About me
Chief Judge Meredith Grabill started her tenure as the Chief Judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana in 2019. Prior to taking the bench, she practiced law primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial, and oil and gas litigation in Louisiana and New York. While in practice, Judge Grabill’s representative matters included serving on teams representing a commercial real estate finance firm in bankruptcy, an insurance company in a demutualization and acquisition process, and creditors’ committees in E&P companies’ bankruptcy proceedings, as well as a multinational high-tech corporation in antitrust proceedings in multiple countries and a professional players’ association in labor and contract disputes. She has represented insurance and reinsurance companies in contract disputes, and both individuals and corporations in fraudulent transfer and other commercial and oil-and-gas disputes. She had the privilege of serving as the clerk to the Special Master appointed by the United States Supreme Court to preside over an interstate water-rights dispute. To build upon the skills and experience she gained in her bankruptcy practice, Judge Grabill served as a judicial clerk to Judge Martin Glenn, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, from 2011-2012.
Prior to entering the private practice of law, she served as a judicial clerk to Judge Edith Brown Clement, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, from 2007-2008; and Judge Martin L.C. Feldman, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, from 2006-2007.
Judge Grabill earned her J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in 2006, where she served as Editor In Chief of the Tulane Law Review from 2005-2006. The faculty honored her with the John Minor Wisdom Award for Academic Excellence and Legal Scholarship that is awarded annually to an outstanding student of the graduating class. In 1997, she received her B.A. in Political Science and History from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Prior to law school, Judge Grabill worked with adjudicated and at-risk youth, providing direct cognitive-behavioral treatment to youth experiencing mental health symptoms, chemical dependency, and developmental delays. She later served as an executive-level administrator for a juvenile justice agency in Washington States, working with clinicians to develop and implement cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for youth residing in institutions and in the community.
In addition to her duties in the courtroom, Judge Grabill teaches an annual course at Tulane Law School on chapter 11 bankruptcy and restructuring.
