Maria Valdez a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. From 2016-2020 she was the Presiding Magistrate Judge for the district. Prior to becoming a federal magistrate judge, she was the Chicago Regional Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), concentrating her trial and appellate practice in the areas of constitutional law and the federal Voting Rights Act. She began her legal career in 1988 as a federal public defender in Los Angeles, California representing indigent criminal defendants. Judge Valdez also worked as a senior associate at the law firm of Hughes, Socol, Piers, Resnick & Dym in Chicago where she specialized in federal civil rights litigation. Judge Valdez has participated on countless panels discussing federal civil procedure and practice. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Judge Valdez was appointed to the federal magistrate judge bench in May of 2005.