Friday, June 8, 2007
Page 4
Judge Meredith Jury Named to Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit has named U.S Bankruptcy Judge Meredith A. Jury to the circuit’s Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.
The Riverside-based judge, who has served on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California since 1997, is set to begin her new post on August 1 for a seven-year term.
In a statement, Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder said she was ‘pleased’ with Jury’s appointment to the panel, and remarked that “[t]he addition of such talented and hard-working judge ensures a continuing high level of service to litigants.”
Prior to her judicial career, Jury practiced with the Riverside firm of Best Best & Krieger, which she joined in 1976 upon her admission to the State Bar.
The 60-year-old Kansas City, Missouri native is an alumna of UCLA School of Law’s class of 1976, and holds both a 1971 master’s degree in economics and 1972 master’s degree in English/Education from the University of Wisconsin.
She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in 1969, graduating cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Jury has served frequently as a lecturer, panelist and moderator for a number of local and national educational forums. She has also been an active member of a number of community organizations, including the Riverside County Coalition for Alternatives to Domestic Violence, the Riverside County Mental Health Advisory Board, National Organization for Women and the Sierra Club.
The BAP, which resolves appeals arising out of bankruptcy court decisions in the circuit, is based in the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Courthouse in Pasadena.
Jury’s term on the panel is renewable for an additional three years.
The BAP was established in 1979 by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit as an alternative forum for hearing bankruptcy appeals. Since its inception, it has disposed of more than 15,000 cases, including more than 5,000 decided on the merits.
Historically, the BAP handles about 60 percent of the new appeals filed throughout the Ninth Circuit, while the various district courts hear the remaining 40 percent. Last year, the panel received 373 appeals in fiscal year 2006, approximately half of all appeals originating out of bankruptcy courts throughout the circuit.
To date, 25 bankruptcy judges have served as BAP members and another 57 judges to have served on a temporary basis.
Copyright 2007, Metropolitan News Company