Chief Judge Gregory R. Schaaf was appointed to the bench October 1, 2012 and became Chief Judge October 1, 2019. He graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1991, where he was Order of the Coif and a member of the National Moot Court Team, the Moot Court Board, and the Journal of Mineral Law and Policy. Judge Schaaf also received a B.B. degree in Accounting and a B.S. degree in Law Enforcement Administration from Western Illinois University in 1984 with high honors.
Judge Schaaf is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy (Class Twenty-One 2010) and is certified in Business Bankruptcy Law and Consumer Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification. He is also a CPA and worked as a solicitor in London, England, from 1997-1999, handling corporate matters and real estate transactions for English, Russian, and American clients.
Judge Schaaf's legal practice included commercial reorganizations, including bankruptcies and workouts, and commercial transactions, including energy-related matters. He represented debtors, creditors’ committees, trustees and individual creditors.
Judge Douglas L. Lutz was appointed United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky on April 15, 2024. He graduated from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1991, where he was Managing Editor of the Law Review. Judge Lutz also received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio in 1987.
Judge Lutz is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy (Class Thirty-Two 2021). Judge Lutz served on the Executive Committee of the American Bankruptcy Institute as its Vice President of Education from 2017 to 2021.
Prior to his appointment, Judge Lutz's legal practice included all aspects of bankruptcy, reorganizations and insolvency. He represented debtors, creditors’ committees, trustees, individual creditors, boards of directors and purchasers in court proceedings and out-of-court proceedings. He also acted as a SIPC Trustee, a mediator, and general outside counsel to several privately held corporations.