Senate Approves Rodriguez Judicial Nomination 96-0

© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.

By Allen Pusey

(June 5) – Another vacant Texas judicial seat was filled Tuesday when the U.S. Senate voted 96-0 to approve the nomination of human rights lawyer and advocate Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. as a district judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District.

Four senators did not vote.

Rodriguez was nominated by President Trump in September. He fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Gregg Costa to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by President Barack Obama. Costa’s seat in the Galveston Division of the Southern District had been open since May 2014.

At the time of his nomination Rodriguez was working as a field office director for the International Justice Mission in the Dominican Republic, where he led efforts to combat the sex trafficking of children. His work was said to contribute to the rescue of at least 110 child victims and the conviction of 21 of the perpetrators. Before that, Rodriguez led similar efforts against the sexual abuse of children in Bolivia.

Rodriguez earned his B.A. from Yale University and his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. From 1997 to 1998, he served as a briefing attorney for then-Justice Nathan L. Hecht on the Supreme Court of Texas.

Before joining International Justice Mission, he was a partner in the Dallas office of Baker Botts, where his practice focused on commercial litigation.

Van Beckwith, a partner at Baker Botts, made it clear in an email to The Texas Lawbook that he holds Rodriguez in the highest esteem.

“I’ve known Fernando since he was a summer associate here from the University of Texas law school in the early 1990s and he, [wife] Terry, and his children are dear friends of mine and my family. He’s one of the most trustworthy, humble, thoughtful, and compassionate persons I’ve ever known.

“He’s been tested through personal challenges and loss, some of the toughest assignments as a lawyer, and a career that has taken him to the inner city with Teach for America, a judicial clerkship with Justice Hecht, through one of the largest trials in Texas bankruptcy history, and then on to serve in Bolivia and the Dominican Republic. He has the character and resolve to serve Texas and the nation with extraordinary distinction.

“We miss him as our law partner, but the United States judiciary will benefit from his brilliant legal mind, thoughtful and humble care for others, and his dedicated work ethic and commitment to professional excellence.”

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