Rubén Castillo Announced Winner of the Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Awards: North America 2021 for Outstanding Contributions
Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm, is pleased to announce that Akerman Partner Rubén Castillo, former Chief Judge of the Northern District of Illinois, has been selected as the winner of the Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Awards: North America 2021 in the “Outstanding Contribution” award category. This award category recognizes a partner that has shown an outstanding commitment across multiple aspects of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.
Judge Castillo has long been an advocate of change and is viewed by his peers as a pivotal force in advocating diversity and inclusion in the federal court system and the Chicago legal community. He spent the early days of his career serving as regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization, where he helped create the first Hispanic congressional district in Illinois via federal redistricting litigation. Following his work with MALDEF, he was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve on the federal bench, eventually becoming the first Latino Chief Judge of the Northern District of Illinois. During his tenure, he served as vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, helping write the federal sentencing guidelines and authoring the Commission’s chapter on sentencing corporations. After his tenure at the Sentencing Commission, Judge Castillo expanded Chicago’s Federal Reentry Court to assist former federal inmates as they re-entered their communities. In 2020, he was tapped by Chief Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer to spearhead efforts aimed at identifying racial inequality and achieving equal justice for all within the court.
A first chair litigator, Judge Castillo focuses his practice at Akerman on corporate investigations, white collar criminal defense, private arbitration, and mediation work for litigants. As chair of Akerman Bench, he leads one of the nation’s largest panels of former appellate and trial court judges, seasoned appellate lawyers, and former state and federal law clerks, who provide guidance and feedback for optimal trial and appellate court presentations.
