Claims Madness

Hon. Anita L. Shodeen is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Iowa in Des Moines, appointed in 2009. She also serves on the Eighth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel and teaches bankruptcy and debt collection as an adjunct professor at Drake University Law School.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Shodeen was in private practice in Des Moines, where she focused on bankruptcy, debtor/creditor and transactional issues. She served as a chapter 7 trustee and chapter 12 trustee for the Southern District of Iowa. Judge Shodeen has been appointed as a member of the Judicial Resources Committee of the Judicial Conference, is a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, and is a member of ABI, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the Federal Bar Association. She is currently serving as a member of the Executive Committee of the Federal Trial Judges of the ABA Judicial Division, and she actively participates in a number of CLE presentations on the topics of bankruptcy, insolvency and debtor/creditor rights.

Judge Shodeen received her J.D. in 1985 from Drake University.

Patricia E. Hamilton is a chapter 7 trustee and a partner with Stevens & Brand, L.L.P. in Topeka, Kan., where she practices in the areas of debtor and creditors’ rights, commercial law and litigation, and bankruptcy matters. She is a member of the Kansas Bar Association and served as vice president of its Bankruptcy & Insolvency Section from 2003-04, and is a member of the Missouri and Topeka Bar Associations, the Topeka Area Bankruptcy Council, the Kansas City Bankruptcy Bar Association (for which she served as president from 1996-2003), and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, for which she served on its Bankruptcy & Insolvency Committee from 1996-2004. She is also a member of the Kansas Women Attorneys Association, having served as president (2005-06), president- elect (2004-05) and secretary (2003-04). Ms. Hamilton was the KWAA Regional Representative for Johnson County from 2002-03, a member of the Local Rules Committee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas from 1998-2004, and a co-chair of the Program Committee for the Kansas Women Attorneys Association’s 2009 Annual Conference. She previously clerked for the Shawnee County District Court from 1986-87 and for Hon. John T. Flannagan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas from 1990-96. Ms. Hamilton is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and was named its 2018 Topeka Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law “Lawyer of the Year.”

She received her B.A. summa cum laude in 1983 from Washburn University and her J.D. cum laude in 1987 from Washburn University School of Law.

Wendee joined the firm in May 2008 and is a Senior Attorney for both the Bankruptcy and Commercial and Special Assets Departments located in the corporate office in Overland Park, Kansas. She is currently admitted to practice law in Missouri (Eastern and Western Districts), Kansas, and Iowa (Northern and Southern Districts) and is also licensed to practice law in federal court in Nebraska.

Wendee has concentrated her practice of law representing secured creditors in bankruptcy and related litigation since 2008 and has represented the interests of financial institutions as they relate to commercial and multifamily bankruptcy, the enforcement of security interest in and recovery of automobiles and special assets, fraud and lender liability issues, and general collection matters. Wendee has successfully represented numerous creditors as both plaintiff and defendant throughout the litigation process, up to and including trial.


Wendee obtained her B.S. in Political Science from Vanderbilt University in 1997. She obtained her law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2000. 

Diana Daugherty is a chapter 13 trustee for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis.

Previously, she clerked at the Missouri Court of Appeals for three years and held the position of staff attorney for John V. LaBarge, Jr., the standing chapter 13 trustee for the Eastern District of Missouri from 1980-2017. Ms. Daugherty has served on the bankruptcy rules committee for the Eastern District of Missouri and was the 2008 recipient of the Missouri Bar’s Roser Award for Excellence in Bankruptcy Practice.

Ms. Daugherty received her J.D. from St. Louis University Law School in 1987.