Western District of Texas

Biographical Information:

Year Service Began:

2012

Education:

• Stanford University, J.D., 1988 (with distinction); Associate Editor, Stanford Environmental Law Journal 1987 - 1988; Co-Editor, Stanford Law Journal (school newspaper); Speakers Bureau
• University of Texas at Austin, B.A. Plan II Honors Program, 1985 (with highest honors); Phi Beta Kappa; Junior Fellow; President, Undergraduate Philosophy Association

Judicial Experience:

United States Magistrate Judge, Western District of Texas [April 2012 - Present]

Courts Admitted to:

• State Bar of Texas
• United States District Court, Western District of Texas
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• United States Supreme Court

Legal Practice:

• Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas [2007- 2012]
• Deputy Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas [1998 - 2007]
• Supervisory Assistant Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas [1993 - 1998]
• Assistant Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas [1990 - 1993]
• Law Clerk, Honorable Edward C. Prado, former United States District Judge, Western District of Texas [1988 - 1990] (Judge Prado now sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit)

Memberships:

• State Bar of Texas
• San Antonio Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association, San Antonio Chapter
• Federal Magistrate Judges Association

Other:

Judge Bemporad served on numerous committees for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, including: appellate representative, Office of Defender Services Training Expert Panel; co-chair, Defender Supreme Court Resource & Assistance Panel; and Defender Liaison, Judicial Conference Criminal Law Committee. He has also served as co-chair of the National Association of Federal Defenders (NAFD) Amicus Committee; as Fifth Circuit vice-chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) Amicus Committee; and as a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA). Judge Bemporad is a two-time recipient of the TCDLA President's Award, and a recipient of the NAFD Outstanding Defender of the Year Award. He is the author of An Introduction to Federal Sentencing (13th ed. 2011), and he is coauthor with Sarah P. Kelly of Novel Issues, Futile Issues, and Appellate Advocacy: The Troubling Lessons of Bousley v. United States, 35 St. Mary's L.J. 93 (2003). Judge Bemporad served as regular faculty at the Federal Judicial Center's National Orientation Seminar for Federal Defenders in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and its Appellate Writing Workshop in Washington, D.C. He has given more than 100 Continuing Legal Education presentations in Texas and around the country.