Hon. Cynthia A. Norton

Hon. Cynthia A. Norton is Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City. Prior to her appointment on Feb. 1, 2013, she was a founding partner of Grimes & Rebein, LC in Lenexa, Kan., where she focused on consumer and business bankruptcy, creditors? rights, commercial workouts and related fields. She also clerked for Hon. John E. Rees of the Kansas Court of Appeals and Hon. James A. Pusateri of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Topeka, Kan., and was previously an associate with Stinson, Mag & Fizzell, an associate and then partner with Lewis, Rice & Fingers, and Of Counsel with Levy & Craig, and established her own law firm in 1995. She has published an annual column reviewing Eighth Circuit bankruptcy cases of interest for Norton?s Bankruptcy Law Advisor and has authored numerous articles, book chapters and seminar papers on bankruptcy-related topics, is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of various bankruptcy organizations. She also is the recipient of the Michael R. Roser Excellence in Bankruptcy Award and the Robert L. Gernon Award for Outstanding Contribution to CLE, as well as the NCBJ Excellence in Education Award. Judge Norton received her B.A. in French and art history Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Kansas University in 1981, and her J.D. from the Kansas University Law School in 1984, where she was associate editor of its law review.