Judge Chris Brown won election, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of the Judge Mike Provost, in August of 2022. His commission to serve, signed by Governor DeSantis, was effective January 3, 2023. In 2024 Governor DeSantis appointed Judge Brown to the Circuit Court of the 20th Judicial Circuit. He was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of the Honorable Leigh Frizzell Hayes. He took the bench as a Circuit Judge on April 8, 2024.

Judge Brown is currently assigned to the Unified Family Court/Domestic Relations Division in Collier County. His duties include handling half of the family law/domestic relations cases in Collier County and half of the petitions for domestic violence and other similar injunctions. Judge Brown is also responsible for 25% of Collier County’s probate and guardianship cases.

Before taking the bench, Judge Brown practiced criminal, civil and appellate litigation as a partner at the same firm for over 16 years. Overall, he was primarily a criminal law attorney for 21 of his 23 years of practice as a lawyer (the first two were in corporate law). Judge Brown tried well over 150 cases to verdict in state and federal court in addition to arguing dozens of appeals all over Florida.

For his work as an attorney Judge Brown received industry recognition over the years. In 2007 he was awarded the “Extra Mile” Award for service to the voluntary bar. From 2012 to date he has maintained an AV rating with Martindale-Hubbell. This is the highest rating given regarding both competency and ethics. He has also maintained a 10/10 rating from Avvo since that service began to rate him in 2010. In 2018 the Florida Bar Board Certified Judge Brown as an expert trial lawyer. For the last four consecutive years of his law practice, Judge Brown was featured in Super Lawyers magazine as one of the best criminal law attorneys in Florida. Since 2023 Judge Brown has also served as an adjunct law professor at the Ave Maria University School of Law.

Judge Brown grew up in Naples and graduated from Gulfview Middle School and Naples High before going on to becoming a Double Gator by getting his bachelors and law degrees from UF (JD 99’). His wife, Lynn Brown was born in Naples and also graduated from Naples High before going on to Princeton (99’). She and Chris were married in 2011 and the couple have three kids in school in Naples. Therefore, when not on the bench, Judge Brown spends most of his time at: practices, games, plays, recitals, etc.