Gill S. Freeman

Gill S. Freeman is a retired American judge who served for nearly 20 years in the Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County, Florida. She is the recipient of numerous awards as a judge, and has held a wide range of significant leadership positions, in addition to serving as a judge. She was the first judge assigned to Miami's newly established business court in 2007, and co-chairs a bar association task force on making recommendations about implementing business courts statewide in Florida.

Freeman was first appointed as a judge to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County in 1997, was later elected in 2004, and then was successful in a 2010 retention election for an additional six-year term.^[1][2][3]

Among other judicial assignments, she served in the Family Law Division,^[4] as well as serving judicial rotations in the criminal and general civil divisions. In 2007, Freeman was the first judge assigned to preside over the Eleventh Circuit's newly created Complex Business Litigation Section, a business court track with a specialized jurisdiction limited to complex business and commercial cases.^[5] Freeman served in that role for five years. She retired from the court in 2016.^[6][7][8][9]

While a judge, she served as dean of the Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies, a judicial education program within the Florida Court Education Council (FCEC). The dean's responsibilities include, among other things, administrative oversight, setting policies and goals, curriculum assessment, faculty recruitment and determining faculty qualifications, program planning and instructional material developments, and faculty and staff support. The dean is also responsible to report to the FCEC and Florida Supreme Court. The dean is selected based upon experience as a judge; experience presenting judicial education; interpersonal and group communication skills; demonstrated leadership, inspiration, and supervision qualities; and accessibility and collegiality toward people in every facet of the program.^[10][11] Freeman was a Florida Supreme Court appointee to the FCEC as well.^[12]

Freeman was in private legal practice for 20 years, in commercial and family law, before becoming a judge in 1997.^[8] She worked at the private South Florida law firms of Walton, Lantaff, Schroeder & Carson from 1977 to 1981 and Ruden, McClosky, Smith, Schuster & Russell from 1981-1997.^[13]

After retiring as a judge, Freeman has joined JAMS, a private provider of alternative dispute resolution services.^[13]

In connection with her experience as a business court judge, she is co-chair of the Florida Bar Business Law Section's Business Courts Task Force, studying the merits of implementing a statewide business court in Florida.^[14] In early 2020, the task force recommended a proposed statewide business court, shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic became widely publicized and widespread.^[15][16][17]

Freeman was a teacher in the Dade County Public School System from 1970 to 1976.^[13]

Freeman received a Bachelor of Science in Education, cum laude, from Temple University in 1970, a Masters of Education degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Miami in 1973, and a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law in 1977.^[13][18][1]

• In June 2024, Freeman received the Miami-Dade Bar's David W. Dyer Professionalism Award.^[19] This is "the most prestigious distinction awarded by the Miami Dade Bar. The award is given to a lawyer or judge whose conduct reflects and honors the integrity, humility, compassion, and professionalism displayed by Judge Dyer throughout his entire career."^[20]

• In 2022, she received the Miami Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League of Florida.^[21]

• In 2016, the Florida Bar's Young Lawyers Section honored her with the Meenu T. Sasser Outstanding Jurist Award.^[22]

• In 2008, she received the Florida Association of Women Lawyers' (FAWL) Rosemary Barkett Award. The award is given in honor of Justice Barkett, who was Florida's first woman Supreme Court justice and Chief Justice. Among other things, it recognizes outstanding achievement charting new territory in the legal profession, overcoming traditional stereotypes of women in the perception by others and in self-perception, and advancing women's status in Florida.^[23][24]

• In 1991, she received the Dade County FAWL Mattie Belle Davis Award. "This award is presented annually to an MDFAWL member and jurist who exemplifies the ideals of professional achievement, perseverance, and dedication that were demonstrated by the late Judge Davis."^[25]

• She has received Dade County’s In the Company of Women Award.^[10]

• The Cuban American Bar Association recognized her for her dedication and service to the Eleventh Circuit Court's Complex Litigation Division.^[13]

• She received The Jewish Federation of Greater Miami's Community Service Award.^[13]

• She has received Sabadell Bank’s Community Service Award in conjunction with the Dade County Bar Association.^[10]

• She has served as president of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers.^[10]

• She was chair of the Florida Supreme Court Standing Committee on Diversity and Fairness.^[10]

• She is co-chair of the Florida Bar Business Law Section's Business Courts Task Force.^[14]

• She was vice chair of the Florida Supreme Court Gender Bias Commission and chair of the Gender Bias Study Implementation Commission.^[10]

• She served as Dean of the Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies.^[10]

• The Supreme Court of Florida appointed her to the Florida Court Education Council.^[12]

• She was chair of the Board of Trustees of the Miami Dade County Law Library from 2006 to 2016.^[26][13][10]

• She was chair of the Board of Directors of Spectrum Programs, a longstanding organization providing drug and alcohol rehabilitation services in Dade and Broward Counties.^[10][21]

• She was founding chair of the Journey Institute which provides counseling services to child sexual abuse victims.^[10][21]