Alex Ferrer (born in Havana, Cuba) is an American judge who hosts the television series Judge Alex.
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Ferrer was born in Havana, Cuba but emigrated to the United States with his family when a year old. At age 15, Alex landed a part-time job as a gas-station attendant; by his senior year of high school, he had been promoted to night-manager. At age 19, Ferrer became one of the youngest police officers in the state of Florida. While working as a police officer, Ferrer sold diamonds on the side.
He left the Coral Gables police force at 24 to study law. He went on to earn his JD degree from the University of Miami, where he became a published member of its Law Review. He currently serves as Judicial Director of the university's Alumni Association. Upon receiving his degree, Ferrer practiced law in Miami, focusing on civil litigation, including hundreds of suits involving medical malpractice, wrongful deaths, personal injuries and commercial business disputes.
In 1995, he then became an Associate Administrative Judge in the Criminal Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, which covers Miami-Dade County, where he spent ten years presiding over thousands of criminal cases. He also presided as an appellate judge over appeals from the Miami-Dade County Court, County Commission and numerous other governmental bodies. In 1999, he was elected to serve as District Representative to the Executive Committee of the Conference of Circuit Court Judges, a position he held until 2001.
He is a member of the Florida Bar and the District of Columbia Bar Association. He has been an adjunct professor at Florida International University, and teaches media relations to other judges at The New Judges College and The College of Advanced Judicial Studies, as well as at various national conferences.
In 2005, Ferrer was presented with a demand for arbitration by attorney Arnold Preston, who worked for Ferrer under a "personal management" contract. Preston claimed Ferrer owed him fees under the contract. Ferrer countered by claiming that Preston had acted as a talent agent without a license, and therefore under California law the contract was void and unenforceable. The question of whether a judge or an arbitrator should decide the "talent agent" question went all the way to the United States Supreme Court in the case Preston v. Ferrer, in which the Court ruled against Ferrer in 2008.[1]
Judge Ferrer resides in the Miami area with his wife, Jane Ferrer, and two children. A licensed pilot, his other interests include music, sculpting, scuba diving, golf and running marathons.
As well as hosting Judge Alex he appeared on the January 27, 2007 episode of 1 vs. 100. On July 6, 2007, Ferrer appeared on the Fox News Channel's Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. He was a guest on Verdict with Dan Abrams on July 15, 2008. On November 17, 2008, he appeared on Trivial Pursuit: America Plays as the captain of America's team and then on November 21, 2008 as a contestant playing for a charity during a special "Judges Week" program. Ferrer also appeared on an episode of America's Most Wanted. (episode date March 22, 2010) Judge Alex appeared on Orlando, Florida's WOFL-DT FOX 35 and the Fox News Channel as a legal expert for their coverage of the Casey Anthony Murder Trial in the summer of 2011.