Beth Bloom has served as a United States District Judge in the Southern District of Florida since 2014. She was appointed by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on June 24, 2014 (her birthday).
Judge Bloom is past Chair of the Judiciary Division Board of the Federal Bar Association, previously serving as Chairperson of the Article III Trial Judges Committee. She was elected and serves as the Eleventh Circuit Representative to the Board of Directors of the Federal Judges Association and is a Board Member of the South Florida Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She Chairs the Southern District of Florida’s Local Rules Committee and is an active member of the Southern District’s Ad Hoc Committee on Rules and Procedure.
In 2021, Judge Bloom created the Judicial Intern Academy (JIA), a 20-hour per week summer program, offered remotely and in-person to incoming second year law students within the Southern District of Florida. The JIA focuses on a diverse population of students who are unable to devote themselves to a full-time, unpaid internship in chambers due to personal or financial reasons. The JIA provides robust learning experiences in and out of the courtroom and pairs each intern with a former federal judicial law clerk who serves as a mentor and assists in enhancing the student’s research and writing skills. In November 2022, the Federal Bar Association formally adopted the JIA as a national program, now expanding intern opportunities to judicial districts and law schools across the country.
In 2016, Judge Bloom created, along with U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg (Southern District of Florida) and guidance from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions Program (CD3), presented to high school, college, and law students in the federal courtrooms and remotely in the classrooms, now a national initiative of the U.S. Courts and the Federal Bar Association. Both Judge Bloom and Judge Rosenberg have presented nationally on the topics of civility and civil discourse at the Federal Judges Association’s Quadrennial Conference (May 2022); the Federal Bar Association’s National Convention (July 2021); the American Inns of Court Annual Conference, “A National Conversation on Civility” (October 2020); and at the Fourth Circuit Workplace Conduct Conference on “Building a Culture of Civility” (May 2019).
Judge Bloom is a frequent lecturer for the Florida Bar, local bar associations, law schools, and FBA chapters. She has presented at the 2018 New Judges College and the 2017 District Judges Conference. She served on the faculty of the Florida Judicial College for 19 years, teaching newly elected and appointed judges; the faculty of the National Judicial College, the College of Advanced Judicial Studies, the Florida Conference of County Court Judges, and is an adjunct faculty member of the Litigation Skills Program at the University of Miami School of Law.
In 2015, Judge Bloom established the Southern District of Florida’s Summer Intern Ethics and Orientation Program and oversees its annual Law Day and Constitution Day Programs. Judge Bloom oversees the SDFL’s Judicial Intern Program and, since the pandemic, has partnered with other districts throughout the country to provide remote learning opportunities for law students.
Judge Bloom previously served on the Florida state court bench in Miami-Dade County from 1994 – 2014. She was appointed by former Governor Charlie Crist to the Circuit Court in 2010 after serving 15 years as a County Court Judge. She has served in the Circuit Court’s criminal and civil divisions and all divisions of the County Court, serving as the Associate Administrative Judge.
Judge Bloom received her Bachelor of Science degree in public relations from the University of Florida in 1984 and her Juris Doctor degree (cum laude) from the University of Miami School of Law. She practiced commercial litigation with the law firm of Floyd Pearson Richman Greer Weil Zack & Brumbaugh from 1988-1994 and served as a Traffic Court Magistrate from 1993-1994 before her election to the state court bench.
While serving as a state court judge, Judge Bloom was elected as the first woman president of the Florida Conference of County Court Judges, a member of the Executive Committee of the Florida Conference of Circuit Court Judges and a founding member of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Historical Society. She coordinated the University of Miami School of Law’s Judicial Internship Program for 17 years. In Miami- Dade County, she created the Lawyers Join Hands for Students Program, the DUI In-Jail Treatment Program, the Smoking Tobacco Offender Program (S.T.O.P.), the It’s Your Life Program for foster youth aging out of the foster care system, and the I’m Ready Program, an alternative to Boot Camp, for youthful offenders sentenced in adult criminal court. She coordinated the Artist in Residence Program with artist Romero Britto and students throughout Miami-Dade’s Visual and Performing Arts Academies, and she implemented the Eleventh Circuit’s Centennial Celebration’s county-wide poster, essay, and speech contests with the Miami-Dade County schools. Judge Bloom is the co-founder of the Children’s Craniofacial Association at Miami Children’s Hospital and Oliver’s Fund at the University of Miami’s Debbie School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Judge Bloom has received numerous honors and awards that include the Florida Supreme Court’s Distinguished Federal Judicial Service Pro Bono Award in 2024, the ABA Presidential Recognition Award, the Miami Beach Bar Association’s 2023 Legal Legend Award, the University of Miami School of Law’s 2023 Henry Latimer Award, the 2020 U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services Recognition Award for her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Florida Bar President’s Award of Merit, the Florida Conference of County Court Judges’ Trailblazer Award and Harvey Ford Leadership Award, the Fraternal Order of Police Citizen of the Year Award, the Dade County Bar Association’s Johnnie M. Ridgely President’s Award, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Historical Society’s “Silverman Award”, the University of Miami School of Law Alumni Association’s Thomas Davison III Service Award, the Miami-Dade Justice Association’s “Judge Steve Levine Award”, MADD’s Judicial Distinction Award, the Legal Services of Greater Miami’s 2015 Equal Justice Judicial Leadership Award, the Juvenile Judges’ Child’s Heart Award, the Miami Bridge Youth & Family Service’s Champion for Children Award, Our Kids’ Leadership Award, Mellon Bank’s Community Service Award, the Jewish Legal Society’s Rodef Shalom Pursuer of Peace Award, Judge of the Year from the Minority Chamber of Commerce, Miami Today’s 2019 Stars in Government Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Miami Women Who Rock.
Judge Bloom is married to Lyle Stern, and they have three children.