Alberto Diaz - CONFIRMED

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Alberto Diaz is currently a Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Cases in   North Carolina, where he has served since 2005.  On November 4, 2009, President Obama nominated Judge Diaz to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals stating, Judge Diaz has " been [an] exceptional public servant[] for the people of North Carolina and I am honored to nominate [him] today to serve from the federal bench." 

Judge Diaz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1960.  He attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, and received a B.S. in Economics in 1983.  Diaz received his J.D. from New York University in 1988.  While there, he received the Moot Court Advocacy Award, and was the Senior Casebook Editor of the Moot Court Board.  The next year, he enrolled in Boston University, later earning a Masters' in Business Education there in 1993.  Diaz is a member of the North Carolina bar.

Diaz began his legal career in the Marines, where he worked as a prosecutor and defense counsel, handling over 80 felony and misdemeanor cases.  Later, he went on to be the Chief Review Officer, supervising three attorneys and processing a daily docket of over 100 criminal cases.  He later moved to the Navy's JAG Office, serving four years as appellate counsel and handling over 200 criminal appeals.  Diaz entered private practice in 1995, working at Hunton & Williams as an associate focusing on commercial litigation, where he stayed until moving to the bench in 2001.  In 1999 and 2000 he received the firm's E. Randolph Williams Award for public service, given to lawyers completing at least 100 pro bono hours in a calendar year.  While in private practice, Diaz continued serving the Marines as a JAG Reserve Appellate Defense Counsel, a Reserve Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary Military Judge, and a Reserve Appellate Military Judge in the Navy-Marine Corps' Court of Criminal Appeals until his retirement in 2006.  

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