Sandy Karlan

Judge Sandy Karlan is a certified mediator and is board certified by The Florida Bar in Marital and Family Law. She is member of the mediation panel and the commercial arbitration panel of the American Arbitration Association. She has mediated cases in the areas of family, bankruptcy and commercial contracts. Additionally she has served as an expert witness, a special magistrate on cases in the Complex Business Court Division as well as serving as a litigation consultant.

Judge Karlan served as a circuit court judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit for almost 20 years, the last five of which she served as an Administrative Judge in addition to her regular docket.  In that position she helped to develop KidSide, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing funding for Family Court Services.

Judge Karlan was a member of the Florida Supreme Court’s Family Court Steering Committee, that developed the model family court.  The Florida Supreme Court adopted the model in May 2001. She was Chair of the Florida Bar Commission on the Legal Needs of Children, which studied the needs of children who appear in all divisions of Florida courts and produced a comprehensive report documenting the unmet legal needs of children, including recommendations to meet those needs in areas such as representation and confidentiality.

Her work with children resulted in her current appointment to the Governor’s Children & Youth Cabinet, a statewide cabinet that includes the head of each state agency that manages children’s issues. The Cabinet’s statutory purpose is to ensure that services for children and youth are coordinated between state agencies and delivered to improve the quality of life for Florida’s children.

Judge Karlan is the author of a chapter on Bankruptcy for the Matthew Bender six-volume series on Florida Family Law and is currently a commentator on bankruptcy law for The Florida Family Law Reporter published by Matthew Bender. She has also written numerous articles and lectured on bankruptcy and family law, and is regularly invited to teach at Judicial College.

She received her Juris Doctor degree in 1978 with honors from the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University. In private practice for 17 years, she specialized in bankruptcy, commercial litigation and family law.

Judge Karlan has received numerous awards throughout her career including the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Community Service Award and Legal Services of Greater Miami has created the Judge Sandy Karlan Law Student Fellowship in her honor. She is currently a board member and past President of the Florida Chapter of the Association of Family & Conciliation Courts (FLAFCC) and a member of the International Women’s Forum.