Bernice Donald

May contain a person smiling in front of bookshelves.

The Honorable Bernice B. Donald was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by President Barack Obama in December 2010 and confirmed by the Senate in September 2011 by a vote of 96-2.  She became the first African American woman to serve on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Judge Donald retired from the court in January 2023 and currently serves as a mediator for JAMS.

Before joining the Sixth Circuit, Judge Donald was appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1995 to the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, becoming the first African American woman to serve on that court.  She previously served as a judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee from 1988 to 1996, the first African American woman in U.S. history to hold that position.  In 1982, she was elected to the General Sessions Criminal Court in Memphis, becoming the first African American woman to serve as a judge in the State of Tennessee.

During more than three decades on the federal bench, Judge Donald presided over complex bankruptcy, commercial, insurance, ERISA, labor and employment, and malpractice matters, as well as cases arising under numerous federal statutes.

Judge Donald received her J.D. from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and an LL.M. from Duke University School of Law.  A national and internationally recognized legal scholar and lecturer, she has taught and trained judges and lawyers across the United States and around the world on issues including judicial ethics, insolvency law, case management, and alternative dispute resolution.

Judge Donald has held numerous leadership positions in the American Bar Association and the National Bar Association, including serving as Secretary of the ABA, the first African American woman elected to that office.  She is a past president of the National Association of Women Judges and has received more than 100 awards recognizing her contributions to the legal profession and public service.