held an assignment in the Juvenile Division and also served for ten years as presiding judge of the court. She is credited with helping to create the Dependency Court Intervention Program for Family Violence and was co-creator of the Miami Safe Start Initiative, which sought to shield children under six from exposure to violence. The Initiative led to both the opening of the first Early Head Start facility in the United States and to the creation of the Consortium for Children in Crisis, which acted on behalf of at-risk children in the local community.

Lederman was also committed to the introduction of science and research in the courtroom, leading to her decade-long involvement with the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) at the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, she served as a member of the NRC’s Committee on the Assessment of Family Violence Interventions and its panel on Juvenile Crime, Treatment, and Control and as a board member of Children, Youth, and Families of the NRC and IOM.

Her judicial career began in 1989, at which time she joined the Miami-Dade County Court. As a County Court judge, Lederman led a team responsible for the creation of the Dade County Domestic Violence Court, of which she served as administrative judge (1992 to 1994).

She attended the University of Florida, where she earned a B.A. in political science in 1976. Lederman went on to complete a J.D. at the University of Miami School of Law in 1979.

After law school, she joined the Law Office of Mitchell L. Perlstein, P.A., working as an associate there until 1981. Lederman then briefly practiced as an associate at Brown, Huysman, Matthews & Singer before joining the Office of the City Attorney for North Miami Beach in 1982. Lederman spent two years working as an assistant city attorney until becoming a deputy city attorney in 1984. She continued in that position until her ascension to the bench in 1989.

She was a faculty member of the National Judicial College and served on the Florida Supreme Court Education Council.

Lederman was a past president of the National Association of Women Judges and the Florida Association of Women Judges. Her other memberships included the American Bar Association, the Women Judges Fund for Justice, the Florida Conference of County Court Judges, and the Dade County Bar Association (board of directors).

She has written extensively on the subjects of family and domestic violence and was a longtime advocate for children and families.

Among her numerous accolades, Lederman received the Woman of Valor award from the Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options (2011), the Founder Award from Casa Valentina (2012), the Judge C. Clyde Atkins Civil Liberties Award (2012), and the Women in Public Service Award from the American Society for Public Administration (2013).