Everyone at Calvo Fisher & Jacob is very proud of long-time partner Rodney Jacob, who is receiving the Cristobal C. Dueñas Excellence Award from the District Court of Guam. Rodney is just the sixth recipient of this prestigious award. In the words of Chief Justice Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, "To honor the legacy of the late Retired District Judge Cristobal C. Duenas, the Excellence Award recognizes a person or entity for significantly advancing the administration of justice and the legal profession through meritorious deeds or exemplary service, especially service in the District Court of Guam. Mr. Rodney Jacob is most deserving of this award, and we’re grateful for his generous service over many years.” The full press release is set out below.
District Court of Guam - Press Release - March 2, 2018
CRISTOBAL C. DUEÑAS EXCELLENCE AWARD
Chief Judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood and U.S. Magistrate Judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan, Jr.will present the court’s Cristobal C. Dueñas Excellence Award to local attorney Rodney J. Jacob at the Annual District Conference of the District Court of Guam on Thursday, March 8, 2018. Mr. Jacob will be the sixth recipient of the prestigious award.
Remarked the Chief Judge: “To honor the legacy of the late Retired District Judge Cristobal C. Duenas, the Excellence Award recognizes a person or entity for significantly advancing the administration of justice and the legal profession through meritorious deeds or exemplary service, especially service in the District Court of Guam. Mr. Rodney Jacob is most deserving of this award, and we’re grateful for his generous service over many years.”
Mr. Rodney J. Jacob was appointed in 2010 by Chief Judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood as the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative for the District of Guam and has served in that position since then. In that position, he joined 164 other Lawyer Representatives chosen to represent attorneys practicing in each of the Ninth Circuit's 15 districts, which include nine western states and two Pacific Island jurisdictions.
As the District of Guam’s Lawyer Representative, Mr. Jacob worked to improve the overall delivery of public service by the District Court of Guam by enhancing access to the court system and fostering open communication between lawyers and judges. As the primary liaison between the federal bench and the practicing federal bar, Mr. Jacob was tasked with chairing the Annual District Conference in accordance with national guidelines and was further tasked with publishing the Annual District Report for Guam and presenting that report to the Ninth Circuit.
Mr. Jacob was instrumental in bringing many notable people to speak at the Annual District Conferences, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court of the United States; various judges from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Law Professors Kathleen M. Sullivan, Jonathan Turley, and Erwin Chemerinsky; and he also played a key role in bringing a panel from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to sit in Guam in 2014.
Prior to his appointment as the District of Guam’s Lawyer Representative, Mr. Jacob served a two- year term as President of the Guam Bar Association commencing in 2005. He has worked tirelessly to help plan and execute annual Law Week events as Co-Chair of the Law Week Committee from 2007 to present.
Mr. Jacob has served on several committees at the District Court of Guam, including the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, the Civil Local Rules of Practice Committee, and the Annual District Conference Committees from 2009 to 2018. In addition, he has coordinated U.S. Department of the Interior and the Ninth Circuit sponsored ADR educational and training programs for the courts and bars of all the U.S. Territories and insular areas and has coordinated numerous conferences for the bench and bars of the CNMI and Palau.
Mr. Jacob works extensively in leadership positions for schools and universities in the mainland U.S., Guam, Micronesia and the Philippines to promote access to basic and higher education and for the purpose of advocating for those living on the margins in our communities.
Mr. Jacob is currently a partner in Calvo Fisher & Jacob’s Guam office, and his current clients include many local and Japanese corporations in Guam, the CNMI, and the United
States. He has extensive experience representing commercial clients in complex cross-border litigation and mediation, with significant experience in Japan.
The Honorable Cristobal C. Dueñas passed away on February 14, 2010. His Honor was appointed to the federal bench on December 24, 1969 and after twenty-two years, retired in
1991. He was declared the “Judicial Patriarch of Guam” and “the Ninth Circuit’s bravest pioneer” by fellow jurists.
Over 150 lawyers and judges are expected to attend the District Conference, co-sponsored by the District Court of Guam and the Guam Bar Association, whose purpose is toprovide legal education for Guam’s federal legal community.