Caroline Cahill Shepard

Caroline Shepherd is a Circuit Court Judge for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County, Florida.  She was born in Pasadena, California, but raised in the Midwest.  She returned to California to attend the University of Southern California where she earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations with a specialty certificate in Defense and Strategic Studies.  To put that degree to practical use, she moved to Washington, DC to work for the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Robert H. Michel.  Caroline left Representative Michel’s office to serve as Director of Programs for the American Defense Institute, led by Founder and President, former Hanoi Hilton POW, Capt. Eugene “Red” McDaniel, USN (Ret).

She received her law degree from New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts where she served as President of the Student Bar Association.  Upon graduation, she moved to Miami, Florida, where she served for three years as an Assistant State Attorney ultimately assigned as a prosecutor in the Career Criminal/Robbery Unit.  She then moved to Washington, DC, to serve in the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

In 2002, she returned to Florida and worked in the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.  From that position she was selected by the Governor and appointed to the Bench in 2009.  She served ten years as a County Court Judge and was elevated to the Circuit Court by Governor Ron DeSantis in October 2019. Since then she has served in the Criminal Division primarily doing felony trials. She also handled First Appearances, Criminal Arraignments, and Adult Drug Court.  She was the recipient of the Peter Fairclough Memorial Recognition Award for her work with alcohol and substance-addicted individuals in Palm Beach County. Judge Shepherd has served as the judicial representative on the Homeless Advisory Board, has served as Chair of the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, has served on the Courthouse Security Committee, has initiated the Homeless Court planning committee and is a frequent guest speaker at local Palm Beach County schools.

She is married to William Shepherd, a Partner at Holland & Knight; and they have two boys.