Wes Reber Porter

Judge Wes Reber Porter is a United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. Judge Porter presides over civil and criminal cases filed in federal court and serves as a mediator civil matters.  Prior to taking the bench, Judge Porter was a tenured law professor and a career federal prosecutor with U.S Department of Justice, U.S Attorney’s Office, and the U.S Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.

As a federal prosecutor, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and a Senior Trial Attorney for the Criminal Division, Fraud Section, charged with investigating and prosecuting  Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases, securities fraud and other complex white collar crimes. Judge Porter was awarded the Assistant Attorney General Award for Distinguished Service for his work in white collar crime cases across the country including as part of the Enron Task Force.

As a full-time law professor and visitor at Richardson, he has taught courses in Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, White Collar Crime and Trial Advocacy.  Judge Porter previously served as the Director of the Litigation Center at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, California.  His scholarship focuses on injustices in criminal law, evidence and procedure from the perspective of the accused and he emerged as a leading advocate for legal education reform and practical skills training in law schools.