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Move over Judge JudyJudge Karenis in The House!Karen Mills-Francis is the star of a new daytimecourtroom reality show, “Judge Karen.”BY IAN FISHERAfter a chance encounterin a parking garage inMiami, Judge KarenMills-Francis (JD87) had an idea forher next career step.Mills-Francis was a county judgefor Miami-Dade County when she raninto her colleague, Circuit Judge DavidYoung, in the spring of 2007. Young hadjust been hired for his own TV show,which is now in its second season.“I saw him in the garage parking lotand I congratulated him, and I said, ‘Iwonder why nobody has ever contactedme about a court show,’ ” Mills-Francissaid. “About two weeks later, I got acall from someone from Sony PicturesTelevision asking if I would be willingto come to New York to audition for ashow. I did, and here I am today.”After a recommendation to Sonyfrom Young, Mills-Francis is now TV’s“Judge Karen,” which began airing onSept. 8 in syndication. To differentiateher program from others in the saturatedcourt-TV show market, Mill-Francismade a few innovative additions. Forexample, she is the only TV judge whoallows the litigants in her courtroom todirect and cross examine their witnesses,which often turns contentious.Further, her courtroom has a witnessstand and the witnesses are sequesteredduring other testimony. This is morerepresentative of a real courtroom, whilethe other court TV shows often have thewitnesses standing with the litigantsthrough the whole trial.“When I agreed to do this show, itwas important to me that it be court andthen entertaining,” Mills-Francis said.The show also includes an “AskJudge Karen” segment at the end of eachepisode. Viewers send in videotapedlegal questions, and Mills-Francisresearches their questions and answersthem on-air.Mills-Francis is satisfied with how theshow has developed, and it is doing well inthe ratings, she said.“It’s kind of hard to be objective, becauseit is me on TV,” she said. “Of courseI’m going to say ‘Oh it’s a wonderful show,because I did a great job.’ But then, othershave to say that, and I guess they have spokenbecause we have very good ratings.”According to Sony, the show is one ofthe highest rated shows in Miami.Mills-Francis was born and raised inMiami, which some might call the TVjudge capitol of the world. Five of thejudges on TV came from Miami, Mills-Francis said.Before stepping down from thebench in April to begin working on herprogram, Mills-Francis was a countyjudge in Miami. She won an election in2000 against a 24-year incumbent judge.Campaigning gave her a new sense ofher community, she said.Mills-Francis handled domestic violence,criminal traffic and general misdemeanorcases as a judge.Prior to becoming a judge, Mills-Francis served as a traffic magistrate fortwo years in Miami. She also worked asa public defender and as a private defenseattorney after law school. Whileworking as a public defender in thejuvenile division, she began to notice40 UF LAW