Celebrate National Award Winners

The San Diego Chapter of the Federal Bar Association is proud to celebrate three remarkable members of our federal legal community who have been recognized for their outstanding service and achievement by the National Federal Bar Association: the Honorable Ruth Bermudez Montenegro, recipient of the Elaine R. “Boots” Fisher Award; Dylan M. Aste, recipient of the Robyn J. Spalter Outstanding Achievement Award; and Blake Currey, recipient of the Younger Federal Lawyer Award. All three honorees exemplify the dedication to justice, mentorship, and public service that these awards were created to celebrate.

Hon. Ruth Bermudez Montenegro

The Elaine R. “Boots” Fisher Award was established as a memorial to the wife of former FBA National President Stanley M. Fisher. It honors her outstanding and unselfish contributions to improving the quality of life and opportunities of all persons and her willingness to help others overcome adversity. This is one of the FBA’s highest honors and recognizes exemplary community, public, and charitable service by an FBA member.

This year’s recipient is the Honorable Ruth Bermudez Montenegro, whose distinguished career reflects an unselfish commitment to improving the lives of others. Following a career rooted in public service and education, she was appointed to the Imperial County Superior Court in 2012. In 2018, she became a U.S. Magistrate Judge, serving as the sole magistrate judge in Imperial County. She was later nominated and confirmed as a United States District Judge on March 22, 2022.

Judge Montenegro’s most enduring achievements lie in her decades of work expanding access to the legal profession for young people and underserved communities. She has volunteered with the Imperial County Mock Trial program for more than twenty-five years and has served since 2010 as judge and keynote speaker for the Migrant Education Program Student Speech and Debate Competition. In 2017, she co-founded the Imperial County Superior Court Academy Summer Fellows Program, a structured pipeline that places local students inside the courts and has since become a model for how courts can partner in workforce development for underserved communities. Judge Montenegro also co-founded the El Centro Education Foundation, incorporated and led MANA de Imperial Valley, and has served as president of the Imperial County Bar Association. Additionally, she serves on the California Civic Learning Partnership Committee and has developed numerous court civics outreach programs with local schools, opening doors for students who might otherwise never have seen the law as a viable career path.

Judge Montenegro’s leadership has been equally significant within the federal court. Since 2022, she has served as the chair of the Southern District’s Criminal Justice Act Committee. In that role, she addressed the 2025 funding crisis during the government shutdown when panel attorneys representing indigent defendants went unpaid for months and advocated on their behalf.

Congratulations, Judge Montenegro, for a career of service that embodies the highest ideals of

the legal profession!

Dylan Aste

The Robyn J. Spalter Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes younger attorneys who have demonstrated sustained service, exceptional leadership, and meaningful contributions to the federal legal community. The San Diego Chapter of the Federal Bar Association is thrilled to announce that this year’s honor goes to one of our own Dylan M. Aste, Counsel in the San Diego office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

Since joining the Chapter in 2018, Dylan has been a dedicated and valued member. He served as Chapter President in 2022. During his presidency, he increased membership by over 60% and sponsorship income by over 220%, and he created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Among his most significant contributions was founding the San Diego Federal Bar Foundation in 2022, where he has served as Treasurer since its inception. Under his leadership, the Foundation’s annual Federal Bar Charity Golf Tournament raised over $35,000 at its inaugural event and supports four organizations aligned with the FBA’s mission. Across every charitable cause he has supported, his efforts have helped raise over $120,000.

A defining hallmark of Dylan’s service has been bringing law students and newer attorneys into the federal legal community, through mentorship mixers, recruitment events, and Chapter funded FBA memberships for newly admitted California Bar members. As a result, all three San Diego law schools have now established affiliated FBA chapters.

Dylan’s dedication extends well beyond the Chapter. Since 2016, he has served as an adjunct professor at USD and Thomas Jefferson and chaired the U.S. Attorney’s Office Diversity Committee for six years. As Civil Opioid Coordinator, he developed a framework for outreach and prevention in response to the fentanyl crisis before transitioning to private practice at Pillsbury in October 2024.

Whether serving as a federal prosecutor, a nonprofit leader, or a mentor to young attorneys, Dylan has consistently strengthened the federal legal community in San Diego. He is precisely the attorney this award was created to recognize. Congratulations, Dylan, on this well-deserved recognition!

Blake Currey

The Younger Federal Lawyer Award recognizes younger federal lawyers who attain high standards of professional achievement and accords public recognition for outstanding performance. We are thrilled to congratulate Blake Currey, who has earned this prestigious award recognizing his far-reaching impact within our legal profession.

Blake Currey graduated valedictorian and summa cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2014. His academic excellence earned him a position as Research Editor of the San Diego Law Review and membership the Order of the Coif and Order of the Barristers.

Following law school, Blake was an Associate at Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP, after which he joined the United States District Court for the Southern District of California as a term law clerk in 2016. He was selected to remain a career law clerk spending the past decade in dedicated service to the Court. Today he serves as the Career Law Clerk to Chief Judge Cynthia Bashant.

In addition to managing a full docket spanning the range of federal civil and criminal litigation and, since 2021, Blake has organized and led the Court’s orientation for all incoming law clerks, sharing his vast knowledge and experience to enrich the Court’s next generation of clerks. Chief Judge Cynthia Bashant said it best: “Blake Currey is truly committed to the well-being of our federal court. His legal brilliance, sound judgment, and generous spirit make him an extraordinary asset to this Court every single day. He is our civil procedure guru, and people from all corners of the Court turn to him because they trust both his insight and his steady judgment.”

As a longtime leader of the San Diego Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, including as Chapter President in 2024, he relaunched the Chapter’s dormant newsletter into a monthly publication that has been read more than 100,000 times since 2019, earning repeated Newsletter Recognition Awards from the National Federal Bar Association. As President, he spearheaded the Chapter’s inaugural Judicial Reception & Awards Ceremony, led its largest-ever State of the District luncheon, and helped celebrate the 20th Annual Judith N. Keep Federal Civil Practice Seminar. His impact on the Chapter continues to be felt through his mentorship of the next three Chapter Presidents, and efforts to revamp and grow FBA student chapters at USD School of Law and California Western School of Law.

Blake Currey exemplifies the qualities the Younger Federal Lawyer Award is designed to recognize: exceptional legal ability, sustained professional achievement, and a deep commitment to strengthening the federal legal community.

Congratulations, Blake, for your decade of distinguished service to the federal judiciary and your lasting leadership impact on the San Diego FBA Chapter!