Hon. John E. Hoffman

Hon. John E. Hoffman, Jr. is Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus, initially appointed in 2000 and named Chief Judge in October 2021. Previously, he was a partner in the Columbus office of Arter & Hadden LLP, where he practiced primarily in the areas of bankruptcy and commercial litigation, focusing on the representation of chapter 11 debtors and creditors? committees. He joined Arter & Hadden in 1989 after completing a judicial clerkship with Hon. R. Guy Cole, Jr., formerly a bankruptcy judge and now Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Chief Judge Hoffman has been involved in several national and local organizations dedicated to improving the administration of the bankruptcy system and the practice of law in the bankruptcy courts. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and he has served the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges as a member and chair of its Endow- ment for Education, as a member and chair of its Education Committee, and as a member of its Board of Governors. Chief Judge Hoffman is actively involved with The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law as both an adjunct professor of business bankruptcy and a member of its National Council. He is the 2015 recipient of its William K. Thomas Distinguished Jurist Award and the 2016 recipient of its Public Interest Law Foundation?s Excellence in Public Service Award. Chief Judge Hoffman also has worked to make legal services available to those who cannot afford them, having served on the Board of Trustees for The Legal Aid Society of Columbus from 1995?2000. He received the Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a judge from the Columbus Bar Association and Columbus Bar Foundation in 2012, and in 2015 he was presented with the Ohio State Bar Association?s John and Ginny Elam Pro Bono Award, which is given in recognition of ?exceptional volunteer service by a lawyer that advances the common good of the people of Ohio.? Judge Hoffman received his B.A. summa cum laude from Wheeling Jesuit University in 1980 and his J.D. magna cum laude from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1983.

Hon. John E. Hoffman Jr.