Hon. Laurel Myerson Isicoff

Bio

Hon. Laurel Myerson Isicoff is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, initially appointed on Feb. 13, 2006. She served as Chief Judge from October 2016 until October 2023. Judge Isicoff serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System. Judge Isicoff serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Ad- ministration of the Bankruptcy System and on its subcommittee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She serves as vice president of the American College of Bankruptcy, is a member of its Pro Bono Committee and is a past chair of its Judicial Outreach Committee, and from 2021-22 she co-chaired the College?s Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In recognition of that service, as well as her longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, she received the inaugural DEI Excellence Award from the College. In further recognition of her contributions to DEI, she was awarded the 2023 NCBJ DEI Leadership Award from the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. Judge Isicoff currently serves as judicial chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar and is a member of the Florida Bar Standing Committee on Pro Bono. Prior to becoming a judge, she specialized in commercial bankruptcy, foreclosure and workout matters, both as a transactional attorney and litigator for 14 years with the law firm of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, after practicing for eight years with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, now known as Squire Patton Boggs. After graduating from law school, Judge Isicoff clerked for Hon. Daniel S. Pearson at the Florida Third District Court of Appeal before entering private practice. She is a past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and of the Bankruptcy Bar Association (BBA) of the Southern District of Florida, and, until she took the bench, she served as the chair of the Pro Bono Task Force for the BBA. Judge Isicoff speaks extensively on bankruptcy around the country, and is committed to increasing pro bono service, diversity, equity and inclusion, and financial literacy for all. She received her J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1982.

Description