Continuing our Profiles in Service series, today we invite you to #GetToKnow Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan, a distinguished public servant with a career marked by significant accomplishments.

Born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents, Chief Judge Fajardo Orshan earned her bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and her law degree from Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law. While in law school, she volunteered with Miami’s Guardian Ad Litem program, gaining her first courtroom experience representing children in custody, abuse, and neglect cases—an experience that inspired her future on the bench.

Chief Judge Fajardo Orshan began her career as a prosecutor in the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, rising from misdemeanor to felony cases and teaching trial skills nationally and internationally. She later entered private practice as a partner in a matrimonial law firm with her husband, Robert Orshan, until her appointment to the Eleventh Circuit Court in 2012 by then Governor Rick Scott.

In 2018, she was appointed the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the nation’s third largest district, where she oversaw five offices and roughly 250 attorneys and corresponding staff. In 2021, the Eleventh Circuit welcomed her back when she was appointed to the Circuit Court by Governor Ron DeSantis.

Chief Judge Fajardo Orshan has served in the Criminal, Family, Civil, and Unified Children’s Court divisions, where she was also appointed Administrative Judge. This year, she was elected Chief Judge—the second Cuban American to hold the role—and began her term on July 1. She has the honor of overseeing the opening of the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, the first courthouse in Florida named after a Cuban American. Her primary focus as Chief Judge is on supporting her fellow judges with the resources and technology needed to better serve the people of Miami-Dade County.

Beyond the bench, Chief Judge Fajardo Orshan serves as associate dean of Florida’s College of Advanced Judicial Studies and as a member of the Florida Supreme Court Education Committee. She is also active in many local volunteer bar associations.

Chief Judge Fajardo Orshan is guided by a favorite scripture:

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." – Luke 12:48

Please join us in recognizing Chief Judge Fajardo Orshan for her dedication to public service and justice for our community.