J.D., University of Wisconsin
Hiram E. Puig-Lugo was appointed to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in 1999 by President William J. Clinton. He was born in San Germán, Puerto Rico, and is equally fluent in English and Spanish. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he was the first Latino member of the Wisconsin Law Review. After law school, he served as staff attorney for the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia for eight years and as trial attorney for the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Criminal Section for three years. As a judge, he has handled criminal felony, juvenile delinquency, criminal misdemeanor, child abuse and neglect, domestic relations, Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS), and domestic violence calendars. From 2014 to 2016, he served as Presiding Judge of the Family Court. Judge Puig-Lugo has taught at legal education projects throughout Central America, South America, Spain, and the Federated States of Micronesia. He has worked as adjunct faculty at the American University Washington College of Law, the University of the District of Columbia School of Law, the George Washington University Law School, and the National Judicial College Pacific Islands Law Institute. Judge Puig-Lugo is a US representative to The Hague Judicial Network, which works to implement The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The DC Bar Family Law Section recognized Judge Puig-Lugo in 2015 for his leadership to the Court and service to District of Columbia residents. He received the Judicial Leadership Award from the Hispanic National Bar Foundation in 2014, and the Honorable Ricardo M. Urbina Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia in 2011. He has served on the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Board of Directors since 2014.