Hon. Kathy A. Surratt-States

Bio

Hon. Kathy A. Surratt-States is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis, initially appointed on March 17, 2003, and named Chief Judge from Feb. 1, 2013, to June 30, 2022. She began her legal career as law clerk to now-retired Bankruptcy Judge James J. Barta. In 1993, Judge Surratt-States was an associate at Campbell & Coyne, P.C., where her work focused on bankruptcy, commercial litigation and foreclosures. She then moved to Ziercher & Hocker, P.C. in 1998, where she became partner. The firm later merged with Husch Blackwell, where she was a partner in its insolvency practice group until her appointment to the bankruptcy court. In 1997, Judge Surratt-States was appointed to the Panel of Bankruptcy Trustees for the Eastern District of Missouri, and in 1999, she served as the chapter 7 trustee for Family Company of America, then the third-largest grocery store chain in St. Louis. Judge Surratt-States serves on the Board of Catholic Charities of St. Louis and is a member of Altrusa International, Inc. of St. Louis, an international association of professionals dedicated to serving their community. She also is a member of the Missouri Bar, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Mound City Bar Association, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, ABI and the International Women?s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). Judge Surratt-States received her B.A. cum laude from Oklahoma City University in 1988 and her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 1991.

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