About Linda D.
Linda D. Carley earned her law degree from Stetson University College of Law in 1985. She entered the legal profession at a moment when courtroom experience and firm practice often set the path for later public service. Her Stetson education provided the foundation for a career that has moved between private practice and the bench.
She began her professional life as an associate at Gray, Harris and Robinson in 1985. That early post placed her in a firm environment where she could learn litigation practice and client representation. A few years later she struck out on her own and, in 1989, became the owner and senior lawyer of Linda Schoonover, P.A., taking on the responsibilities of managing a practice while handling a growing client roster.
Her career took a different turn in 2011 when she took the oath as a Circuit Judge for the 18th Judicial Circuit. On the bench she handled a wide array of matters that come before a circuit court. Colleagues described her tenure as a period in which she applied courtroom experience to the duties of presiding over trials, ruling on procedural and substantive questions, and managing court calendars.
After serving on the bench, she returned to private practice. In 2018 she founded Carley Law LLC and assumed the role of owner and senior lawyer. That move marked a return to client work and firm leadership. Running her own firm required juggling case work, client strategy, and the administrative side of practice.
Carley has practiced law in Florida throughout her career. Her professional life shows a pattern familiar to many in the profession: training at a law school, early years in firm practice, an extended period of judicial service, and a return to private practice. Each phase informed the next. Time on the bench shaped how she approaches disputes and client counsel, and her earlier firm experience shaped her courtroom perspective.
She now leads Carley Law LLC and practices law in Florida, providing representation in Florida state courts and managing matters that come to her office.
