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Susan Courtwright Rodriguez
Confirmed Trump 2.0
Confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
On August 20, 2025 President Trump nominated Susan Courtwright Rodriguez to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. She was confirmed on December 4, 2025.
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Biography
Susan Courtwright Rodriguez received her J.D from the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University (2005 – 2009) and her B.A. from Centre College (1999 – 2003) .
Legal Experience
Rodriguez is currently a U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (April 2023 – Present). From 2011-2023 she worked at McGuire Woods as a Partner (2017 – 2023), Co-Leader, Financial Institutions Industry Team (2017 – 2023) and Associate (2011 – 2017). Other career experience includes:
- Policy Advisor, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Oct. 2006 – Nov. 2011)
- Adjunct Professor for Legal Writing, Charlotte School of Law (2010)
- Law Clerk, Judge Frank D. Whitney for U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (Aug. 2009 – Jan. 2011)
- Paralegal/Staffer, The White House Office of Counsel to the President (June 2005 – Sept. 2006)
- Research Assistant to Professor Ilya Somin, Antonin Scalia Law School (2006 – 2009)
- Schedule C Presidential Appointee, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Oct. 2003 – May 2005)
- Internship, Northern Virginia Technology Council (2001 – 2002)
- Internship, U.S. Senate Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (2001)
- Internship, U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee (2000)
- Paid Usher, Centre College (1999 – 2003)
- Paid Clerk, Helton Law Office (2001 – 2003)
Key Facts and Context
- Member, Federalist Society (2006 – 2023)
- Member, American Bar Association (2013-2023)
- Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association (2019-2023)
- Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference (2023 – present)
- Member, Republican National Lawyers Association (~2015- 2020)
- Former member and Board Member for Mira Via, a non-profit organization that is “accredited Catholic” and “respect[s] and affirm[s] life from the moment of conception” by serving as a “safe haven and source of hope for pregnant mothers and their children.” (2013-2021)
- Ms. Rodriguez worked for the George W. Bush administration in multiple roles: first as policy advisor to the then newly formed Department of Homeland Security (2003-2005), then as paralegal/staffer to the Office of Counsel to the President (2005-2006).
- While serving as a DHS policy advisor, Ms. Rodriguez focused on issues including cyber security, state fusion centers, suspicious activity reporting, border searches, intelligence gathering, and immigration.
- In the middle of this role, she took time off from 2009-2011 to clerk for the Hon. Frank D. Whitney (George W. Bush appointee), for the Western District of North Carolina.
- She spent 12 years at McGuire Woods and co-led the Financial Institutions Industry Team there. While at McGuire Woods, Ms. Rodriguez’s clients included banks, nonbank fintech firms, payday lenders, and other high-cost lenders.
- She co-authored a series of pieces for bank and fintech clients that include a framing of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) efforts to increase regulatory oversight and consumer protections as “naming and shaming,” and part of the “CFPB’s name-and-shame playbook.” (April 25, 2022).
- She assisted and defended these clients in class action suits and government investigations, with a focus on the broker-dealer industry, alternative lenders (payday and other high-cost lenders), and private equity sectors. (January 2019, Law360 profile)
- Ms. Rodriguez defended Truist bank when an executive voiced several concerns that the bank was not sufficiently complying with anti-money laundering regulations. The executive flagged instances where accounts with suspected criminal activity were allowed to stay open, and where Truist failed to report suspicious wire transfers. Instead of addressing the fraud, the executive alleged she was demoted and then fired. (Denise WHITING, Plaintiff, v. TRUIST BANK f/k/a Branch Banking and Trust Company, Defendant., 2021 WL 4554052 (W.D.N.C.)) (2021)
- In an immigration-related proceeding, Ms. Rodriguez defended a restaurant chain and worked to dismiss a case filed by a restaurant employee who alleged discrimination due to his immigration status. The case was dismissed on a technicality, partly because the worker did not apply for naturalization within the first six months of being eligible and thus didn’t count as a “protected individual” under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b (citizenship status discrimination statute). (Verdesi v. Ark Rustic Inn, LLC dlbla Rustic Inn Crabhouse, 13 OCAHO no. 1311, Case No. 17B00096) (2018)
- Helped defend Sprint Corporation in a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and SO-state attorneys general investigation and subsequent lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York involving allegations of unauthorized third-party charges. (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Sprint Corp., No. 1:14-cv-09931, (S.D.N.Y.)) (2014-2018)