Franklin Ulyses Valderrama (born 1962) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Education

Valderrama earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the DePaul University College of Law.

Career

Valderrama began his career at the Chicago office of Landau, Omahana & Kopka, where he was an associate for a year. He then worked at Sanchez, Daniels & Hoffman in Chicago, where his practice focused on trial litigation. He left the firm as a partner when he became a judge. He has also served as an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

UIC John Marshall Law School University of Illinois Chicago School of Law is a public law school in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1899, the school offers programs for both part-time and full-time students, with both day and night classes available, and offers January enrol ...

, where he taught pre-trial civil litigation.

State judicial service

From 2007 to 2020, Valderrama served as an Associate Judge of the

Cook County Circuit Court The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 judicial circuits in Illinois as well as one of the largest unified court systems in the United States — second only in size to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County since that co ...

. His state court service terminated when he became a federal district judge.

Federal judicial service

On February 5, 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Valderrama to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. On February 12, 2020, his nomination was sent to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. President Trump nominated Valderrama to the seat vacated by Judge Rubén Castillo, who retired on September 27, 2019. A hearing on his nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee was held on June 24, 2020. On July 30, 2020, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 16–6 vote. On September 17, 2020, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by a 68–26 vote. He received his judicial commission on September 23, 2020.

References

External links