Raul Antonio Cuervo was born in Havana, Cuba. He was the second of three sons and a daughter born to Leon and Marta Cuervo. Another sister was born in the US. Like so many in the Cuban community Raul’s family immigrated to America in the early 1960s after the communist takeover of Cuba.
The family initially settled in Baltimore, MD, his father, who had a degree in chemistry and pharmacology from the University of Havana, continued his studies at the University of Maryland. The children enrolled in public school while his mother mastered the mysteries of being an “American” housewife, raising five children in a strange environment. Adapting to living in a new country was difficult, yet interesting. Imagine seeing snow for the first time! But adapt they did.
In 1967, after his father earned his PhD in physiology, the family moved to Miami and settled in North Miami. Raul and his siblings graduated from North Miami Senior High School – Go Pioneers! His father went on to be a professor at the newly founded Florida International University, eventually becoming the chair of the biology department at the Modesto Maidique campus and retiring in 2007. After completing a two-year degree at Miami-Dade Raul enlisted in the US Army and in February 1976 was shipped off to Fort Jackson, SC for basic training. After that, he was transferred to Fort Benjamin Harrison, IN and trained to become a journalist at the Defense Information School.
One day a young PFC from a small town in Texas showed up to attend the school as well. Things got very interesting after that and following a whirlwind romance Raul and Lynn married the next February. They eventually had two sons, Raul Andres and Nicolas Paul. They were stationed at different units in West Germany, Raul at 317th Combat Engineer Battalion and Lynn at the headquarters company of a nearby Signal Battalion. While Lynn spent her days in an office, Raul spent many days and nights in the field training and on maneuvers.
Raul acknowledges that his military service was instrumental in instilling him with a “can do” attitude and ability to work well with people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal while at the 317th. Four years later after his honorable discharge from the Army, Raul enrolled at the University of Florida and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. He was then accepted to the UF Law School, was on the Law Review and graduated in 1985. After graduation, he was hired by one of the largest law firms in the US. Except for a short stint at another prominent group, he practiced with that firm both in Miami and in Washington, DC for his entire career. He was a very successful practicing attorney but always harbored a desire to be a judge.
In 2018, he was given the opportunity to serve our community when Governor Scott appointed him to fill a vacancy on the bench in Miami-Dade County Court. Since embarking on the second phase of his career, he has continued to apply the work ethic he developed as a soldier, a student, and an attorney to his work on the bench. Judge Cuervo is well regarded throughout the legal community and by his fellow jurists. He’s known for treating everyone who appears before him with dignity and fairness while applying the law as written.
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