Hon. Susan Courtwright Rodriguez

The Honorable Susan C. Rodriguez was sworn-in as a U.S. District Judge in the Western District of North Carolina on December 8, 2025. She previously served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge since April 2023. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Rodriguez was a partner at a national law firm, where she was the co-leader of the firm’s financial institutions industry team. Her private practice experience focused on government investigations and white-collar matters. She has represented clients in numerous government investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), among others. She was recognized for her outstanding work for clients through Chambers rankings in both 2022 and 2023 for Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations in North Carolina and nationally for Fintech Legal: Corporate, Securities & Financing. She also was named to “North Carolina Rising Stars,” Government Relations, Super Lawyers, 2017-2019.

Judge Rodriguez also served as a legal policy advisor at the Department of Homeland Security. She was a federal law clerk for the Honorable Frank D. Whitney, U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, handling both civil and criminal matters. Prior to that, she was a presidential appointee, serving as a staffer in the White House Counsel’s office from 2005-2006, handling management of judicial nominations and assisting with responses to congressional investigations.