Hon. Scott W. Dales

Hon. Scott W. Dales is Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Michigan in Grand Rapids, initially appointed in 2007 and named Chief Judge in 2013. In 2016, the Chief Justice appointed him to serve on the Information Technology Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and in 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals appointed him to serve on the Sixth Circuit?s Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Following law school, Judge Dales clerked for Hon. Constantine G. Cholakis, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of New York, and subsequently practiced law for several years with Barrett Gravante Carpinello & Stern in Albany, N.Y. After clerking for Hon. James D. Gregg, Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan, and prior to taking the bench, he practiced law with Dykema Gossett, PLLC in Grand Rapids and served as in-house counsel to National City Corp. and its bank and nonbank subsidiaries. As a member of National City?s insolvency practice group, he worked primarily with distressed commercial transactions, including National City?s aircraft lease portfolio and troubled automotive-supplier loans. Prior to attending law school, he served as a legislative analyst for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac). Judge Dales received his bachelor?s degree from the University of Michigan in 1987 and his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.

Hon. Scott W. Dales