José Antonio Fusté (born November 3, 1943 in Arizona) is a former

United States District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

and former Chief Judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (in case citations, D.P.R.; ) is the United States district court, federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is based in San ...

Education and career

Born on November 3, 1943, in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, Fusté received a

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

in 1965, and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of Puerto Rico Law School The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is the law school of the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System and the only public law school in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1913 at ...

in 1968. He was in private practice in San Juan from 1968 to 1985, and began teaching

Admiralty law Maritime law or admiralty law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and conflict of laws, private international law governing the relations ...

at the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is the law school of the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System and the only public law school in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1913 at ...

in 1972.

Federal judicial service

On September 27, 1981, Fusté was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Juan R. Torruella Juan Rafael Torruella del Valle Sr. (June 7, 1933October 26, 2020) was a Puerto Rican jurist. He served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1984 until his death, and as chief judge of ...

. Fusté was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on October 25, 1985, and received his commission on October 28, 1985. He served as Chief Judge from 2004 to 2011. He retired on June 1, 2016.

Career after judicial service

After his retirement, Fusté became a partner at the law firm of Peters, LaPlaca and Fusté (PLF). Fusté's partners include former federal law clerks, including Damian LaPlaca, who worked for Fusté when he was a judge. Fusté's PLF biography indicates that he "can handle all types of civil and criminal federal court litigation and can handle white collar criminal defense in the local courts as alternative dispute resolutions as well."

Appointment

In October, 2007, Chief Judge Fusté appointed acting

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

Rosa Emilia Rodríguez Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez is an American lawyer who served as the United States attorney for the District of Puerto Rico from 2007 to 2019. She is a career prosecutor, starting in the Puerto Rico Department of Justice and subsequently in the ...

to a four-year extension of her term. .

Withdrawal from the bar

Fusté's request to withdraw as a member of the

Puerto Rico Bar Association The Bar Association of Puerto Rico (BAPR) or ''Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico (CAPR)'' is the bar association of Puerto Rico. It is the oldest professional association in Puerto Rico, and among the oldest bar associations in the world. The ...

, a compulsory membership organization, was approved by the

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico () is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme courts of the states of the United State ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuste, Jose Antonio 1943 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Hispanic and Latino American judges Hispanic and Latino American lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico Lawyers from San Juan, Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico alumni United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan University of Puerto Rico faculty