Attorney Profile

Kathleen Passidomo

Senator Kathleen Passidomo was elected to the Florida Senate in more recently. She served as President of the Florida State Senate for the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions. She was formerly a member of the Florida House of Representatives having first been elected in November, 2010 and re-elected in 2012 and 2014.

Senator Passidomo graduated cum laude from Trinity University (Washington, D.C.) in May of 1975 and received her law degree from Stetson University College of Law in December of 1978. She is a partner in the firm Kelly Passidomo & Kelly LLP and has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1979. She is a Florida Bar Board Certified Real Estate Lawyer. She received the 1990 Attorney of the Year Award from the Florida Law Related Education Association of the Florida Bar and was named as the “Attorney of the Year” by the Collier County Women’s Bar Association for 2005. She also received the 2010 Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award.

Senator Passidomo is a Past President of the Board of Directors of the Collier County Bar Association and of the Collier County Women’s Bar Association. She was a founding member of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Collier County Bar Association. She also administered the Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Program for Collier County from 1982 through 1984 and coordinated the Court Procedures Intern Program of the Collier County Bar Association and the Collier County Public Schools from 1989 to 2008. She was a member of the Florida Bar Grievance Committee for the 20th Judicial Circuit from 1983 through 1986 and a member of the Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission from 2001 through 2008. She was a founding member of the State of Florida Twentieth Judicial Circuit Juvenile Justice Board and the founding Chairman of the Collier County Juvenile Justice Council. She also served as a Commissioner of the Florida Commission on the Status of Women and was Chairman in 2006.

Senator Passidomo is a graduate of Leadership Florida Class XII, Leadership Collier Class of 1991 and Leadership Marco Island Class of 2014 and served on the Leadership Collier Foundation Board from 2004 to 2010. She also was a founding member and served as Vice-Chairman of the Collier County Foreclosure Task Force, a partnership of community, civic and governmental organizations formed to provide pro bono advice and assistance to people living in Collier County facing foreclosure during the past economic downturn. She currently serves on the Collier County Identity Theft Task Force.

Other past community service of Senator Passidomo include serving as Co-Chair of the Community Engagement Initiative of the Education Foundation of Collier County-Champions for Learning (“Connect Now”); founding Member, and a Past President of the Board of Directors, Southwest Florida Land Preservation Trust, Inc., member of the R/UDAT Open Space and Recreation Committee and a Past President of United Way of Collier County. She was also a long term member of the Collier County Junior Deputies League, The Collier County 100 Club, the Junior Achievement of SW Florida Corporate Board, the Shelter for Abused Women and Children of Collier County Advisory Board and a founding Member and Past President of the Collier County Child Advocacy Council, Inc. She was also a founding director of the Collier County Senior Resource Center, Inc. and also served on the Leadership Council on Aging. She recently concluded her service as a member of the Board of Trustees of Hodges University where she served on the Executive Committee.

In 1991 Senator Passidomo received the Girl’s Incorporated of Naples-Collier County “She Knows Where She’s Going” Award. In 1996 she was awarded the Leadership Collier Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2007 she received the Wallace Benevolent Award by the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collier County. In 2010 she received the Attorney of the Year Award by the Legal Aid Service of Collier County, the Ad Miller Service Award by the Naples Area Board of Realtors and the “Glass Slipper” award of the Education Foundation of Collier County. In 2000 she and her husband were co-recipients of the Naples Daily News Collier County Citizen of the Year award.

For her work in the legislature Senator Passidomo received numerous recognitions including the 2014 Florida Council on Aging Advocacy Award; the 2014 Legislator of the Year Award from the Elder Law Section of the Florida Bar; the 2013 Legislator of the Year Award from the Florida Land Title Association; the 2013 Legislator of the Year Award from the Florida Bankers Association; the 2013 Legislator of the Year Award from the American Institute of Architects; the 2013 Legislator of the Year Award from the Community Advocacy Network, the 2016 Legislative Champion Award from the Florida Sheriff’s Association and the Distinguished Advocate Award from the Florida Chamber of Commerce in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. She also received the 2016 State Legislative Achievement Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Kathleen and her husband, John, have lived in Naples since

1979 and have three children, Catarina, Francesca, and Gabriella and two grandsons, William and Emilio.