Jorge E. Pérez-Díaz ( April 24, 1956 in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

) served as Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico from 1991 to 1992. He was appointed by former Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. Prior to becoming the Secretary of Justice, Pérez-Díaz served as Prosecutor General of Puerto Rico from 1989 to 1991. He is currently

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's Senior Vice President and Special Counsel, Litigation and International Affairs.

Education

Pérez-Díaz received his bachelor's degree,

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

, from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

in 1978 and received his law degree, magna cum laude from the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It ...

in 1981. He was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Puerto Rico Law Review. Pérez-Díaz received his master's of law from the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1983.

Clerkships

After

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

, Pérez-Díaz served as a

judicial clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significan ...

for Chief Justice

Jose Trias Monge Jose is the English language, English transliteration of the Hebrew language, Hebrew and Aramaic language, Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods ...

of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and for

Stephen Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...

, a Judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts * ...

and future Associate Justice of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Legal career

From 1985 to 1986, Pérez-Díaz was the Director of the Federal Litigation Division at

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

for the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

of Puerto Rico. From 1986 to 1989, he was the Special Assistant to the Governor in Charge of Federal Affairs in the Office of Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. In 1989, Governor Hernández Colón appointed Pérez-Díaz as Solicitor General of the Puerto Rico and, in 1991, Governor Colón elevated Pérez-Díaz to Attorney General of the

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

. From 1993 to 2016, Pérez-Díaz was a partner at the law firm of Pietrantoni Méndez & Alvarez in

. In November 2010, Commissioner

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served as ...

appointed Perez-Diaz the

's Interim Head of Latin American Oversight where he was responsible for improving operations in Latin America. In March 2016, Commissioner Rob Manfred appointed Pérez-Diaz as

's Senior Vice President and Special Counsel, Litigation and International Affairs. Pérez-Diaz liaises with the legal counsel of all 30 Major League Baseball clubs and manages various legal issues in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti and throughout Latin America.

Personal

Pérez-Díaz married Lizette Maldonado Taylor, a former aide to former Governor Rafael Hernandez Colon and former Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila, on December 30, 1989. He has two children, Maria Victoria, born December 12, 1991, and Andrea Isabel, born August 26, 1994.

References

Living people 1956 births Fairfield University alumni University of Puerto Rico alumni Harvard Law School alumni Puerto Rican lawyers Lawyers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Major League Baseball central office executives Secretaries of Justice of Puerto Rico {{PuertoRico-bio-stub