Catherine J. Furay

Hon. Catherine J. Furay is the Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison and is a a frequent lecturer on bankruptcy, commercial law, ethics, community property and litigation topics. She is a member of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. She also served as the bankruptcy judge member of the Advisory Process Review Working Group, a member of the Advisory Group for the AO’s Bankruptcy Case Weighting Study, and on the Space and Security Advisory Council. In 2019, Judge Furay became the editor-in-chief of Ginsberg & Martin on Bankruptcy. She is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, currently serving as its Treasurer and a member of its Executive Committee, and she has served on various other committees. Judge Furay also is a member of the Turnaround Management Association and is past president of the Certification Oversight Committee and a member of the board of trustees. She has served on various ABI committees and is a contributing author of Chapter 16 of Construction Law, “Bankruptcy” (Steven G.M. Stein, ed., 2006 & Supp. 2023). In addition to being co-author of Wisconsin Business Advisors Series: Collections & Bankruptcy Vol. 4 (Pinnacle Books), Judge Furay co-authored the Wisconsin Civil Litigation Forms Manual, 2015 – 2017 (Pinnacle Books). In addition, she has authored numerous articles on bankruptcy, collection, marital property and litigation topics. Judge Furay has served on the board of governors and various committees of the State Bar of Wisconsin, including its executive and finance committees. She received her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.