Hon. Meredith S. Grabill, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, USBC-EDLA

In 2019, Chief Judge Grabill was appointed as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Prior to her appointment on the bench, Judge Grabill was a shareholder at Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard and practiced law primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial, and oil-and-gas litigation in Louisiana and New York.  

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.  After practicing in New York for several years, she served as judicial clerk to Judge Martin Glenn, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

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. Before law school, Judge Grabill worked with adjudicated and at-risk youth, providing direct cognitive-behavioral treatment to youth experiencing mental health symptoms, chemical dependency, sex-offending issues, and developmental delays.  She later served as an executive-level administrator for a juvenile justice agency in Washington State, working with clinicians to develop and implement cognitive-behavioral treatment programs for youth residing in institutions and in the community.

In addition to her current duties for the Court, Judge Grabill teaches an annual course at Tulane Law School on chapter 11 bankruptcy and restructuring.