Appointed 08/01/02 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (Current term expires 07/31/16.)
Chief Judge, Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California, 2011-2014
Education:
University of California, Berkeley (California), 1974, B.A.;
St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas, 1978, J.D.,
Career Record:
1987-1993, Associate then Partner, Brite & Drought, San Antonio, Texas;
1994-2002, Assistant U. S. Trustee, U. S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Trustee, Fresno, California.
Admitted to the Texas Bar, 1978; Colorado Bar, 1990; California Bar, 1992; U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1982; U. S. Supreme Court, 1983.
Publications and Other Media:
Crackdown on Bankruptcy Petition Preparersin 1997 WILEY BANKRUPTCY LAW UPDATE 383 (Thomas M. Renn, ed., Wiley Law Publications, 1997)
No Retention Without Redemption or Reaffirmation Says the Fifth Circuit, ABI Journal, Volume XV, No. 10 (December/January 1997)
Statutory Construction by the Ninth Circuit in Recent Bankruptcy Cases, 22 Cal. Bankr. J. 262 (1995);Literalism: The United States Supreme Court's Methodology for Statutory Construction in Bankruptcy Cases, 25 St. Mary's L.J. 143 (1993)
Cramdown of Residential Mortgages in Chapter 13 Cases, The Colorado Lawyer, Volume 20, No. 5 (May 1991);Discrimination Under Section 525(b) of the Bankruptcy Code, Texas Bar Journal, Volume 54, No. 5 (May 1991).
Awards:
Director's Award for Management Excellence, U. S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Trustee, 1999.
Board of Directors:
California Bankruptcy Forum, 1998-2002.
Professional Memberships:
National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges;
American Board of Certification - Board Certified in Business and Consumer Bankruptcy Law;
Federal Bar Association.
United States Bankruptcy Court Central District of California