Regina Marie Rodriguez (born 1963)United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Regina Rodriguez
/ref> is a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Colorado The United States District Court for the District of Colorado (in case citations, D. Colo. or D. Col.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ap ...

Early life and education

Rodriguez was born in 1963 in Gunnison, Colorado, to a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

father and Japanese-American mother. Her late father, Pete Rodriguez, played football for Western State Colorado University and went on to serve as an assistant coach in the National Football League, which made him one of the league's first Hispanic coaches. Rodriguez received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Iowa in 1985 and a

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 University of Colorado School of Law in 1988.

Career

Rodriguez began her legal career as an associate in the law firm of Cooper & Kelly, P.C. (now defunct) from 1988 to 1995. She served as an

assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado from 1995 to 2002, during which time she served as the deputy chief of the Civil Division from 1998 to 1999 and as chief of the civil division from 1999 to 2002. In addition, from 1997 to 1998, she served a four-month detail as deputy senior counsel for

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

in the United States Department of Justice. Previously, from 2002 to 2016, she worked in the Denver office of

Faegre & Benson Faegre & Benson LLP is a predecessor to the firm Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, which resulted after the firm merged in 2012 with Indianapolis-based Baker & Daniels LLP. Even prior to the merger, Faegre & Benson was the largest law firm in Minne ...

LLP (now Faegre Baker Daniels LLP) as a special counsel until she was elevated to partner in 2005. She was a partner in the Denver office of Hogan Lovells from 2016 to 2019, where she specialized in mass tort and product liability defense. She was a partner at

WilmerHale Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as Hale & Dorr and WilmerHale, is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is co-headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Boston. It was formed in 2004 thr ...

from 2019 until she was commissioned as a federal judge.

Federal judicial service

Expired nomination to district court under Obama

On April 28, 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Rodriguez to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court of the District of Colorado, to the seat vacated by Judge

Robert E. Blackburn Robert Edward Blackburn (born April 12, 1950) is a United States federal judge, senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Personal life and education Blackburn was born in Lakewood, C ...

, who assumed senior status on April 12, 2016. Her nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the

114th Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Ja ...

Renomination to district court under Biden

On March 30, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Rodriguez to serve as a United States district judge of the

."President Biden Announces Intent to Nominate 11 Judicial Candidates", White House, March 30, 2021
On April 19, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Rodriguez to the seat vacated by Judge

Marcia S. Krieger Marcia Smith Krieger (born March 3, 1954) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Early life and education Born in Denver, Colorado, Krieger graduated from Lewis and Clark College ...

, who assumed senior status on March 3, 2019. On April 28, 2021, a hearing was held on her nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On May 20, 2021, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 17–5 vote. On June 8, 2021, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 72–28 vote. She was confirmed later that day by a 72–28 vote. She received her judicial commission on July 1, 2021.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Regina Marie 1963 births Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges American judges of Mexican descent American lawyers of Mexican descent Assistant United States Attorneys Colorado lawyers Hispanic and Latino American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado People associated with Hogan Lovells People from Gunnison, Colorado United States district court judges appointed by Joe Biden University of Iowa alumni University of Colorado Law School alumni