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Hon. Mary Grace Diehl is a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, appointed in February 2004.

Prior to taking the bench, she was a partner in the litigation section of Troutman Sanders LLP and chaired its Bankruptcy Practice Group. During her years in private practice, she was consistently named in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers US: America’s Leading Business Lawyers. Judge Diehl is the immediate past president of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and serves on the Boards of Directors of ABI and the Turnaround Management Association. She is also a Fellow and vice president of the American College of Bankruptcy and a former president of the Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute.

Judge Diehl received the Woman of the Year in Restructuring Award in 2008 from IWIRC (International Women in Restructuring Confederation) and is a regular speaker at CLE programs. She served as a trustee of Canisius College from 2008-14 and has been an adjunct professor of law at Emory Law School.

Judge Diehl received her B.A. summa cum laude from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., and her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Nancy J. Whaley is an attorney and a chapter 12 and 13 trustee for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, where she oversees 39 employees and operates a trust of over $75 million. She is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and chairs ABI’s Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop Advisory Board. Ms. Whaley is a member of the Northern District of Georgia Bankruptcy Court’s Bench and Bar Committee and is a barrister for the W. Homer Drake, Jr. Georgia Bankruptcy American Inn of Court. She is a past chair of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section and also of the State Bar of Georgia’s Bankruptcy Section. Ms. Whaley is a past president of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers and its Foundation, and she has served on the Executive Committee of the State Bar of Georgia and is a member of its Board of Governors. She currently chairs State Bar Finance Committee. Ms. Whaley is an active member in the Association of Chapter 12 Trustees and the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees and is their representative to the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules. She taught as an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School in Atlanta from 2002- 14 and retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2009 as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Ms. Whaley received her B.A. cum laude from Eureka College, where she was a Ronald Reagan Scholar, and her J.D. from Emory Law School.

Eric concentrates his practice in bankruptcy, workouts, financial restructuring and commercial finance. He regularly represents banks, financial institutions, secured asset-based lenders, investors, trustees, debtors-in-possession, and other parties in bankruptcy and financial restructuring matters. This includes representation in workouts and restructuring matters both in and out of bankruptcy, including negotiating and closing asset-based loans, debtor-in-possession financing, loan collection and enforcement, purchase and sale of assets of distressed companies, and various related transactions.

Hon. Michael G. Williamson is Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, initially appointed as bankruptcy judge in March 2000 and as chief judge on Oct. 1, 2015. He is also an adjunct professor at Stetson University College of Law, where he teaches bankruptcy law, and he co-authored West’s Bankruptcy Law Manual.

Judge Williamson served as a chapter 7 panel trustee from 1977-79 and represented numerous chapter 11 corporate debtors, creditors’ committees and trustees in bankruptcy cases throughout Florida for 20 years afterward. He is a past chair of the Committee on Creditors’ Rights for the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association, past chair of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar and its Bankruptcy/UCC Committee, and a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy.

Judge Williamson received his undergraduate undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1973 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1976.