Hon. Nancy A. Peterman

Hon. Nancy A. Peterman is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. She succeeded Bankruptcy Judge Carol A. Doyle, who retired in 2023. Judge Peterman took the oath of office and joined the bankruptcy bench in Chicago on Feb. 19, 2026. She began her legal career at Winston & Strawn in Chicago, representing clients on bankruptcy and restructuring matters, and later joined Holleb & Coff. After leaving Holleb & Coff, she opened Greenberg Traurig, LLP’s Chicago office along with some of her colleagues and was with the firm for 27 years. Her experience has focused on corporate restructurings and M&A transactions involving distressed businesses with a specific focus on healthcare restructurings. Judge Peterman has appeared in bankruptcy courts in Chicago and around the country, as well as in district courts and state courts representing clients in healthcare receiverships. She assisted in drafting the healthcare bankruptcy provisions that were added to the Bankruptcy Code in 2005. Judge Peterman is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and an active ABI member, having served on the board, executive committee and as chair of various committees. She also was co-editor-in-chief of the Wiley Bankruptcy Law Update, assistant editor for West’s Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice treatise, and an assistant editor and a contributing author for ABI’s Health Care Insolvency Manual. Judge Peterman is listed in Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America. She received her B.A. in 1988 from the University of Michigan and her J.D. in 1991 from the University of Michigan Law School.