Fernando Rodriguez, Jr.

Since June 2018, Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. has served as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division.  

Judge Rodriguez began his legal career as a briefing attorney for then-Justice Nathan L. Hecht of the Supreme Court of Texas.  Following the judicial clerkship, he practiced law in Dallas, Texas with Baker Botts LLP., maintaining a commercial litigation practice for eleven years.  

In 2010, Judge Rodriguez joined the International Justice Mission, serving over eight years as Field Office Director, first in Bolivia and then in the Dominican Republic.  In that capacity, he led efforts to support the local and national government in the investigation and prosecution of child sexual assault and human trafficking cases, as well as in the services provided to survivors for their recovery and empowerment.    

Judge Rodriguez graduated with a B.A. from Yale University and from the University of Texas School of Law.  Before obtaining his law degree, he taught at an elementary school in Houston, Texas through Teach for America.  

Judge Rodriguez and his wife Terry have been married for almost thirty years and have four children.