Michael B. Slade

Hon. Michael B. Slade is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. Prior to his appointment in November 2024, he practiced at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago for 24 years, 19 of them as a partner. While at Kirkland, Judge Slade had a broad commercial and appellate practice, focusing on product liability, employment and restructuring-related matters across the country. He also taught seminars as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School and had an active pro bono practice in which he, among other things, accepted appointments representing indigent criminal defendants. Following law school, Judge Slade clerked for Hon. Emilio M. Garza of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in San Antonio. In 2000, he served on the board of directors for CARPLS (the Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services), Cook County’s largest legal aid provider, for 10 years, including two as president. He currently serves on the boards of directors of the Chicago Bar Foundation and Thrive Scholars. Judge Slade received his B.A. in political science with high honors from Emory University, where he was a member of the Barkley Forum and was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. with honors in 1999 from Harvard Law School.