Biography

The Hon. Rubén A. Villalobos is a judge for the Stanislaus County Superior Court in California. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Jerry Brown in 2014. He filled the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Hurl W. Johnson (Ret.).

He is a registered Democrat.

Judge Villalobos graduated with his B.A. in ethnic studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 1994. He went on to earn his J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law in 1998.

After graduating from law school, Villalobos worked for one year as a research attorney at the Sacramento County Public Defenders Office. He then joined the Federal Public Defender for the District of Nevada in 1999, where he worked as a research and writing attorney for one year. He then joined the Stanislaus County Public Defender's Office for one year, before returning to the Federal Public Defender for the District of Nevada to serve one year an assistant federal public defender in 2001. In 2002, Villalobos began his second stint with the Public Defender's Office in Stanislaus County.

That same year, Villalobos left the public sector to partner at the Law Office of Villalobos, Meyer, and Borthwick until 2012 when he would serve as a partner at Villalobos 2 Legal Group. He would remain there until his appointment to the bench two years later.

His memberships have included the Modesto City Schools Board, the Doctors Medical Center Board of Directors, the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, the Latino Community Roundtable, and the Stanislaus County Fair Board.