Hon. Brian K. Tester

Bio

Hon. Brian K. Tester is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Puerto Rico in San Juan, appointed by the First Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 13, 2006. He previously worked as an associate for a small law firm in Encino, Calif., until 1993, when he relocated to Puerto Rico. In San Juan, Judge Tester worked for a chapter 7 trustee, a chapter 11 bankruptcy firm, the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office of the U.S. Trustee, and the law firm of Fiddler, Gonzalez & Rodriguez. At Fiddler, he headed its bankruptcy and business reorganization division. While in private practice, Judge Tester was lead counsel in several published decisions and spoke regularly at bankruptcy seminars and conferences. In 2007, Judge Tester was appointed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit and is currently still a member. In 2009, Judge Tester became the first U.S. Bankruptcy Judge to sit permanently in the newly renovated U.S. Courthouse located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Since 2010, he has maintained his chambers and holds court in the Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse located in Old San Juan. In 2011, Judge Tester was appointed to the Next Generation of CM/ECF Bankruptcy Functional Requirement Group for one year. In 2012, his appointment was extended another year and was merged with the CM/ECF Working Group and became the Next Generation Working Group. In 2014, Judge Tester was appointed to a two-year term on the First Circuit Judicial Council. Judge Tester has been a speaker for ABI, the Association of Bankruptcy Judicial Assistants, the Federal Judicial Center, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico, the Bankruptcy Bar Association for the Southern District of Florida and the National Business Institute. He also is a professor on the faculty for the School of Law at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. Judge Tester received his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1990.

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