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 and La Corte de Familia on the Telemundo network. In September 2006 Perez's book Living by Los Dichos: Advice from a Mother to a Daughter was published by Simon & Schuster. In March 2010, Perez's second book It's All about the Woman Who Wears It: 10 Laws for Being Smart, Successful and Sexy Too was released. She is married to Christopher Gonzalez.
Television
She hosted the syndicated American arbitration-based reality court show, Cristina's Court, which debuted in 2006. It was filmed at KRIV, the FOXowned-and-operated station in Houston. This made Perez one of four Hispanic judges that presided over an English-language American TV judge show, along with Maria Lopez, Alex Ferrer, and Marilyn Milian. The show was executive produced by Peter Brennan and directed by Arthur Bergel. Perez is the first Hispanic judge to cross over from Spanish-language to English-language television. Her ancestry is Colombian, rather than Mexican or Cuban, as had been thought by some of her viewers. To date, the defunct series is one of only two shows to win three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program. In the show's 2008 second season and 2009 third season, it won the first two Daytime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program" at the 34th and 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. It won an additional "Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program Award" at the 36th Annual Daytime Emmys on June 25 of 2010, despite the show being cancelled by this point. This was due to the Emmy Awards being handed out for the previous television season. The series was cancelled after three seasons in February 2009. Original episodes would continue to be produced and the show would air through September 2009. Perez participated in a weekly radio segment called "Sex In the News" on the Playboy Radio, which is broadcast on Sirius satellite radio. According to the Syndicated Network Television Association, Cristina ranked as one of the most trustworthy and influential syndicated hosts on television, ranking second behind Oprah Winfrey among adults 18 to 34 years old. Ms. Perez returned to the court show genre in the fall of 2012 with Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez. The program is produced by Entertainment Studios which produces two other court shows, America's Court with Judge Ross and We the People With Gloria Allred, all of which have real cases that are re-enacted with actors and scripts. Justice for All airs in both English and Spanish. In July 2013, the show was renewed for two further seasons.
