Annual Judicial Reception Honorees
Judge Kevin Emas
Recipient of the 2019 Honorable Theodore “Ted” Klein Lifetime Achievement Award
Judge Kevin Emas has come of age in Miami’s legal circle. In addition to serving his field with honor, he is an outstanding mentor to a new generation of young attorneys and judges and a philanthropic member of our Jewish community.
Raised in South Florida, Judge Emas graduated with honors from the University of Florida, where he was president of Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity. He received his law degree from the University of Miami, serving as Law Review Editor and a member of the Honor Court.
Judge Emas began his legal career as an assistant public defender before becoming a partner with Fine Jacobson Schwartz Nash Block & England. In 1989, he became a name partner in the firm of Thornton, Rothman & Emas.
He has the distinction of being appointed to the judiciary by three Florida governors. Governor Lawton Chiles named him to the Miami-Dade County Court, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Judge Emas to the Circuit Court and Governor Charlie Crist then named him to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in 2010. Today, he presides as its Chief Judge.
As a leader in the legal community, Judge Emas has previously been active on the Florida Conference of Circuit Judges, serving as Conference Chair in 2010.He has been a faculty member at the Florida Judicial College, Faculty Chair of Florida’s College of Advanced Judicial Studies and taught at numerous statewide judicial conferences. His fair-minded approach has helped Florida judges and civilian and military judges across the U.S. better understand the law.
Judge Emas has also taught aspiring lawyers as an adjunct faculty member of the University of Miami School of Law and the Florida International University School of Law and has partnered with high schools throughout Miami-Dade to assist in mock trial programs and other law-related activities. He currently serves on the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission and the Florida Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism.
A resident of Kendall, Judge Emas is involved in Miami’s Jewish community. He has been active with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Dave and Mary Alper Jewish Community Center. Judge Emas and his wife, Marilyn, have three grown children – Rachel, Erica and Sam – and are members of Temple Judea.
Judge Lisa S. Walsh
Recipient of the 2019 Community Service Award
Judge Lisa S. Walsh has focused her career on serving the public, mentoring young lawyers, enhancing legal education and improving the lives of women and girls. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and her law degree from the University of Miami, she worked as a public defender and in private practice. She received an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and was honored inSuper Lawyers and Florida Trend Legal Elite.
Judge Walsh was appointed a Miami-Dade County judge in 2008 and then to the circuit bench in 2011, where Governor Scott hailed her “common-sense approach” to every issue and dispute, in which she “applied the rule of law in a consistent, fair and intelligent manner.” Today, she presides in its criminal division.
Outside the courtroom, Judge Walsh has worked tirelessly on behalf of women. She has previously served as President of the Miami-Dade Florida Association for Women Lawyers (FAWL) and President of National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ). In her leadership role at NAWJ, she advocated for women and girls, served as liaison to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and hosted a biennial conference of the International Association of Women Judges focusing on diversity. Judge Walsh also partnered with FAWL to create a book club that visits women inmates at the Homestead Correctional Institute.
As an educator and mentor to aspiring lawyers, she is an adjunct professor of appellate advocacy at St. Thomas University Law School and has been part of the faculty and administration of Florida’s Advanced Judicial College, Florida Judicial College and the Florida Circuit Court Conference Education Committee. Her many honors include:
2018 Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Outstanding Jurist Award, 2018 Miami-Dade Trial Lawyers Association Judge Steven Levine Award, 2017 Dade County Bar Association Presidential Award, 2015 University of Miami Law School Alumni Leadership Award,
Devorah Judge Award from the Miami Jewish Legal Society and Outstanding Woman in Government and Law from the Miami-Dade Commission for Women.
Judge Walsh and her husband, David Rosendorf, are members of Temple Beth Sholom of Miami Beach and are the proud parents of two children, Lila and Jordan.
