[3] Rodriguez served in the United States Army Reserve as an officer from 1983 to 1993 after receiving his commission from the ROTC program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

[4][5] Rodriguez is a regular speaker on continuing legal education seminars and has authored numerous articles regarding employment law, discovery and arbitration issues.

[citation needed] Prior to assuming the bench, he was a partner in the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski.

[citation needed] On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Rodriguez to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas to a seat vacated by Judge Edward C. Prado, who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on May, 13, 2003.

[6] Rodriguez had been considered a candidate for a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, along with District Judge Marina Marmolejo.