Rochelle's Rocky Mountain Case Law Update

Honorable Michael E. Romero, Chief Judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court - District of Colorado, was appointed to the bankruptcy bench in 2003, and was appointed as Chief Judge of that Court in 2014. He also has served on the Tenth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel since 2010.

Judge Romero received an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from Denver University in 1977 and his juris doctor degree from the University of Michigan in 1980. Since becoming a judge, he has served on numerous committees and advisory groups for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, is the past chair of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Group, and as the sole Bankruptcy Court representative/observer to the Judicial Conference of the United States. He is the immediate past president of National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and is on the Board of Governors.

Judge Romero also serves on the Executive Board of Our Courts, a joint activity between the Colorado Judicial Institute and the Colorado Bar Association, which provides programs to further public understanding of the federal and state court systems. He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Historical Society of the Tenth Circuit and the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. In what little spare time he has, Judge Romero can be seen participating in musical theater productions throughout Colorado. While he admits he can sing a bit, his dancing skills leave much to be desired.

Elizabeth E. Brown is a judge on the United States bankruptcy court, District of Colorado. She was appointed to the court on April 15, 2001.

Brown began her career with Davis, Graham & Stubbs in Denver Colorado as an Associate from 1986 to 1990. Next, from 1990 to 1997, she was a partner with Rothgerber, Appel, Powers, & Johnson. From 1997 to 2001 she was partner and Co-Chair of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Department with Holme, Roberts & Owen. She also currently acts as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School and the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. She also lectures at numerous organizations, including: American Bankruptcy Institute, American Bar Association, National Business Institute, Colorado Bar Association Continuing Legal Education, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Denver, Colorado Springs and the Women's Bar Association.

Brown attended Colorado College for her undergraduate degree and the University of Colorado at Boulder for her J.D.

An insightful writer known for his authoritative take on legal developments affecting bankruptcy practice, Rochelle published for Bloomberg every day from 2007 until this fall.

Prior to his second career in journalism, he practiced bankruptcy law for 35 years, including 17 years as a partner in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University, where he won Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar awards in the law school.