Adjunct Professor of Law
Founding member and co-president, Delaware Bankruptcy American Inn
of Court
Member, Delaware Chapter of the International Women’s Insolvency
and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
Adviser, Federal Judicial Center’s revised Case Management Manual
for United States Bankruptcy Judges
Associate editor, American Bankruptcy Law Journal
Member, and past judicial chair, American Bankruptcy Institute
(ABI) Mid-Atlantic Conference.
Member, and currently sits on the Board of Governors, of the
National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ)
A.B., in history, Princeton University
J.D., cum laude, Villanova University
Judge Mary F. Walrath received an A.B. in history from Princeton
University in 1976, where she received four varsity letters and was
captain of the Women’s Basketball team. She earned her J.D., cum
laude, from Villanova University in 1979, where she was a member of
the Villanova Law Review for two years and was awarded the Order of
the Coif. After law school, Judge Walrath clerked for the Honorable
Emil F. Goldhaber, Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Judge Walrath was an associate at Clark Ladner Fortenbaugh &
Young from 1982 through 1987 and a partner from 1987 until its
dissolution in 1996. She became a partner at Walrath & Coolidge
in March 1996 and a shareholder of Jacoby Donner, P.C. from January
1997 through August 1998. Judge Walrath’s seventeen years of legal
experience as an attorney was concentrated in the areas of
debtor/creditor rights and commercial litigation.
On September 9, 1998, Judge Walrath was appointed United States
Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Delaware. Judge Walrath served
as Chief Bankruptcy Judge from September 9, 2003, until June 30,
2008. Judge Walrath is a founding member and co-president of the
Delaware Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, a member of the Delaware
Chapter of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring
Confederation (IWIRC), an adviser for the Federal Judicial Center’s
revised Case Management Manual for United States Bankruptcy Judges,
an associate editor of the American Bankruptcy Law Journal, and a
member and past judicial chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute
(ABI) Mid-Atlantic Conference. Judge Walrath is a member and
currently sits on the Board of Governors of the National Conference
of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ).
In addition to speaking at numerous bankruptcy educational programs
and panels throughout the country, Judge Walrath participated in an
educational program for judges in Doha, Qatar, which was sponsored
by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Commercial Law Development
Program.
Judge Walrath teaches Bankruptcy Sales and Executory Contracts
in Business Bankruptcy Cases with Judge Shannon.