Janelle Irwin Taylor
Family law and foreclosure defense attorney Wendy DePaul is entering the race for Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Group 39, she announced this week.
DePaul is managing partner at the firm Cohen & Depaul, which she founded in 2004. DePaul also handles collections and bankruptcy cases and previously worked in corporate, probate, criminal defense, property and civil law.
DePaul is the third candidate to join the race. She joins local attorneys Bill Yanger and Ashley Ivanov in the race.
DePaul has been an attorney in the Tampa Bay region for 22 years. She earned her law degree in from Stetson University College of Law, an undergraduate degree in accounting from Florida State University and has been a Certified Public Accountant in Florida since 1995.
Announcing her candidacy, DePaul said she has been committed to ensuring people of all incomes have access to counsel and the judicial process. DePaul has been a volunteer with Bay Area Legal Services since 2011 and joined the group’s board of directors in 2013.
As an attorney, DePaul provides intake services, handles pro bono cases and volunteers at family forms and violence injunction clinics. Her pro bono work has been recognized by the Florida Supreme Court for the last four years and she serves on the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee.
DePaul also volunteers for the Bankruptcy Forms Clinic and remains active with the Florida Bar Association as co-chair of the group’s community outreach committee. She also volunteers for law week, which promotes access to the judicial system.
She also takes her community services out of the law community, volunteering from Rescue Cats of Florida and the Pet Resource Center and co-chairs the “To The Rescue!” Fundraising event. DePaul is a Hillsborough County Commission appointee to the county’s animal advisory committee, which she chaired during the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
DePaul is also appointed as a county Child Care Licensing Hearing Officer.
