Judith Nelson received her Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 and her Juris Doctor from University of Miami School of Law in 1982. From 1982 to 1985 she was panel counsel for Travelers Insurance Company. In 1985 Judge Nelson became an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Miami. In 1986 Governor Bob Graham appointed her to the Bench as a Judge of Compensation Claims. She was re-appointed to that office by Governor Martinez in 1990 and by Governor Chiles in 1995 and 1998.

In June 2000, Judge Nelson and her husband, tax attorney Barry Nelson, founded The Victory Center, a non-profit, non-sectarian school for children with autism, offering intensive intervention with a one-to-one student-to-teacher ratio. Judge Nelson retired from the Bench in 2001 in order to devote more time to the Victory Center. Currently, Judge Nelson practices as a Supreme Court Certified Mediator and an arbitrator, listed as a neutral with the American Arbitration Association. She also continues to serve as a volunteer at The Victory Center, which began with four students and has grown to 25 full-time students. The school has expanded to offer Saturday respite care, after-school and summer programs, advanced academics for students with Asperger’s Syndrome and vocational services to older students with autism.

Judge Nelson has received The Woman of Valor award from the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Spectrum Award from the American Red Cross and The Steel Service Award from Steel Hector & Davis LLP. She has served on the Board of Directors of The University of Miami Center for Autism and Related Disabilities as well as The Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund.

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