Protected: U.S. District Judge Gina R. Méndez-Miró

Méndez-Miró earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and comparative literature, magna cum laude, from the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. Later, she obtained a master’s degree in romance languages and literatures at Princeton University in New Jersey. In 2001, she earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.

Judge Méndez-Miró began her professional career as an Associate at the law firm O’Neill & Borges. There, she worked at the Labor and Employment department until 2006, litigating cases before both the federal and state courts and providing legal counsel in matters related to employment discrimination, harassment, wages and hours, ERISA, immigration, employment contracts and labor aspects of corporate reorganizations, among others.

Later in 2006, Méndez-Miró began a career in public service by working as Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources at the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, where she provided legal counsel to Attorney General regarding compliance with local and federal employment laws and regulations and was designated as Special Prosecutor managing criminal cases. In 2008, she went on to serve at the Puerto Rico Judicial Branch, as Director of Judicial Programs of the Office of Court Administration. In that capacity, she advised the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and the Director of the Office of Courts Administration on public and administrative policies, projects, and programs, such as Adult and Juvenile Drug Courts, Specialized Domestic Violence Courts, and Self-Represented Litigant (Pro Se) Centers, among others. In 2010, she became General Counsel and Director of the Legal Affairs Office, where she served until 2013, counseling and litigating significant legal claims, disputes, and disciplinary actions before several state and federal forums. From 2013 to 2016, she served as Chief of Staff for the President of the Senate of Puerto Rico, managing legal matters arising from public administration, government ethics, and contracting.

In 2016, she was appointed as Judge to the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals where she served until her appointment to the Federal bench. For six years she decided and reviewed thousands of civil and criminal cases and wrote over seven hundred eighty opinions relating to important constitutional rights and legal protections.

On January 3, 2023, President Joseph R. Biden nominated Judge Méndez-Miró to serve as United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, to the seat vacated by Judge Carmen Consuelo Cerezo. On February 14, 2023, her nomination was confirmed, marking the 100th Article III federal judge confirmed by the United States Senate during President Biden’s administration. She received her judicial commission on February 24, 2023. She is the first openly LGBTQ federal district court judge in Puerto Rico.