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OFFICE ADDRESS: EDUCATION: APPOINTED:
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PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND:
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, S.D. Ohio 1996 – 2022
U.S. Bankruptcy Chief Judge, S.D. Ohio 2014 – 2021
Appointed Chief, Civil Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office, S.D. Ohio 1993 – 1996
Appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office S.D. Ohio 1990 – 1993
Private Practice – Squire, Patton & Boggs, Columbus, Ohio 1987 – 1990
Senior Law Clerk to the Honorable Alan E. Norris, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 1986 – 1987
Law Clerk to the Honorable Alan E. Norris, Ohio Court of Appeals, 1985 – 1986
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
Appointed United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division at Cincinnati on December 8, 2022, sworn in on December 16, 2022. The position was formerly held by United States District Judge Timothy S. Black. Judge Hopkins was recommended to President Biden by Senator Sherrod Brown and Senator Rob Portman on May 17, 2022; nominated by President Biden on August 1, 2022; Senate hearing was on October 12, 2022, and Senate Confirmation on December 8, 2022. President Biden signed the Commission on December 16, 2022.
Judge Hopkins was born in southwest Georgia and raised in Ohio where he attended public schools until 8th grade. He attended high school at Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts on an academic scholarship and graduated from Bowdoin College with a dual degree in government and legal studies and anthropology-sociology. There, Judge Hopkins was elected by the College faculty to deliver the commencement address. He received the Class of 1868 Award for his speech. Judge Hopkins obtained his Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law.
Upon graduation, Judge Hopkins served as senior law clerk to Hon. Alan E. Norris on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Judge Hopkins became an associate with the law firm Squire, Patton & Boggs. Judge Hopkins was appointed as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and advanced to serve as Chief of the Civil Division. Judge Hopkins was first appointed to the Bankruptcy Court on April 1, 1996, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was reappointed in 2010. Judge Hopkins has also served as a visiting judge in the Middle District of Florida, Ft. Myers Division by appointment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Judge Hopkins has served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College of Law as an adjunct professor and he has given lectures at numerous programs and conferences on topics such as ethics, professionalism, bankruptcy law and debt restructuring throughout the United States and in Brazil. He has authored over 120 published opinions and served as an editor for Bloomberg Law on the Bankruptcy Law Treatise. In 2010, Judge Hopkins received the William K. Thomas Distinguished Jurist Award from The Ohio State University and gave the commencement address.
| AFFILIATIONS: | Appointed Civil Justice Reform Advisory Group, S.D. Ohio – 1990 Appointed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to the Federal Judicial Center's Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Judge Education – 2003; Reappointed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., 2005 – 2007 Appointed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. to the JCUS Bankruptcy Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules, 2007 – 2009 Appointed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. to the JCUS Committee on the Judicial Branch, 2009 – Present Appointed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. to the Judicial Conference of the United States as Bankruptcy Judge Observer, 2019 – 2021 Bridges for a Just Community (formerly National Conference for Community & Justice), Board Member, 2003 – 2009 CET, Greater Cincinnati Public Television, Community Service Advisory Council, 2004 – 2008 Cincinnati Art Museum, Board of Directors, 2009 – 2012 Cincinnati Museum Center, Board of Directors, 2007, Chair 2017 – 2022 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Board of Directors, 2005 – 2009 Middlesex School, Board of Trustees, 2008 – 2011 Mount St. Joseph University, Board of Trustees, 1999 – 2007 National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Board of Directors, 2018 – Present; Secretary 2021 – Present Queen City Foundation, Board Member, 2000 – 2012; Chair 2006 – 2012 Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Alpha Delta Boulé 1998 – Present; President 2003 Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference – Delegate, 1995 U.C. College of Law, Adjunct Professor, 1998 – 2001; 2005; 2009 Working In Neighborhoods, Inc., Board Member, 2000 – 2009 |
| PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: |
American Bar Association, Member, 1996 – Present American Bankruptcy Institute, Member, 1996 – Present, Board of Directors, 2008 – 2012 American College of Bankruptcy, Fellow, 2009 – Present American Law Institute, Member, 2009 – Present Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati, Member, 1996 – Present CBA/BLAC Round Table, 2000 – Present, Co-Convenor 2016 – Present Cincinnati Bar Association, Member, 1996 – Present Federal Bar Association, Board Member, 1998 – 2000, 2019 – Present First Judicial District Pro Bono Committee, 2007 – 2009 Moritz College of Law National Council, Board Member, 2004 – Present National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, Member 1996 – Present, Board 2002 – 2005, President 2007 |