Florida Gov. Rick Scott has appointed Carlton Fields Miami shareholder Raul E. Cuervo to the Miami-Dade County Court bench, replacing Judge Renatha Francis after her elevation to circuit court.

Cuervo will begin his term Nov. 15.

As a litigator, he represented a variety of financial institutions, including banks and insurance companies, and specialized in national class action lawsuits. He joined Carlton Fields in 2014 when it merged with class action defense firm Jorden Burt, where he had been for 10 years.

Cuervo has a bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Florida, where he also worked as editor of the University of Florida Law Review. Before that, from 1976 to 1980, he served in the U.S. Army.

Cuervo's also a member of several legal associations, including the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Cuban American Bar Association, the Dade County Bar Association and the South Florida Bankruptcy Bar Association.

Scott also appointed Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Luis Perez-Medina, 58, and Coral Gables Shutts & Bowen partner Christine Bandin, 39, to the Miami-Dade County Court bench, filling vacancies left by the elevations of Judges Dawn V. Denaro and Andrea Ricker Wolfson.

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