Judge Gilberto Perez is a first-generation American born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents who immigrated to the United States in 1967. He completed his undergraduate studies at Florida International University, majoring in Psychology and graduating with high honors. He later graduated cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in Indiana.

Judge Perez started his legal career at the Miami-Dade Legal Aid Society representing low-income clients in family court. He later joined the Children’s Legal Services Division of the Office of the Florida Attorney General in Fort Lauderdale, representing the State in juvenile dependency proceedings, and eventually becoming Bureau Chief. In 2002, Judge Perez moved to Southwest Florida to serve as an Assistant State Attorney, ultimately prosecuting sex crimes and crimes against children. He later returned to the area of family law, practicing both with Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt and at his own firm in Fort Myers.

Judge Perez is actively involved in the community. He is a long-standing member of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar. He previously served as co-chair of the Family Law Section for the Lee County Bar Association, completed two terms on The Florida Bar Grievance Committee and was a barrister with the Calusa Inn of Court. He has been an active board member for multiple local organizations, including the Association of Family Law Professionals (where he also served as president), Lee County Legal Aid Society, Visuality, and the Laboratory Theater of Florida, where he has been a board member and volunteer since 2010. From 2006-2015, Judge Perez volunteered with the United Way as an allocations team member.

Judge Perez has been a Board Certified attorney in the area of Marital and Family Law since 2011 and a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Law mediator since 2015.

Prior to his appointment as a Circuit Court Judge, he served as a Magistrate for the 20th Judicial Circuit and presided over family law, Baker Act, and Marchman Act proceedings from 2015-2020. Judge Perez has lectured throughout the state on all areas of family and dependency law, and legal ethics. He has received numerous awards for his pro bono service and in 2018 was named Jurist of the Year by the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

In 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Judge Perez to the Circuit Court. He is assigned to the Unified Family Court Division in Fort Myers, Florida.