Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit have reappointed Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Julia W. Brand and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Neil W. Bason, both from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, to their second 14-year terms, both effective October 24.
Judge Brand was appointed a bankruptcy judge to the Central District bankruptcy bench on Oct. 24, 2011. The Ninth Circuit later appointed her to the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for a seven-year term commencing on Dec. 1, 2016, and for an additional three-year term in 2023. Judge Brand became chief judge of the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel in May 2025 and chief judge of her court in June 2025. Prior to her appointment, Judge Brand was in private practice for more than 20 years in Los Angeles, where she was a shareholder in the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Shreck LLP from 2010 to 2011. Before that, she was of counsel for 11 months at Danning Gill Diamond & Kollitz LLP; a partner at Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor LLP from 2007 to 2009; an associate and then a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP from 1991 to 2007; and an associate at Gendel Raskoff Shapiro & Quittner, and at Bolton Dunn & Moore.
Judge Brand received her B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1981 and her J.D. in 1985 from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, where she served as editor of the Computer Law Journal and received the American Jurisprudence Award for Labor Law. Judge Brand maintains chambers in Los Angeles.
Judge Bason was also appointed a bankruptcy judge to the Central District bankruptcy bench on Oct. 24, 2011. Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Bason was special counsel at Duane Morris LLP in Los Angeles from 2009 to 2011 and was special counsel at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin, P.C., from 2008 to 2009.
Judge Bason clerked for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali of the Northern District of California from 2000 to 2008. Judge Bason was an associate for the former law firm of Hovis, Smith, Stewart, Lipscomb & Cross, LLP, 1996 to 1999, and a contract attorney for various law firms from 1993 to 1996.
Judge Bason graduated with a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1984. His undergraduate studies included attending the University of London from 1982 to 1983. He received his J.D. in 1988 from Boston University, School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude and was a note editor for the Boston University Law Review.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, the largest bankruptcy court in the nation, reported 25,911 bankruptcy filings in calendar year 2024. The court is authorized 21 judgeships.
Bankruptcy judges serve a 14-year renewable term and handle all bankruptcy-related matters under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have statutory responsibility for selecting and appointing bankruptcy judges in the nine western states that comprise the Ninth Circuit. The court uses a comprehensive merit selection process for the initial appointment. For reappointments, the court conducts a performance review and considers public comment evaluations.
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