Hon. Julio M. Fuentes ’75 - Jaeckle Award 2024
Hon. Julio M. Fuentes ’75, Sr. United States Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, received the 2024 Edwin F. Jaeckle Award, the highest honor the law school and the UB Law Alumni Association can bestow. He has mentored dozens of UB School of Law students and welcomed over 50 of them as summer interns.
About this Interview
Date
Jan. 19, 2024
Occasion
The Edwin F. Jaeckle Award presentation at the Annual New York City Alumni Luncheon.
Place
Union League Club, 38 E. 37th St., New York City, NY
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About the Hon. Julio M. Fuentes ’75
Judge Fuentes served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, hearing cases from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Elevated to that role in 2000, he assumed senior status in 2016 and retired in January 2024.
A native of Puerto Rico, he served in the U.S. Army for several years before attending Southern Illinois University. A 1975 law graduate, he and went on to earn master’s degrees from Rutgers University and New York University, as well as honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Montclair State University and yhr State University of New York, presented by the School of Law in 2019.
Judge Fuentes began his legal career in private practice in Jersey City, New Jersey before he was appointed a municipal court judge in Newark. Eleven years later, he went on to the New Jersey Superior Court bench, in the Family, Criminal, and Civil divisions and as presiding judge in Civil and General Equity. His nomination by President Bill Clinton to the Court of Appeals was approved by the U.S. Senate in a unanimous vote, making him the first Hispanic judge to sit on the 3rd Circuit.
Judge Fuentes is an emeritus member of the law school’s Dean’s Advisory Council. He has facilitated opportunities for University at Buffalo Law students to serve in summer clerkships. Eleven have become federal or state law clerks and 18 have pursued careers in Big Law. Nine UB Law graduates have served Judge Fuentes as one of his elbow clerks.
Previously honored by the UB Law Alumni Association with a Distinguished Alumni Award for the judiciary, Judge Fuentes has also been recognized for his exceptional career by the law school’s Students of Color and by the Buffalo Law Review.
Speakers
- Christopher Wightman ’99, Master of Ceremonies
- Dr. Satish K. Tripathi, President of the University at Buffalo
- Professor S. Todd Brown, Interim Dean UB School of Law
- Jessica Ortiz ’05
- Stephanie A. Mack, Exec. Director, Law Alumni Association
About the Jaeckle Award
The Jaeckle Award is given annually to a person who exemplifies the highest ideals of UB School of Law and the Law Alumni Association and has made significant contributions to the school and the legal profession. It is named for Edwin F. Jaeckle ’15, a founding partner of the Buffalo law firm Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel, and a major benefactor of the school.
