New Judge Appointed to SD Florida

On May 22, 2023, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals appointed Judge Corali Lopez-Castro (vice Judge A. Jay Cristol) as a Bankruptcy Judge in the Southern District of Florida effective May 30, 2023. Judge Lopez-Castro is Florida’s first Hispanic bankruptcy judge. She fills the vacancy created following the retirement of Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Emeritus A. Jay Cristol.

“My parents left Cuba many years ago and they sacrificed everything, and you can imagine their pride in having their daughter as a federal bankruptcy judge,” Lopez-Castro told the Daily Business Review in an interview when the news broke. “That tells you that anything is possible in this country.”

The nationally distinguished bankruptcy and commercial litigation attorney, described by the Daily Business Review as a “trailblazer,” served as the managing partner of Kozyak Tropin + Throckmorton three times and has been appointed receiver or represented a receiver in over 15 cases. Notably, she served as the second woman president of the Cuban American Bar Association and was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy’s 25th class for her professional excellence and contributions to the field of restructuring and insolvency.