RESUME Hon. Sarah Sharer Curley - Arizona State University

RESUME
Hon. Sarah Sharer Curley
The Hon. Sarah Sharer Curley currently serves as a United States Bankruptcy Court
Judge for the District of Arizona, having been appointed to a second, fourteen-year term, and
having previously served as the Bankruptcy Court’s Chief Judge from 2001-2005. She was a
member of the Ninth Circuit’s Bankruptcy Education Committee (2001-2007, chair, 2003-2004).
She is active in the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division, currently serving as a member
of the Executive Committee of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges (2010-2013),
and as a member of the Bench/Bar Bankruptcy Council, having served as the first Co-Chair of
the Council (2005-2006) and as the Vice Chair (2006-2007). She recently served (2008-2009) as
the Judicial Division’s Liaison to the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, assisting
the subcommittee which assesses, on a yearly basis, the ABA’s ongoing efforts to involve
women in leadership positions in the ABA. In 2007, she was selected to be a Fellow in the
American Bar Foundation. She has been active in the National Association of Women Judges
(“NAWJ”), having previously served as an officer, director, or on the board of the organization.
In October 2007, she received the Justice Vaino Spencer Leadership Award from NAWJ for her
innovative ideas in the program and finance area. She also received the Lexis/Nexis
Scholarship Award (best new project proposal) at the NAWJ 25 th Anniversary Convention in
October 2003.
At the local level, she has worked with a steering group of lawyers and judges to form the
Arizona Bankruptcy Inn of Court. She has been selected as its first President, and the Inn will
present its first program in October 2011. She was previously a member of the Lorna
Lockwood Inn of Court, located in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1995 to 2001. In January 2011, she
was selected for membership in Arizona’s Finest Lawyers, which includes judges, lawyers, and
professors who have demonstrated “high achievement, excellent legal skills, and a well-earned
reputation for integrity.” Since 2009, she has served as an Adjunct Professor at the Sandra Day
O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, teaching a topical course on bankruptcy
issues, such as chapter 15, cross-border insolvencies, and chapter 9, municipal bankruptcy. She
was President of Soroptimist International of Phoenix, Inc. for the 2006-2007 club year, which is
a non-profit chapter of an international organization that has received Non-Governmental
Organizational status at the United Nations and which on the empowerment of women on a
global scale. In November 2005, she received the Arizona Women Lawyers Association,
Maricopa County Chapter’s Award for her professional achievements, her contribution to the
legal profession, and her advancement of women in the profession.
Before being appointed a bankruptcy judge, she was a senior-level counsel for First
Wisconsin Corporation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1982-1986), and an associate attorney with
Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen in New York City (1979-1982), and a small, boutique
law firm, concentrating on bankruptcy practice and complex litigation. Judge Curley graduated
from Mount Holyoke College (B. A. Degree), South Hadley, Massachusetts, and received her J.
D., cum laude, from New York Law School (member, Law Review).
From a scholarship standpoint, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges published
Judge Curley’s article Where to Hide? How Valuation of Derivatives Haunts the Courts–Even
After BAPCPA, 83 American Bankr. L.J.. 297 (Issue 2 2009), and the National Association of
Women Judges published her book, The Bankruptcy Card and How to Play It (© 2003, as
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updated), which focuses on practical solutions to bankruptcy issues frequently confronted by
federal and state non-bankruptcy judges and has been distributed to judges and lawyers in
conjunction with various programs sponsored by the American Bar Association, the National
Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, and/or the National Association of Women Judges. She has
lectured extensively in the bankruptcy area, including seminars for the Judicial Division of the
American Bar Association, the National Association of Women Judges, the State Bar of Arizona,
and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Education:
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Massachusetts
B.A. Degree (1971); Major in American History
New York Law School
New York, New York
J. D. Degree cum laude (1977)
Member, Law Review
MORE DETAILED INFORMATION
ON EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Professional Experience:
Fall Semester 2009 to present, Adjunct Professor, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law,
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, seminar class on topics in bankruptcy law,
such as chapter 15 cross-border insolvencies and chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy.
1986 to present, Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona.
June 27, 2001 to June 27, 2005, Chief Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of
Arizona. Recently appointed to a second, fourteen-year term as a Bankruptcy Judge.
As Chief Bankruptcy Judge, she has overseen the move to commercial space or the
renovation projects in Prescott Valley, Phoenix, and Tucson, Arizona. She is one of the
few bankruptcy judges in the country that has the authority to oversee space planning
projects for the bankruptcy court. She also instituted the strategic planning process at
the Court, including the transfer of the Court to an “electronic” or “paperless” system,
and focusing on the implementation of a self-help center at the Court for those
individuals that wish to proceed pro se. Judge Curley has also handled a number of
"megacases" (cases with assets of one billion dollars) or some of the largest cases filed in
Arizona during her career, such as American Continental, Residential Resources, Harbor
Financial, and Oklahoma P.A.C. She has also presided over Nationsway Transport
Service, Inc., and its related entities, which were electronically filed cases with over
12,000 creditors across the country. Her published decisions, such as In re Legend
Homes, In re Hallock, Residential Resources, Shepherd Oil (various issues in case), and
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In re Dyer, have been cited favorably or relied upon by courts or commentators. For
instance, the decision of In re Legend Homes was cited in O'Malley Lumber Co. v.
Lockard (In re Lockard), 884 F.2d 1171 (9th Cir. 1989) and relied upon in Canzone v.
Hammon (In re Hammon), 180 B.R. 220 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 1995). The Ninth Circuit also
favorably cited In re Crimson Investments in Neben & Starrett, Inc. v. Chartwell Fin.
Corp. (In re Park-Helena Corp.), 63 F.3d 877 (9th Cir. 1995). As a judge pro tempore of
the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, she was the lead judge in Kashani v. Fulton (In re
Kashani), 190 B.R. 875 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. 1995).) The Kashani case has been cited in a
number of decisions, including In re Castillo, 248 B.R. 153 (B.A.P. 9 th Cir. 2000).
First Wisconsin Corporation
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
May 1982 to January 1986
Promoted to senior-level position providing bankruptcy expertise to the then large
regional player, the First Wisconsin System, including representation of First Wisconsin
(as agent for a number of banks or in its individual capacity) in complex bankruptcy
proceedings or multi-state litigation related to bankruptcy; and providing legal advice to
the commercial lending and workout groups of the principal bank in the First Wisconsin
system.
Otterbourg, Steindler, Houston & Rosen, P.C.
New York, New York law firm
February 1979 to April 1982
Associate attorney in the Bankruptcy Department, representing debtors, creditors'
committees, secured creditors, and trustees in bankruptcy, including arguing motions and
handling evidentiary hearings before the Bankruptcy Court, handling motion practice and
arguments on appeal before the Federal District Court, arguing on appeal before the
Second United States Circuit Court of Appeals, and researching and drafting the
memoranda of law and appellate briefs relative to the above; representing debtors and
individual creditors in out-of-court workouts; representing the debtor in the Matter of
Schatz Federal Bearings Co., Inc., 5 B.R. 549 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 1980) (published
decision on the ability of union employees to receive pre-petition wages if the union
contract is assumed and later terminated post-petition).
Fogelson, Fogelson & Collins
New York, New York law firm
(Partnership has since dissolved)
January 1978 to February 1979
Associate attorney assigned to bankruptcy matters.
Professional Associations (Law Related):
American Bar Association, Judicial Division, Executive Committee, National Conference
of Federal Trial Judges (2010-2013); Liaison to the ABA Commission on Women in
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the Profession (2007-2008); Co-Chair of the Bench-Bar Bankruptcy Council
(2005-2006); Vice Chair (2006-2007); member of the Council: 2005 - present
American Bar Foundation (selected to be a Fellow in May 2007)
Lorna E. Lockwood Inn of Court, Phoenix, Arizona, 1995 to 2001
Arizona Federal District Court Equality Committee (Co-Chair 1997 - 2000)
National Association of Women Judges (Vice President for Districts, 2007-2008; Finance
Committee Chair, 2005-2007; District 12 Director, 2003-2005; Treasurer 2002-2003;
Member, Finance Committee - 1998 to 2007, Vice-Chair of Finance Committee from
Nov. 1999 to Oct. 2000; the Justice Vaino Spencer Leadership Award recipient - 2007;
winner of the Lexis/Nexis “Best New Project Award,” October 2003)
Arizona’s Finest Lawyers - selected January 2011
Arizona Women Lawyers Association; Maricopa County Chapter Award for professional
achievements; contribution to the legal profession, and the advancement of women
in the profession (November 2005)
National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (member, Finance Committee (2008-2011); member
ABA Liaison Committee (2008 to present); Liaison to NAWJ 2003-2004)
Wisconsin Bar Association (Nonresident Lawyers Division)
Publications/Scholarship:
The Bankruptcy Card and How To Play It, published by the National Association of Women
Judges (copyright 2003, updated 2005 and 2007);
Where to Hide? How Valuation of Derivatives Haunts the Courts–Even After BAPCPA, 83
American Bankr. L.J.. 297 (Issue 2 2009).
Court Admissions:
Supreme Court of Arizona - 1986
Federal District Court, Arizona - 1986
Supreme Court of Wisconsin - 1983
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - 1979
Federal District Court, Eastern District of New York - 1978
Federal District Court, Southern District of New York - 1978
Appellate Division of the State of New York - 1978 (Admission to
all courts in the State of New York)
Professional Associations (Social):
Mount Holyoke Club of Central and Northern Arizona
Soroptimist International of Phoenix, Inc. (President, 2006-2007; President-Elect, 2005-2006;
Director, 2001 - 2003; Chair, Community Service Committee, 1995-1998; Chair of
numerous other committees over the years)
Elected Public Office:
Elected in early 1985 to the unpaid, part-time position of Trustee of the Village of Fox Point,
Wisconsin. Served on the Board of Trustees, which had the power to enact ordinances and
otherwise govern the business, management and operation of the Village, until my resignation in
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late 1985 as a result of my move to Arizona.
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