Hon. Janet S. Baer

Hon. Janet S. Baer is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, appointed on March 5, 2012. Previously, she was a restructuring lawyer for more than 25 years and was involved in some of the most significant chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the country. The majority of her practice focused on the representation of large, publicly held debtors in both restructuring and chapter 11 matters, and she also represented companies in commercial litigation matters, including lender liability, fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Prior to forming her own firm in 2009, Judge Baer was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Winston & Strawn and Schwartz, Cooper, Greenberger & Krauss. She is the current President of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. Judge Baer is a member of the ABI Board of Directors and its Education Committee, and a member of both the National and Chicago CARE Advisory Boards and the Chicago IWIRC Network Board. She also is a frequent speaker for the ABI, TMA, the Chicago Bar Association, IWIRC , CLLA and NCBJ. Judge Baer regularly acts as the presiding judge for the Northern District of Illinois in Naturalization ceremonies both in Chicago and at Great Lakes Naval Station. She received her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and her J.D. from DePaul College of Law.

Hon. Janet S. Baer