Chief Judge Ruben Castillo Offers 196th Commencement Address

Judge CastilloUnited States District Court Chief Judge Rubén Castillo will address graduates and their families as the speaker for The John Marshall Law School’s 196th commencement ceremonies on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Students also will hear from Carlin Comerouski, the class valedictorian.

The law school will be awarding 140 J.D. degrees, 36 LL.M. degrees and eight M.S. degrees.

Judge Castillo will receive an honorary degree from John Marshall, and George Drost will be recognized with the Adjunct Teaching Award.

Castillo has served on the bench the past 19 years. When he was named the court’s chief judge in 2013, he became its first Hispanic in that position.

After graduating from Northwestern University Law School in 1979, he joined Jenner & Block LLP as an associate attorney handling civil and criminal matters.  He was the firm’s first Hispanic lawyer.

In 1984, Castillo joined the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago. His work as a prosecutor was recognized with numerous awards, including the Department of Justice Special Achievement Award, and special commendations for exemplary work from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the then-United States Customs Service.

From 1988 to 1991, Castillo served as director and regional counsel for the Chicago office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Under his leadership, the Hispanic advocacy organization initiated actions to address employment discrimination, voting rights, education, immigration and other pertinent issues.

After leaving MALDEF, Castillo continued his work on key pro bono cases. He was MALDEF’s outside litigation counsel for a 1991 congressional redistricting case that led to the creation of Chicago’s first primarily Hispanic congressional district. He won a record jury verdict for a Hispanic prison inmate, and he served as an independent court monitor for a consent decree requiring the State of Illinois to increase bilingual services for Hispanic children in foster care.

He left MALDEF to become a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He litigated several large commercial cases and helped the firm expand its complex criminal defense practice until his appointment to the bench in 1994.

In 1999, Castillo was appointed vice-chair of the United States Sentencing Commission, an independent agency within the judiciary establishing sentencing policies and practices for the federal criminal justice system. Castillo was the first Hispanic judge appointed in the commission’s 14-year history. He served two six-year terms on the commission. Today, he serves on the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts, the policymaking body of the federal court system.

Castillo has been recognized for his many contributions to the community. In 2008, he was named both the “Hispanic Judge of the Year” by the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the “Catholic Lawyer of the Year” by the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago.

In 2011, MALDEF awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award. The students at Northwestern University Law School also have presented him with the “Outstanding Adjunct Professor” award on numerous occasions during his 20 years as a trial advocacy instructor.

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