Hon. John E. Waites

Hon. John E. Waites is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of South Carolina in Columbia, appointed on June 27, 1994, and served as chief judge from March 1, 2006 until March 1, 2013.He served as president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) from 2018-19, having also previously served as a four-year member of the board of governors and as co-chair of its Legislative Committee, secretary and president-elect of that organization. Judge Waites was appointed by Chief Justice Roberts as a member of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Ad-ministration of the Bankruptcy System in 2013, serving until 2019. He also served as member of theAdministrative Office?s Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group from 2008-11 and as chair from 2011-13. Judge Waites was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy in 2018. He also chaired ABI?s Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop from 2016-18 and was awarded the Order of the Palmetto by Henry McMaster, Governor of South Carolina, in May 2022. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Waites was a partner at Nexsen, Pruet, Jacobs & Pollard. He also served as the first U.S. Trustee for the Region Four, Fourth Circuit and District of Columbia from 1987-92, and as the estate administrator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina. From1980-84, he practiced law in Columbia, S.C. Judge Waites received his undergraduate degree fromDavidson College and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina.