Cristina M. Suárez was named City Attorney of the City of Coral Gables in 2023. She is the chief legal officer and general counsel for the city, serving as counsel to the City Commission, City officials, and Departments, providing legal opinions and interpretations on behalf of the city and supervising the City Attorney’s Office and outside counsel. She is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in City, County, and Local Government Law.

Prior to being named City Attorney she served as Deputy City Attorney and City Prosecutor since November 2017. In this role she was responsible for advising the City Attorney, the Assistant City Manager/Building Official, and various departments such as Public Works, Development Services, Finance, Economic Development, and Information Technology. She served as counsel to the Construction Regulation Board and prosecuted code enforcement citation appeals before a Special Master.

She joined Coral Gables in July 2016 as Assistant City Attorney. Prior to joining the city, she was in private practice focusing on international commercial disputes and financial services litigation. She also served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable G. Kendall Sharp, Senior District Judge in the Middle District of Florida.

A graduate of Florida International University, she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in English Education and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the College of Law, graduating first in her class.

While in law school, she was a recipient of the Dean’s Scholar Scholarship and served as president of the Board of Advocates and as comments editor for FIU Law Review.

Suárez was recognized as an Up and Comer by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce International Business Leadership Awards in 2016. She was selected to the Top Up and Comer list by South Florida Legal Guide in 2016 and the Florida Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers each year from 2013 to 2016.

An active FIU alumnus, she served on the FIU College of Law Alumni Board and in 2018 was the recipient of the FIU Alumni Association Torch Award for Community Leadership. Suárez chaired the nomination committee for the South Florida Chapter of Women in International Trade. She is a member of the Coral Gables Bar Association, the Cuban American Bar Association, and is admitted to practice in all Florida State Courts as well as the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in City, County and Local Government Law.