She was born in New York City, raised in California to parents of Colombian descent, received two BAs at UCLA and her JD at Whittier Law School. Perez is best known for presiding over cases in the shows La Corte del Pueblo (1999–2000) and La Corte de Familia (2000–2005) on the Telemundo network. She hosted the syndicated American arbitration-based reality court show, Cristina's Court, which debuted in 2006. In February 2009, the series was cancelled after three seasons. Ms. Perez returned to the court show genre in the fall of 2012 with Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez, a court show with real cases that are re-enacted with actors and scripts. Perez is the first Hispanic judge to cross over from Spanish-language to English-language television. Justice for All aired in both English and Spanish. In July 2013, the show was renewed for two further seasons.
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