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Franklin U. Valderrama

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Franklin Ulyses Valderrama

Nonpartisan

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Tenure

2020 - Present

Years in position

Prior offices:

Cook County Circuit Court

Years in office: 2007 - 2020

Report an officeholder change

Education

Bachelor's

University of Illinois, Chicago, 1985

Law

DePaul University College of Law, 1988

Contact

Official website

Franklin U. Valderrama is a judge on theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was nominated by PresidentDonald Trump (R) on February 12, 2020, and confirmed by a 68-26 vote of theU.S. Senate on September 17, 2020. To see a full list of judges appointed byDonald Trump,click here.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94U.S. District Courts. They are the generaltrial courts of theUnited States federal courts. To learn more about the court,click here.

Valderrama was an associate judge on theCook Judicial Circuit Court inIllinois from 2007 to 2020.^[1]

Judicial nominations and appointments

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2020-present)

See also:Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

On February 12, 2020, PresidentDonald Trump (R) nominated Valderrama to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. TheU.S. Senate confirmed Valderrama by a vote of 68-26 on September 17, 2020.^[2] He received commission on September 23, 2020.^[3] To read more about the federal nominations process,click here.

Nomination Tracker

Nominee Information
Name: Valderrama
Court:United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Progress
Confirmed 218 days after nomination.
ANominated: February 12, 2020
AABA Rating:Substantial majority well qualified / Minority qualified
Questionnaire:Questionnaire
AHearing: June 24, 2020

QFRs:QFRs(Hover over QFRs to read more)

AReported: July 30, 2020
AConfirmed: September 17, 2020
AVote: 68-26

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Valderrama by a vote of 68-26 on September 17, 2020.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website,click here.

Valderrama confirmation vote (September 17, 2020)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	43	0	2
Republican	24	26	3
Independent	1	0	1
Total	68	26	6

Change in Senate rules

See also:

Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress

Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

United States federal courts

Valderrama was confirmed to a U.S. District Court under a new precedent the Senate established.

On April 3, 2019, theU.S. Senate voted 51-48 in favor of a change to chamber precedent lowering the maximum time allowed for debate on executive nominees to posts below the Cabinet level and on nominees todistrict court judgeships from 30 hours after invokingcloture to two.^[4]

The change was passed under a procedure, often referred to as thenuclear option, that requires 51 votes rather than 60.^[5]

It was the third use of thenuclear option in Senate history. In 2013, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to confirm presidential nominees, except those to theSupreme Court. In 2017, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold required to confirm Supreme Court nominees.^[6] For more, seeFilibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress.

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

Valderrama had his hearing before theSenate Judiciary Committee on June 24, 2020.^[7] The committee reported Valderrama's nomination to the fullU.S. Senate on July 30, 2020, after a 16-6 vote.^[8]

Nomination

On February 5, 2020, PresidentDonald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Valderrama to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.^[9] The president officially nominated Valderrama on February 12.^[2]

Valderrama was nominated to succeed JudgeRuben Castillo, who retired on September 27, 2019.

U.S. SenatorsDick Durbin andTammy Duckworth, both Democrats from Illinois, said of the nomination ofDavid Dugan,Iain D. Johnston, and Valderrama, "We are pleased that the President nominated Judge Dugan, Judge Johnston, and Judge Valderrama to fill vacant district court judgeships in Illinois. All three nominees were carefully reviewed by nonpartisan screening committees we established to evaluate potential candidates, and we expect these nominees to be diligent, thoughtful, and principled District Court Judges."^[10]

TheAmerican Bar Association rated Valderramawell qualified by a substantial majority andqualified by a minority for the position.^[11] To read more about ABA ratings,click here.

Illinois Cook Judicial Circuit Court (2007-2020)

Valderrama was appointed to theCircuit Court of Cook County inIllinois in March 2007.^[12] He left office in 2020 after he was confirmed to theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Early life and education

Valderrama was born in 1962 in Panama City, Panama. He earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1985 and hisJ.D. from The DePaul University College of Law in 1988.^[13]

Professional career

2020-present: Judge,U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
2007-2020: Associate judge,Illinois Cook Judicial Circuit Court
1993-2007: Sanchez, Daniels & Hoffman LLP
- 1996-2007: Partner
- 1993-1996: Litigation associate
1992-1993: Associate, Landau, Omahana & Kopka
1989-1992: Associate, Law Office of Tom Leahy
1988-1989: Staff attorney,United States bankruptcy court, Northern District of Illinois^[13]

Awards and associations

Awards

2018: Judge of the Year award, Chicago Kent College of Law Hispanic Latino Law Student Association
2016: Thurgood Marshall Award, National Bar Association
2016: Kenneth E. Wilson Award, Cook County Bar Association
2007: Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, DePaul University College of Law Latino Law Student Association^[13]

Associations

American Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
Cook County Bar Association
Hispanic Laywers Association of Illinois
Illinois Associationof Defense Counsel
Illinois Judges Association
Illinois Judicial Council
Illinois Latino Judges Association
Illinois State Bar Association
National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel
Puerto Rico Bar Association^[13]

About the court

Northern District of Illinois
Seventh Circuit

Judgeships
Posts: 23
Judges: 23
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief:Virginia Kendall
Active judges:Georgia Alexakis,Jorge L. Alonso,John Robert Blakey,Edmond E. Chang,Sharon Coleman,Jeffrey Cummings,Jeremy Daniel,Robert Dow,Sara Lee Ellis,Sunil Harjani,LaShonda A. Hunt,Lindsay Jenkins,Iain David Johnston,Virginia Kendall,John Kness,Martha Pacold,April Perry,Mary Rowland,Steven Seeger,Manish Shah,John Tharp Jr.,Franklin Ulyses Valderrama,Andrea R. Wood Senior judges: Marvin Aspen,Elaine Bucklo,Suzanne Conlon,Thomas M. Durkin,Robert Gettleman,Joan Gottschall,Ronald Guzman,Frederick Kapala,Matthew Kennelly,Charles Kocoras,Joan Lefkow,George Marovich,Charles Norgle,Rebecca Pallmeyer,Philip Reinhard,James Zagel

TheUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94United States district courts. The district operates out of Chicago and Rockford,Illinois. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit located in the same courthouse as theNorthern District of Illinois in Chicago.

The Northern District of Illinois hasoriginal jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:

TheEastern Division, coveringCook,DuPage,Grundy,Kane,Kendall,Lake County,LaSalle, andWill counties

TheWestern Division, coveringBoone,Carroll,DeKalb,Jo Daviess,Lee,McHenry,Ogle,Stephenson,Whiteside, andWinnebago counties

To read opinions published by this court, clickhere.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by theSenate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends ablue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

External links

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Officeholder

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Website

Suggest a link

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois 2020-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Cook County Circuit Court 2007-2020	Succeeded by -