Gainesville’s Julie Waldman Receives Florida Bar’s Claude Pepper Outstanding Government Lawyer Award

Julie Waldman, Deputy Center Administrator at the Tacachale Center and Gainesville attorney, recently received the Claude Pepper Outstanding Government Lawyer Award at The Florida Bar's annual convention in Orlando.

Each year, The Florida Bar’s Government Lawyer Section recommends an honoree, and the president of The Florida Bar presents the award recognizing an “outstanding Florida lawyer who has made exemplary contributions” as a practicing government lawyer. It is named after Claude Pepper, a Florida attorney, U.S. senator, and congressman, who was an advocate on behalf of the people and who represented the highest ideals of government service through 12 presidential administrations.

Waldman has spent a career serving Florida’s Agency for Persons with Disabilities, where she is currently the Deputy Center Administrator at the Tacachale Center, overseeing residential and vocational programming for 330 individuals with developmental disabilies.

During her career as a lawyer for the agency, including years as the Deputy General Counsel, she demonstrated a mastery of the law in nearly every type of litigation forum, from criminal and civil cases to guardianship and mental health matters. She has appeared in the trial courts of every circuit in Florida and argued more than 50 cases before Florida’s District Courts of Appeal.

Waldman’s commitment to public service extends beyond her legal career. She gives back to her community through volunteer work and mentoring with the Rotary Club of Gainesville, the Justice Teaching initiative, and the Alachua County Teen Court Program. She serves as an officer on the Board of Directors of the Reichert House, an after-school program for young men who need assistance in making the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

“Julie possesses a unique ability to combine an intrinsic understanding of the law with a distinctive awareness of the challenges facing the mentally challenged population,” Michael J. Higer, outgoing Bar president, said in presenting the award. “Overall, she exhibits the highest ideals we expect from a member of the Bar – commitment, diligence, and integrity – and always working toward the greater good.”


Julie Waldman, Deputy Center Administrator