Splits and Confounding Issues Destined for the Supreme Court

Hon. Daniel S. Opperman is the Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan in Bay City, sworn in on July 13, 2006, and reappointed in 2020. He also served for six years on the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Sixth Circuit and was its Chief Judge for two years.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Opperman practiced with Braun Kendrick Finkbeiner, where he concentrated in litigation, bankruptcy and real estate. He earned his B.S. magna cum laude from Eastern Michigan University and his J.D. magna cum laude from Wayne State University Law School, where he was a member of the Wayne Law Review and served as note and comment editor.

Hon. Charles R. Merrill is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Kentucky in Louisville, sworn in on Dec. 29, 2020.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, he practiced with the U.S. Trustee Program for more than 15 years in Louisville.

Judge Merrill joined the U.S. Trustee Program through the Attorney General’s Honors Program immediately after graduating from Tulane University Law School. Before entering the practice of law, Judge Merrill lived and worked in Asia for five years.

Hon. Guy R. Humphrey is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Ohio in Dayton, appointed in 2007.

Prior to his appointment, he practiced in the areas of debtor/creditor law, bankruptcy representation, receivership and litigation, representing a broad spectrum of clients, including individual debtors, business debtors, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, committees, and purchasers of assets from financial institutions and bankruptcy estates. That representation spanned many industries, including manufacturing, real estate, lodging, retail, construction, restaurant and food service, transportation, utilities, financial institutions, and equipment sales and leasing.

Judge Humphrey is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, ABI, the Thomas F. Waldron American Bankruptcy Law Forum, the American Bar Association, the Dayton Bar Association (Foundation Fellow) and the Federal Bar Association, and he served on the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Sixth Circuit from 2013-18. In addition, he has served as a member of the Local Bankruptcy Rules Committee, the Bankruptcy Bench-Bar Conference Committee (Chair 2015-19) and the Complex Chapter 11 Procedures working group for the district. Both as a practitioner and as a judge, Judge Humphrey has been a presenter at numerous legal education seminars and conferences. Since being appointed, he has participated in the University of Dayton School of Law’s externship program, as a presenter at the Law and Leadership Institute operated through the University of Dayton, and as a judge for the high school Robert N. Farquhar District Mock Trial Competition.

Judge Humphrey received his undergraduate degree from Kent State University and his J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

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.