Franklin U. Valderrama

Valderrama earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and his Juris Doctor from the DePaul University College of Law.[2]

Valderrama began his career at the Chicago office of Landau, Omahana & Kopka, where he was an associate for a year. He then worked at Sanchez, Daniels & Hoffman in Chicago, where his practice focused on trial litigation. He left the firm as a partner when he become a judge. He has also served as an adjunct professor at UIC John Marshall Law School, where he taught pre-trial civil litigation.[2]

From 2007 to 2020, Valderrama served as an Associate Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County.[2] His state court service terminated when he became a federal district judge.

On February 5, 2020, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Valderrama to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. On February 12, 2020, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Valderrama to the seat vacated by Judge Rubén Castillo, who retired on September 27, 2019.[3] A hearing on his nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee was held on June 24, 2020.[4] On July 30, 2020, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 16–6 vote.[5] The full Senate confirmed his nomination on September 17, 2020 by a 68–26 vote.[6] He received his judicial commission on September 23, 2020.

• Franklin U. Valderrama at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.