--- title: "Diana Song Quiroga | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/diana-song-quiroga-texas-us-magistrate" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-08" --- # Diana Song Quiroga U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas · U.S. Magistrate Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas - State: Texas - Role: U.S. Magistrate Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-29 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division, serving since 2012 - Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office - Southern District of Texas, 2005–2011 - Assistant Attorney General, State of Texas, 2005–2005 - Law Clerk, U.S. District Court - Southern District of Texas, 2001–2002 (to Keith P. Ellison) ### Education - Harvard Law School — J.D. (2001) - in Political Economy, highest honors, University of California, Berkeley, Phi Beta Kappa — B.A. (1998) ### Additional information - Magistrate, District Court, S.D. Texas, 2012-present - Quiroga has been on the federal bench since December 20, 2011, succeeding Diana Saldana. - Director of Legal Assistance, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid - Micro-enterprises Project, 2002–2004 - J.D. — Harvard Univ. — 2001 - B.A. — Univ. of California, Berkeley — 1998 — Political Economy - held the role of Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Texas, recognized with the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys Director’s Award for Superior Performance and the Federal Bar Association’s Michael T. Shelby Award. - She has been active in bar associations and civic education, including past chair of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges and the ABA Judicial Division’s Standing Committee on Diversity in the Judiciary. - Directed the Legal Assistance to Micro‐enterprises Project at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, earning the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women in Business Champion award. - Born in Taipei, Taiwan, and raised in Argentina, Quiroga immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. - She is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese, and has lived in Laredo, Texas, for over 20 years. ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=49) - [Official roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=49) - [U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=49) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9588/diana-song-quiroga/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9588/diana-song-quiroga/) - [BR/MAG Judge Database: Diana Song Quiroga](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9588/diana-song-quiroga/) - [BR/MAG Judge Database: Diana Song Quiroga](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/diana-song-quiroga-texas-us-magistrate", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/diana-song-quiroga-texas-us-magistrate", "name": "Diana Song Quiroga | KnowJudges", "description": "Diana Song Quiroga, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.