March/April 2003 issue
Judge Kathy Surratt-States Appointed to Bankruptcy Court for
Eastern District of Missouri
On March 17, 2003, Kathy Ann Surratt-States was sworn in as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Judge Surratt-States was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She received her bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Oklahoma City University in 1988. She received her law degree from Washington University School of Law (Missouri) in 1991.
Judge Surratt-States' legal career has had a focus on bankruptcy law from the beginning. Her first experience with bankruptcy law came during her first year of law school when she worked as an intern for Bankruptcy Judge Barry S. Schermer. After graduating from law school, she stayed on with the bankruptcy court as a law clerk to Bankruptcy Judge James J. Barta.
In 1993 she went to work for the firm of Campbell & Coyne, where her work focused on bankruptcy, commercial litigation, and foreclosures. She moved on to the firm of Ziercher & Hocker in 1998. This firm later merged with the firm of Husch & Eppenberger, where she has practiced until her appointment to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
In 1997 she was appointed as a member of the Panel of Bankruptcy Trustees for the Eastern District of Missouri. In 1999 she was appointed as the Chapter 7 Trustee for Family Company of America, d/b/a National Supermarkets, the third largest grocery chain in St. Louis at that time.
In addition to practicing law, Judge Surratt-States has been an active member of the Missouri Bar Association, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, and the Mound City Bar Association. In 2000 she was appointed to the Regional Disciplinary Committee by the Supreme Court of Missouri. In 2001 she was appointed by Governor Bob Holden to the St. Louis City Board of Elections Commissioners.
Judge Surratt-States takes the place of Judge David P. McDonald, who retired on January 10, 2003. She is the first African-American to be appointed to the bankruptcy bench in the Eighth Circuit. Her investiture took place May 16, 2003. Welcome, Judge Surratt-States!
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